Music and Dance Schools: Affordable Access

Earl of Effingham Excerpts

Thursday 16th October 2025 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Blackwell and all noble Lords for their valuable contributions, which are clearly united in their support. Access to high-level music and dance training should be an opportunity for every individual with shining talent. The music and dancing scheme exists to ensure that talent, wherever it is found, has a route to success. For over 2,000 students from low-income backgrounds, it has been exactly that—a lifeline, as was so well put by the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley.

That lifeline, however, is now under threat. There are serious and growing concerns about the future of the music and dance scheme. The Government have yet to confirm whether the scheme will continue beyond the current academic year, leaving students, parents and the schools themselves in a state of prolonged uncertainty.

In the spring, we were told that a decision on the scheme’s future would follow the conclusion of the spending review. That review has now passed but there is still no announcement on funding. No one likes uncertainty but the Government are helping to create uncertainty for families, schools and those very children with the talent and ability to achieve their dreams of performing at the highest levels. Surely, they deserve better than vague timelines and delayed decisions.

One had only to look at the front page of a major newspaper yesterday to see that the Government are spending £260 million on centres for deportation, which provide illegal migrants with “art classes”, including skills such as “sketching, crafts and … painting”. Can the Minister explain how, on the one hand, the Government seriously continue to provide arts funding of this nature but, on the other, will not commit to just £36 million per year for the music and dance scheme? The noble Lord, Lord Black, is entirely correct: it is a rounding error. The noble Lord, Lord Vaizey, is spot on: it is a pinprick in a Treasury spreadsheet. His Majesty’s loyal Opposition urge the Government to end this uncertainty and publicly commit to the continuation and stability of the music and dance scheme. Surely our future young musicians of the year and dancers are worth it.