Charities supporting children’s literacy are set to benefit from a £15m funding pledge announced in Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey’s first Budget.

In his Autumn Budget he said the funding will be for “organisations like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the Book Trust who give books to children”.

Budget documents add that the funding pledge is to support he government’s commitment to boost school readiness among young children. Ministers want at least three in four children to reach a “good level of development” by 2028.

The funding is for three years, with £5m available each year from 2027/28 for charities to increase children’s access to books and help them prepare for school.

“We’re delighted to see the Budget’s investment in children’s books and reading and the huge difference it can make from the very start of a child’s life,” said Book Trust co-CEOs Diana Gerald and Annie Crombie.

“It’s a vital recognition that reading together from the earliest years has huge lifelong benefits, helping to shape how children think, feel and connect long after the book is closed.”

The Book Trust has been supporting families with literacy for more than a century and has a network of 30,000 professionals supporting 400,000 low-income families each year.

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