Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she considered a multi-year funding settlement for the Music and Dance Scheme after the spending review; and if she will consider setting out a multi-year funding settlement for the scheme in future years.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government fully supports the arts and the development of a skills pipeline into the creative industries. The department is providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) this academic year. The MDS currently provides bursaries for over 2,000 students. The number of students supported in future will be considered in due course. Any introduction of multi-year funding agreements will also be considered in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had on ensuring that the Music and Dance Scheme continues to support the same number of students for future scholarships.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government fully supports the arts and the development of a skills pipeline into the creative industries. The department is providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) this academic year. The MDS currently provides bursaries for over 2,000 students. The number of students supported in future will be considered in due course. Any introduction of multi-year funding agreements will also be considered in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6874 on Brain: Diseases, when the neurology transformation programme will come into effect for patients currently receiving neurological treatment in hospitals outside of their home region.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients. This programme is underway now and is due to conclude in March 2026.

The Neurology Transformation Programme focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which will include components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services.

NHS England Specialised Commissioning published a revised National Neurology Service Specification in August 2025, which provides a detailed description of how patients can access specialised neurology care equitably wherever they are in England, particularly for specialised services that are not available in every part of the country.

There are currently no plans to develop a neurology-specific implementation plan to support the 10-Year Health Plan, although potential conditions and topics for the new modern service frameworks will be kept under review following the development of the first tranche of three referenced in the 10-Year Health Plan.