Creative Industries: Apprenticeship Levy
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Earl of Clancarty
Viscount Younger of Leckie
Yes, I have heard about that scheme, and as the noble Lord has raised the issue I will certainly do what he has asked and take it back to the Skills Minister.
The Earl of Clancarty (CB)
My Lords, it is very worrying that much of this levy is not being spent. Does the Minister believe that some of the viable suggestions that the industry, including ScreenSkills, has made need to be acted upon quickly, otherwise this money will be lost from the system? It is an incredible waste in a sector that is crying out for skilled workers.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
It is important to say that a lot of work is being done in marketing apprenticeships. For example, we had National Apprenticeship Week in March, which generated more than 25,000 visits to the GOV.UK page. My point is that there is every opportunity for employers to take up the levy that is unspent.
Museums and Galleries
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Earl of Clancarty
Viscount Younger of Leckie
It is a dynamic sector. The noble Lord will know that there are over 3,000 museums in the UK, and there has been a net growth of 9%. That is very good news, although some museums have closed, so we constantly keep an eye on what goes on. It is very important to maintain access. The point should be made that 48% of visitors come from overseas. It is critical that we make sure that there is access for overseas visitors just as much as there is for domestic visitors, including from the education sector.
The Earl of Clancarty (CB)
My Lords, the local authority museums urgently need better funding. A collection has been lost in Hertford, for example, and there has been a loss of curators at Leicester’s important city museums. The next spending review must take these things into account.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
I have no doubt that the spending review will look closely at the museum sector. It usually does, but I cannot comment otherwise on that. It is also important for local authorities to feel that they are able to explore new funding and service delivery models. As I said earlier, the Government believe that funding decisions should be made at the local level. Local authorities are best placed to decide how to prioritise their spending, as each individual museum has its own particular issues.
Skills for Theatre (Communications Committee Report)
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Earl of Clancarty
Viscount Younger of Leckie
Shedding further light, exactly.
The noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, asked about accountability measures in schools, saying that they do not cover the arts. This is not the case. The Progress 8 performance measure recognises pupils’ progress across all GCSE subjects. Progress 8 is one of the headline performance measures and reported first in the performance tables. She also asked a question about Ofsted, saying that we should include arts in a broad and balanced curriculum. We agree with Amanda Spielman and Ofsted on this. The school timetable allows time for pupils to study core academic subjects, as well as others, for those who are interested in and have an aptitude for the arts.
The noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, asked about VAT from London theatres subsidising regional theatres. That is an interesting one. As noble Lords know, tax policy is a matter for HMRC—that is the message that comes for me. However, the Government have in recent years introduced a theatres tax relief to encourage new and touring productions around the country, which has been welcomed by the theatre sector.
The noble Baroness, Lady Quin, asked about Brexit. In fact, there have been quite a few questions about Brexit. The best thing to do—this is not a cop-out—is to write to answer the questions raised by the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, and others on Brexit matters, including Erasmus, to aim to give as many reassurances as I can.
With that, I ought to conclude by saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed this debate. The arts and theatre scene in this country is a great success and we must continue to ensure that young people, who are the theatre’s future workforce and audience, have the opportunity to experience the magic of theatre and performance and, if they wish, to have a career in the theatre themselves. I hope the Committee will agree that the education and skills measures I have set out will contribute to a broad and balanced education, empowering young people from all backgrounds to look to the future with confidence.
The Earl of Clancarty
Can I quickly ask the Minister to write to me about the matter of the drama teachers? I am a bit confused. The figures that I have came from the DfE, so I wonder whether there is a distinction between specialist and non-specialist drama teachers.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
Indeed. I will endeavour to write to the noble Earl. I want to understand what his questions are and give him the figures that we believe are correct on this point.
Cultural Institutions: Curriculum Fund
Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Earl of Clancarty
Viscount Younger of Leckie
First, we are focusing on so-called opportunity areas. So we are focusing on those areas we believe are deprived, to be sure that there is better social mobility. In terms of the arts, which I think was the gist of the noble Lord’s question, we fund a number of programmes to enhance children’s arts education. As the noble Lord will know, these are extensive and include 120 music education hubs, and we have provided £300 million between 2016 and 2020. These ensure, for example, that every child between five and 18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through whole-class ensemble teaching.
The Earl of Clancarty (CB)
My Lords, it is clearly an excellent idea to use our institutions more effectively as educational resources. However, is the Minister aware that educational visits to the national museums, for instance, have been declining? Does he agree that there is nothing quite like face-to-face interaction with those objects, which may well then feature significantly within this new input into the curriculum?
Viscount Younger of Leckie
The noble Earl is correct. We want to optimise what we have in this country. The British Museum is an obvious example, but we need to look beyond London at, for example, Portsmouth or Southampton, where there is an awful lot of history and museums. Schools would do well to be given further support from government to encourage them to provide this knowledge-rich information.