Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds data on the number of music rehearsal spaces there were in England in (a) 2003, (b) 2010, (c) 2013, (d) 2019 and (e) 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department does not hold data on the numbers of music rehearsal spaces or on community choirs in England.
Estimates of the numbers of community choirs in England may be available from Arts Council England’s Investment Principles Support Organisation Making Music, which represents voluntary and leisure-time music organisations in the UK – although its membership will likely not represent the total number of community choirs in England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, more money is going to more music organisations in more parts of the country than ever before, supporting 139 organisations classed as ‘music’ by investing c.£65 million of public funding per annum.
Separately, HM Government funds a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes which are designed to improve participation in the arts for all children. The National Plan for Music Education and the upcoming Cultural Education Plan will encourage more young people to take up music lessons, attend local cultural events, and consider careers in the music sector.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds data on the number of community choirs there were in England in (a) 2003, (b) 2010, (c) 2013, (d) 2019 and (e) 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department does not hold data on the numbers of music rehearsal spaces or on community choirs in England.
Estimates of the numbers of community choirs in England may be available from Arts Council England’s Investment Principles Support Organisation Making Music, which represents voluntary and leisure-time music organisations in the UK – although its membership will likely not represent the total number of community choirs in England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, more money is going to more music organisations in more parts of the country than ever before, supporting 139 organisations classed as ‘music’ by investing c.£65 million of public funding per annum.
Separately, HM Government funds a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes which are designed to improve participation in the arts for all children. The National Plan for Music Education and the upcoming Cultural Education Plan will encourage more young people to take up music lessons, attend local cultural events, and consider careers in the music sector.
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:
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.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds data on the number of community brass bands in England in (a) 2003, (b) 2010, (c) 2013, (d) 2019 and (e) 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department does not hold data on the numbers of community brass bands in England. Our arm’s-length body Arts Council England funds a number of brass band organisations, but does not maintain a category solely for ‘community brass bands’. The brass band organisations it funds includes two nationwide organisations: the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, and Brass Bands England. Brass Bands England promotes, represents, and supports brass bands across England, and will be able to provide information about the number of community brass bands operating.
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.
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.
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.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with Arts Council England on the finances of music organisations.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We do not hold data on the number of music recording studios that have closed in the last 10 years.
In August 2021, DCMS commissioned the consultancy firm, Sound Diplomacy, to assess the state of the music studio market in England.
Whilst the assessment found challenges, it showed the market is responding to changes, such as technological innovation, is maintaining or growing sources of income and has a healthy supply of music studios.
The Government does not currently have plans to publish an update report to the Music Studio Market Assessment.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has regular conversations with Arts Council England (ACE) on a range of issues, including financial support for music organisations.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to publish an update to the report entitled Music Studio Market Assessment, published on 3 August 2021.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We do not hold data on the number of music recording studios that have closed in the last 10 years.
In August 2021, DCMS commissioned the consultancy firm, Sound Diplomacy, to assess the state of the music studio market in England.
Whilst the assessment found challenges, it showed the market is responding to changes, such as technological innovation, is maintaining or growing sources of income and has a healthy supply of music studios.
The Government does not currently have plans to publish an update report to the Music Studio Market Assessment.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has regular conversations with Arts Council England (ACE) on a range of issues, including financial support for music organisations.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds data on the number of music recording studios that have closed in the last 10 years.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We do not hold data on the number of music recording studios that have closed in the last 10 years.
In August 2021, DCMS commissioned the consultancy firm, Sound Diplomacy, to assess the state of the music studio market in England.
Whilst the assessment found challenges, it showed the market is responding to changes, such as technological innovation, is maintaining or growing sources of income and has a healthy supply of music studios.
The Government does not currently have plans to publish an update report to the Music Studio Market Assessment.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has regular conversations with Arts Council England (ACE) on a range of issues, including financial support for music organisations.