To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has to monitor reading standards in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend announced a programme of action on reading standards on 9 January. This emphasised that the national curriculum would act to raise standards by setting clear national targets for reading, and requiring schools to test pupils' progress in relation to those targets at the ages of seven, 11, 14 and 16. The Secretary of State announced that he was asking Her Majesty's inspectorate to continue to monitor reading standards and to provide regular reports, which would be circulated to all schools in England. He also urged all local education authority education committees to take an active and critical interest in reading standards and urged parents to find out about their childrens' reading standards and to participate in helping to improve them.