Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review her Department's decision to end funding for employer contributions to the teachers' pension scheme for music teachers employed by non-local authority music hubs.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

As part of the competition of the Music Hubs programme, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that department funding would be made up of the revenue and capital grants only, and that there would not be additional funding to contribute to the cost of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) for Music Hub lead organisations that are not local authorities from September 2024. The Arts Council also published indicative allocations for the 43 new Music Hub areas.

In light of the increase in employer contributions to TPS from April 2024, the department will take steps to determine the level of employer liability across all the newly appointed Hub Lead Organisations from September 2024. This has not been possible until recently, as applicants were informed of the outcome of the Music Hubs Investment Programme on 8 April 2024. The department will then work with Arts Council England to set final Music Hub grant allocations for the 2024/25 academic year and, as part of this work, due consideration will be given to additional pension pressures due to the increase in employer contribution to the TPS.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations on upgrading the electricity grid in the report by Electricity Systems Operators entitled Beyond 2030, published on 19 March 2024.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The network build proposed in ‘Beyond 2030’ supports the connection of 21GW of offshore wind and other low carbon generation, covering £58 billion estimated investment into the electricity network.

Network expansion will support energy security and decarbonisation goals including connecting renewable energy to the grid, and the electrification of industry, heat and transport. The proposals will accelerate delivery of low-cost, homegrown energy to homes and businesses and reduce curtailment of renewable energy resulting from network constraints.

National Grid ESO estimates the proposals could add £15 billion to the UK economy and support over 20,000 jobs annually.