Education: Conservatoires

Lord Grocott Excerpts

Wednesday 10th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grocott]

My Lords, what a pleasure—maybe an unusual pleasure—to find yourself towards the end of a debate with many contributors and being able to say that you agree absolutely with everything that has been said. I offer special thanks, of course, to my noble friend for introducing it. I declare a non-financial interest as a member of the governing body of Birmingham City University, of which Birmingham Conservatoire is a constituent part, and one of which the university and students are enormously proud. The city is proud also, which is very important indeed. The university and the conservatoire are very closely rooted in the city and are proud of the region in which we all operate.

I have three points: one economic, one social and one geographic, all specific to Birmingham. The economic point is that for historic reasons, which I certainly do not have the time or interest to go into, we are rather different from most other institutions in that we are not a stand-alone institution as a conservatoire, and therefore do not receive in the same way exceptional funding recognising the special costs associated with conservatoires. Partly as a result of that, we are—I can say without blushing—one of the best in terms of value for money. Certainly, our income per capita for a full-time student is less than half that of many of the other institutions. That is not to make any comments about any of the others; it is simply saying that we are very good value for money.

The second point is social, and one I am proud to make. The conservatoire in Birmingham, like Birmingham City University, takes a disproportionate number of its students from disadvantaged or low-income backgrounds. The figure for those in receipt of bursaries is 49%, against the average for conservatoires of 35%. Anyone who has ever taught knows perfectly well the joy of seeing people develop and realise their potential. That is particularly so when you are involved with students who perhaps never thought that they would have the opportunity. It would be tragic if that statistic was ever difficult to maintain.

The third point is a simple, geographic one. If you were looking for another conservatoire, if there were none in Birmingham, you would have to go north as far as Manchester, or perhaps not quite as far; you would have to go south as far as London; you would have to go south-west to Cardiff; and if you went east, you would simply get to the sea. In the whole of the Midlands, there would be no conservatoire if the Birmingham Conservatoire was not there. We need the funding, and I appeal to the Minister to recognise our rather different position, as he has recognised everyone else’s.