Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 2118 on Music: education, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) consultations and (b) legal advice on proposals to change the structure of music education hubs.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
As set out in the Answer to Question 2118, as part of the refreshed National Plan for Music Education, published in June 2022, the government set out its intention to re-compete the hubs lead organisation (HLO) role and reduce the number of HLOs. Alongside these reforms, the Department also committed significant funding for the Music Hubs programme, with £79 million per annum revenue funding to academic year 2024/25 and an additional £25 million capital for instruments and musical equipment.
Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a HLO and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations, and more. When launched in 2012, there were 123 Music Hubs covering the 152 upper-tier local authority (LA) areas in England. Following various transfers and restructures over the last ten years, there are now 118 HLOs: 98 covering single LA areas and 20 covering multi-LA areas. These changes reflect the approach which other similar initiatives and infrastructure that are relevant to the lives of children and young people have taken, including Teaching School Hubs, English and Maths Hubs, Multi Academy Trusts, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Sport England’s Active Partnerships.
Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to more strategic, building stronger partnerships with schools, academy trusts, local authorities and others, resulting in high quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited. This should also support a more consistent high quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:
The current Music Hubs investment programme led by Arts Council England (ACE) is due to conclude next year, with newly competed HLOs commencing from September 2024. In relation to costs competition and legal costs to date, the department has provided funding to ACE to deliver the investment programme and, as part of this programme, ACE has spent a total of £21,000 on consultation and legal advice. The department has also sought specialist legal advice in relation to aspects of the competition, and has spent a total of £29,000.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote English baroque musical tradition in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by John Whittingdale
England is home to some of the world’s most respected performers of baroque music, from the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. At this time of year in particular, performances of extracts from Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio will be heard and enjoyed around the country.
Performance of baroque music in England, along with other individual musical genres, receives support from a wide variety of sources, including public funding via Arts Council England. There are a number of National Portfolio Organisations and other Arts Council-funded organisations which deliver activity in England relating to baroque music. For example, Britten Pears Arts (which receives over £1.4 million per annum through Arts Council England) operates a baroque orchestra training scheme for younger players and provides residencies and performance platforms for small ensembles including those specialising in period instrument performance.
Many National Portfolio Organisations regularly perform or engage with baroque music in England. This includes specialist organisations such as the National Centre for Early Music in York (which receives over £275,000 per annum), and organisations which perform a broader range of music, such as the Royal Opera House (which receives more than £22 million per annum), which has recently staged Handel’s oratorio Jeptha.
Arts Council England’s open programmes (such as National Lottery Project Grants, and Develop Your Creative Practice) have also supported individuals and organisations delivering baroque music. This support is open to organisations and individuals across the country, including to those in Romford.
Many performances of baroque music in England will be by orchestras, which may be eligible for the Orchestras Tax Relief. At the Spring Budget this year, HM Government announced a two-year extension to the higher rates of Theatre and Orchestra Tax Relief.
Romford and Havering are home to an amateur choir, as well as an orchestra, and the Havering Singers’ past concerts have included a performance of Handel’s Messiah.
Asked by: Baroness Quin (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to reply to the letter dated 24 July from Baroness Quin to the Minister of State at the Department for Education regarding the inclusion of traditional music in music teaching in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I can confirm that a response to the correspondence dated 24 July 2023 from the Noble Lady was sent on 21 August 2023.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4115 on Music: Education, for what reason her Department is undertaking an independent evaluation of the Music Hub programme after the restructuring of the programme.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the planned independent evaluation of the Music Hubs programme will be released in due course, including on a timetable for relation to the commissioning and publication.
The department regularly commissions independent evaluation of funded programmes, to assess their effectiveness and to inform future delivery, and this includes the Music Hubs programme.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4115 on Music: Education, when her Department plans to (a) commission and (b) publish the independent evaluation of the Music Hub programme.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the planned independent evaluation of the Music Hubs programme will be released in due course, including on a timetable for relation to the commissioning and publication.
The department regularly commissions independent evaluation of funded programmes, to assess their effectiveness and to inform future delivery, and this includes the Music Hubs programme.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school music teachers there were in (a) 2010, (b) 2015, (c) 2019 and (d) 2022.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not collect information on subjects taught in primary schools.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to increase (a) the number of training positions for teachers and (b) incentives for specialist teachers to train in the UK.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not currently cap or restrict the number of teacher training positions offered by accredited Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers. This enables them to recruit the highest number of candidates that they can whilst ensuring they are able to deliver high-quality training.
For the 2024/25 academic year recruitment cycle, the department has announced an ITT financial incentives package worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.
For trainees starting ITT in 2024/25, the department is offering a £28,000 tax-free bursary and £30,000 tax-free bursaries in mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
The department is also offering a £25,000 tax-free bursary for biology, design & technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages), and a £10,000 tax-free bursary for English, art and design, music and religious education.
The department reviews the bursaries on offer each year to take account of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. This provides flexibility to respond to the need to attract new teachers, and means the department is spending money where it is needed most.
The department welcomes talented individuals from overseas to train to teach in England. For the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, the department has extended bursary and scholarship eligibility to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages. This means international physics and languages trainees are eligible for scholarships worth up to £30,000 and bursaries worth up to £28,000. The department is also piloting a new international relocation payment worth £10,000 to help teachers and trainees in languages and physics with the cost of visas and other expenses involved in moving to England.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) undertaken an outcomes-based evaluation of the effectiveness of music education hubs.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The existing Music Hubs programme is monitored by Arts Council England and they publish a Hub Data Dashboard that contains annual survey data from 2012/13 onwards. The Dashboard can be found at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/MusicEducationHubs/music-education-hubs-survey-and-data#t-in-page-nav-3. As set out in June 2023, as part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, the department plans to commission an independent evaluation to measure and assess the impact of the Music Hub programme against the key aims, to track how the programme meets the overall aims and objectives, as set out in the National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This will inform how to improve delivery over the life of the programme.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary school music teachers there were in (a) the UK, (b) London, (c) the South East, (d) the South West, (e) the Midlands, (f) the North East, (g) the North West in the 2022-23 school year.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of subject teachers in state-funded secondary schools, is collected each November as part of the annual school workforce census. Information is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The national number of music teachers in a typical week in state-funded secondary schools for the 2022/23 academic year is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/af5fc952-2e6a-47e2-471d-08dbea66978c.
As of 2022/23, there were 7,184 music teachers (any teacher timetabled to teach music) in state-funded secondary schools in England.
Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the department.
Subject taught is only collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals.
Information on the number of music teachers at a regional level is not available.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1382 on Music: Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to Music Education Hubs of increased employer contributions to the teachers’ pension scheme.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department will announce further details on the increased employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), including the approach for centrally employed teachers, and funding rates and allocations, in due course. In the meantime, the department can confirm that the existing TPS grant to non-local authority Hub Lead Organisations will continue to the end of August 2024.