Books Council chief raises concerns about roll-out of literacy schemes

Martin Shipton

Changes to the procurement of literacy programmes made by the Welsh Government have created uncertainty and put jobs at risk, according to the head of the Books Council of Wales.

For many years the Books Council has organised Wales’ participation in well-known initiatives like World Book Day and the Summer Reading scheme.

But at the end of November the body was told it would have to compete with other organisations for the right to run them in future.

‘Short notice’

Helgard Krause, the Books Council’s chief executive, said: “We were given very short notice of the change, which is due to take place from the beginning of the new financial year in April. It takes months to organise these programmes, yet we will not know whether our bid has been successful until March.

“The new system is much more bureaucratic. We had to fill in an 85-page document, which is longer than the form we have to fill in for our overall funding.

“We’re now in competition with big charities from England which have more resources than we do. Unlike these other bodies, we don’t have a research department, and unlike them we don’t employ people specifically to fill in such application forms.

“We are also very committed to Welsh culture and the Welsh language in a way organisations based in England can’t possibly be. The change has put two and a half of our full time equivalent jobs at risk, as well as causing further uncertainty for the publishers we commission to participate in the programmes.”

Tailored books

Richard Tunnicliffe, a leading campaigner for the Welsh publishing industry and joint owner of Caerphilly-based Gwasg Rily Publications, said: “The literacy schemes that have been run by the Books Council of Wales have always been key to the promotion and support of literacy in Welsh schools. The Council supports teachers and engages publishers to provide new tailored books that actively encourage children to read for pleasure.

“We were therefore all shocked when we heard that the funding was being halted and that they had to reapply for the funds; but this time competing with big English charities who have little to no understanding of Welsh culture or the language.

“Everyone has benefited from these schemes to date and so no one understands why they were all suspended at such short notice with their future now in jeopardy. The schemes that The Books Council run – especially the £1 Welsh World Book Day and the £1 Quick Reads – are all about getting quality, accessible books into the hands of children, many of whom have limited access to books. They all provide such a vital function in promoting literacy, providing equal opportunities to learning, and supporting publishers that I can’t believe these fundamental schemes are being threatened.”

Mr Tunnicliffe added: “One of the schemes that the Books Council has been running for many years is the World Book Day Book. Every year, children get a £1 voucher which enables them to go and buy a book – specially made for the day – for £1. We at Rily were commissioned to do the book in 2024 (Ffeithiau Ffiaidd y Corff) and in 2025 (Gwyrdd ein Byd). “They are designed to be both attractive and fun so that they can promote reading. We’ve tried to do ours on positive subjects such as health and our environment with the latest one being written by Duncan Brown, the ecologist. These are fabulous books under a fabulous scheme which are now under threat.”

‘Increased funding’

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Reading initiatives are not being discontinued by the Welsh Government. Quite the opposite. We have increased funding for literacy and numeracy programmes by £1.1m this financial year and have announced an additional £10m in the draft budget for the next financial year. Our new grants initiative prioritises proposals that promote a love of reading to help develop good reading, literacy and language skills.

“Via our funding agreement with Adnodd, we also fund a range of other initiatives including Bookstart and the Letterbox club and fund the Books Council for literacy specific programmes including Quick Reads.

“World Book Day is celebrated in over 100 countries around the world. Many schools in Wales take part with a variety of activities to promote reading. It is not in the Welsh Government’s control.”

Literacy programmes funded by the Welsh Government include:
* Bookstart – provides children, parents and carers with resources, guidance and encouragement to start and continue on a reading journey. Families receive two Bookstart packs; the Bookstart Baby pack is usually gifted to all children at six months and the Bookstart Early Years pack is usually gifted to all children at 27 months by health visitors. It also supports health visitors to continue to share key messages with families as part of the gifting process, continue to work with universities and local health boards to maximise the number of health visitors and those training to become visitors who use the Welsh Government’s online training and resources.

* Letterbox Club – provides targeted support for children who are looked after from Nursery to Year 8 (ages 3-13), with parcels available for children every other year. All children will receive high quality educational resources to support their literacy and numeracy. They can select to receive Welsh learner or Welsh speaker parcels and will receive six parcels monthly over a six-month period.

* The Welsh Government continues to fund the Books Council for literacy specific programmes which includes developing and publishing Welsh medium books.

* The Welsh Government’s new £470,000 investment into Research on the Instruction of Language with Literacy Programme (RILL) means that it will:

* Roll out this approach to younger readers in more schools, so 5-7 year olds can benefit from a science of reading approach benefitting their oral language and foundational literacy skills.

* Roll out a whole-class approach to RILL – giving year 3 and 4 learners in more English and Welsh medium schools additional support.

* Provide professional learning for practitioners on the science of reading and spelling, including in-person and asynchronous training workshops in both English and Welsh.

* The Welsh Government’s additional £77,000 investment in Cardiff University’s Love Reading programme will expand professional learning for teachers, and roll out reading mentoring interventions in the Spring term. This nearly doubles the Welsh Government’s investment in this programme to over £160,000 this year.

* The Welsh Government’s additional investment in family and parental engagement will allow it to build on its successful Talk with Me project to help families help learners develop foundational speech and language skills.

* £200,000 for Adnodd to commission and distribute a range of engaging materials for use in reading and numeracy as well as supporting tools for professionals.