Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Arts Council England's report Leading the Crowd published on 15 May.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government works closely with Arts Council England who support arts and cultural organisations to develop their fundraising skills and capacity to attract more private investment.
We welcome this report, and are committed to ensuring that the UK has the best framework for philanthropy, and that partnerships between government, philanthropists, businesses and civil society are maximised.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to negotiate rejoining the Erasmus+ Programme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government has agreed to work towards the association of the UK to the EU Erasmus+ programme. The specific terms of this association, including mutually agreed financial terms, should be determined as part of that process in order to ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions of and benefits to the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to negotiate rejoining Creative Europe.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This government does not have any plans to rejoin Creative Europe, though we are committed to finding constructive ways to work with the EU and deliver for the British people on shared priorities and global challenges.
We recognise the UK’s creative and cultural sectors provide a unique and valuable contribution to Europe’s diverse cultural landscape. We are working with our world-leading sectors to ensure that they can continue to promote growth and enrich lives, at home and abroad, including through initiatives such as the £7 million UK Global Screen Fund, and the £1.6 million Music Export Growth Scheme.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of streaming on the level of the income of musicians and composers.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises the vital importance of ensuring that music creators, including musicians, songwriters and composers, are appropriately compensated for their work.
Many creators have legitimate concerns about remuneration from streaming. Revenues from recorded music constitute a small proportion of UK music creators’ earnings, with live music and teaching being the main ways in which music creators make a living from music (IPO report, 2021). I commend the efforts of industry to address this, such as the major labels’ decision to disregard unrecouped advances in older contracts, but there is further progress to be made.
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the creative industries, we are engaging constructively with a broad range of stakeholders from across the music ecosystem through a working group aiming to drive industry-led action on music streaming remuneration.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether financial assistance to absorb the cost of changes to Employer National Insurance and minimum wage, similar to arrangements for maintained schools, will be provided to institutions that receive funding through the Music and Dance Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department adjusted the Music and Dance Scheme bursary contribution for families with a relevant income below £45,000 to account for the VAT introduction from January 2025. This methodology will be reviewed for future years and details will be set out in due course.
With reference to employer National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage, the Music and Dance Scheme grant funding of both private schools and Centres for Advanced Training relates to financing places for individual students via means-tested bursaries only and is not intended as direct funding to meet wider employment costs.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will adjust the means testing methodology of the Music and Dance Scheme to reflect the cost of VAT on fees.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department adjusted the Music and Dance Scheme bursary contribution for families with a relevant income below £45,000 to account for the VAT introduction from January 2025. This methodology will be reviewed for future years and details will be set out in due course.
With reference to employer National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage, the Music and Dance Scheme grant funding of both private schools and Centres for Advanced Training relates to financing places for individual students via means-tested bursaries only and is not intended as direct funding to meet wider employment costs.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to increase the £45,000 threshold of combined household income per family as part of the support package for the Music and Dance Scheme; and whether they plan to make that support package permanent.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department adjusted the Music and Dance Scheme bursary contribution for families with a relevant income below £45,000 to account for the VAT introduction from January 2025. This methodology will be reviewed for future years and details will be set out in due course.
With reference to employer National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage, the Music and Dance Scheme grant funding of both private schools and Centres for Advanced Training relates to financing places for individual students via means-tested bursaries only and is not intended as direct funding to meet wider employment costs.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with providers of the Music and Dance Scheme on an appropriate future earnings threshold as part of support to offset VAT.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department adjusted the Music and Dance Scheme bursary contribution for families with a relevant income below £45,000 to account for the VAT introduction from January 2025. This methodology will be reviewed for future years and details will be set out in due course.
With reference to employer National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage, the Music and Dance Scheme grant funding of both private schools and Centres for Advanced Training relates to financing places for individual students via means-tested bursaries only and is not intended as direct funding to meet wider employment costs.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support universities and other higher education institutions offering foundation courses in creative subjects, including fine art.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government is committed to supporting creative subjects such as fine art in higher education.
In the 2024/25 academic year, more than two thirds of the £1,402 million Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) recurrent funding to higher education providers is allocated to support the provision of high-cost subjects within price group A to C1.2, including various creative arts courses. This funding is in recognition of the higher costs of teaching those subjects.
For this academic year (2024/25), funding from the SPG for world-leading small and specialist providers was maintained at £58 million. Of the 20 providers recognised in this way, 12 are creative and performing arts providers.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with stakeholders regarding a proportionate route to registration with the Office for Students designed for smaller, specialist providers in support of accessing the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, including those offering Trinity College London’s Level 5 and 6 Professional Performing Arts Diplomas accredited by the Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government is fully committed to delivering the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) as set out in the Autumn Budget 2024. From the LLE’s launch in January 2027, the Office for Students (OfS) will regulate all providers offering LLE-funded provision.
The OfS has made clear that they expect to restart work on registrations, degree awarding powers and university title in August 2025, although the changes will remain under review until then. We understand that the OfS will keep providers updated throughout this period about their plans, including confirming application arrangements from August onwards. The government supports the reasons for the temporary pause in order for the OfS to refocus their efforts on provider financial sustainability. As the independent regulator, it is for the OfS to process registrations in the manner they deem most appropriate.
The government will continue to engage closely with the OfS and providers to support timely transition arrangements for the launch of the LLE. The government, together with the OfS, will provide further information on the regulation of providers under the LLE in spring 2025.