Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure opportunities for artists are spread more evenly across the country.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government prioritises making creative careers accessible for everyone and we are working closely with the arts sector to address barriers.
With regards to improving access to creative careers, the government has committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. We will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the creative industries and arts. We have also invested £500,000 to expand the King’s Trust Creative Futures programme, which is designed to break down barriers to jobs in the creative industries for young people across the country who are, or at risk of being, not in education, employment or training (NEET).
In February this year we announced a review of Arts Council England which will examine how the Arts Council can be best positioned to unlock creativity and cultural excellence in every corner of the country - making sure its structure and decision-making truly work for all communities.
Further, Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. In the 2024/25 financial year, ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) into Priority Places.
In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government has committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and through support for teachers. A new National Centre for Arts and Music Education will improve social mobility by ensuring high quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich curriculum every child deserves. It will achieve this through three key areas: supporting excellent arts teaching, developing sustainable partnerships and promoting arts education.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to careers and address socioeconomic divides in the arts.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government prioritises making creative careers accessible for everyone and we are working closely with the arts sector to address barriers.
With regards to improving access to creative careers, the government has committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. We will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the creative industries and arts. We have also invested £500,000 to expand the King’s Trust Creative Futures programme, which is designed to break down barriers to jobs in the creative industries for young people across the country who are, or at risk of being, not in education, employment or training (NEET).
In February this year we announced a review of Arts Council England which will examine how the Arts Council can be best positioned to unlock creativity and cultural excellence in every corner of the country - making sure its structure and decision-making truly work for all communities.
Further, Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. In the 2024/25 financial year, ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) into Priority Places.
In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government has committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and through support for teachers. A new National Centre for Arts and Music Education will improve social mobility by ensuring high quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich curriculum every child deserves. It will achieve this through three key areas: supporting excellent arts teaching, developing sustainable partnerships and promoting arts education.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her department holds on musical instrument take up by secondary school children by social class in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not held centrally.
To support music education, the government has committed £76 million per year grant funding for the Music Hubs programme, including the 2025/26 academic year. The 43 Music Hub partnerships across England offer a range of services, including instrumental music tuition and instrument loans. To widen access to instruments, the government is also investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Music and Dance Scheme on (a) trends in the level of regional economic growth and (b) contributing to the Creative Industries Sector Plan.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) have providers in every region of England and is open to young people across the UK. It supports the Creative Industries Sector Plan commitment to increase access to quality specialist creative education provision across England to strengthen our cadre of highly trained young musicians and dancers.
The department currently provides £36.5 million for the MDS this academic year and future funding will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the costs and benefits of the Music and Dance Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) have providers in every region of England and is open to young people across the UK. It supports the Creative Industries Sector Plan commitment to increase access to quality specialist creative education provision across England to strengthen our cadre of highly trained young musicians and dancers.
The department currently provides £36.5 million for the MDS this academic year and future funding will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to their curriculum and assessment review, what will be the status of arts subjects compared to other subjects within the Progress 8 accountability framework.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government is revitalising arts education as part of the reformed national curriculum. Our proposed improvements to the ‘Progress 8’ model would recognise the value of subjects, including the arts, which strengthen our economy and society, and the importance of a broad pre-16 curriculum.
The government will consult on the proposed Progress 8 model. This proposed model includes English and mathematics slots, which follow the same rules as the current Progress 8, and two new science slots. There are four breadth slots, two of which must be filled by GCSE (or relevant AS level) qualifications from two of three categories: humanities, creative and languages. The creative category includes art and design, music, drama, dance, design and technology. The department will consult on an additional category for science subjects. We are interested in views on the impact of these breadth slots on pupil subject choices for GCSEs and technical qualifications.
The final breadth slots will take the two highest point scores in any two subjects, including English language or literature (if not counted in the English slot), other GCSE qualifications, or any technical awards from the department’s approved list. These final two slots will operate in the same way as the current open slots.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of what funding mechanisms will be utilised to support the implementation of the newly announced enrichment entitlement for schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Many schools excel at offering a diverse range of activities that are woven into their ethos, all delivered using resources within and outside the school. These school activities are often enhanced by working with local clubs, voluntary sector organisations or national partners. We want to enable and build such partnerships to spread opportunities across our schools.
School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. The department is putting in place a range of support that will help schools further, including physical education and school sport partnerships, the national network of music hubs, and £22.5 million of funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport over three years to create a tailored enrichment offer in up to 400 schools. The government is also targeting £132.5 million of Dormant Assets funding to support the provision of services, facilities, and opportunities to meet the needs of young people, particularly those from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds.
In June we announced that the government is providing £24 million of funding for 'TechYouth', which will give one million students over three years across every secondary school in the UK the chance to learn about technology and gain access to new skills training and career opportunities.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on expanding access to youth cultural programmes in areas with historically low participation.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has taken a number of steps to expand youth access to cultural programmes in under-served areas.
Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. All 54 areas include Music Hub provision which provide engagement aimed at young people; and some of the national portfolio organisations operating in Priority Places are entirely focused on children and young people, such as the BookTrust, the UK's largest reading charity which reaches millions of children each year. In 2024/25 ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants to Priority Places.
The Arts Everywhere Fund, announced earlier this year, has also committed £3.2 million in funding for four cultural education programmes for the 2025/26 financial year to preserve increased access to arts for children and young people through the Museums and Schools Programme, Heritage Schools Programme, Art & Design National Saturday Clubs and BFI Film Academy.
In November, we published the Government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will ensure that a high-quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich education every child deserves. We will revitalise arts education through a reformed curriculum and support for teachers. In September 2026 we will launch the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, which will improve access and opportunity for children and young people, strengthening collaboration between schools and industry.
In addition, £132.5 million of dormant assets funding will be allocated to support the provision of services, facilities or opportunities to meet the needs of young people. £117.5m of this has been allocated to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.
Asked by: Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide longer-term funding certainty for schools supported by the Music and Dance Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the noble Lady to the answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 79898.
Asked by: Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that talented children from non-privileged backgrounds continue to have access to specialist music and dance schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the noble Lady to the answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 79898.