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Written Question
Music: Education
Monday 25th March 2024

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 times the national plan for music education monitoring board has met since it was established; and on how many occasions a Minister attended a meeting of the board.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The National Plan for Music Education Monitoring Board has met three times since the announcement of the Board in June 2023. The second meeting was attended by the former Minister of State for Schools. The terms of reference of the Board are published on GOV.UK and there are no plans to publish the minutes of these meetings. The ‘National plan for music education monitoring board terms of reference’ can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1162481/National_plan_for_music_education_monitoring_board_terms_of_reference_-_June_2023.pdf.


Written Question
Music: Education
Monday 25th March 2024

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 plans to publish minutes for the meetings of the national plan for music education monitoring board.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The National Plan for Music Education Monitoring Board has met three times since the announcement of the Board in June 2023. The second meeting was attended by the former Minister of State for Schools. The terms of reference of the Board are published on GOV.UK and there are no plans to publish the minutes of these meetings. The ‘National plan for music education monitoring board terms of reference’ can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1162481/National_plan_for_music_education_monitoring_board_terms_of_reference_-_June_2023.pdf.


Written Question
Teachers: Workplace Pensions
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of ending funding for employers' contributions to the teachers' pension scheme for music teachers employed by music hubs unattached to schools on costs to the public purse.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

In March 2024, the department announced an additional £1.1 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support schools and local authorities with the increased Teachers’ Pension Scheme employer contribution rate. This additional funding will be distributed in 2024/25 via the new teachers’ pension employer contribution grant (TPECG) 2024.

The department is providing additional funding through the TPECG 2024 to local authorities in respect of teachers categorised as centrally employed on the schools’ workforce census 2023. The department expects local authority-based Music Hub teachers to be recorded on the schools’ workforce census, and so to be in scope for this grant.

The department has also committed to providing funding to cover the increase in employer contribution rates for existing non-local authority hubs for the current academic year, until August 2024, and officials are working to agree the precise amount. Further details, including funding rates and allocations, will be provided soon.


Written Question
Music: Workplace Pensions
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has committed to cover the increase in employer contribution rates for Music Hubs this academic year.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department has secured £1.25 billion to support eligible settings with the increased Teachers’ Pension Scheme employer contribution rate in the 2024/25 financial year. This includes additional funding of £9.3 million to local authorities for their centrally employed teachers, including those employed in local authority based music hubs.

The Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution Grant 2024 will provide funding to local authorities in respect of teachers categorised as centrally employed on the schools workforce census 2023. The department expects local authority based music hub teachers to be recorded on the census.

The department has also committed to providing funding to cover the increase in employer contribution rates for existing non local authority hubs for the current academic year (until August 2024), and departmental officials are working to agree the precise amount. Further details, including funding rates and allocations, will be provided soon.


Written Question
Music: Education
Wednesday 13th December 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 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:

  • improved and more equitable access to a diverse range of musical activities, opportunities, teachers, instruments and equipment
  • greater consistency of provision and ability to scale up effective programmes and ways of working for children and young people and schools
  • greater access to more advanced ensembles and a wider range of progression opportunities
  • greater access to the cultural capital centred around urban centres, thus improving connections and reducing isolation for rural communities
  • more strategic leadership and governance, plus a wider range of employment opportunities and progression routes for the music education workforce
  • access to greater resources, capacity and capability to use government funding to leverage further investment, and
  • an increased profile with wider musical stakeholders and a stronger connection with the music industry.

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.



Written Question
Music: Education
Tuesday 12th December 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.


Written Question
Music: Education
Tuesday 12th December 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, 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.


Written Question
Music: Teachers
Tuesday 12th December 2023

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.


Written Question
Music: Education
Monday 4th December 2023

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.


Written Question
Teachers: Music
Thursday 30th November 2023

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.