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, how many people have died as a result of taking illegal drugs at a music festival in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by John Whittingdale
We do not hold this information.
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, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Musician's Union publication entitled 'Musicians' Census', published on 11 September 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government is committed to maximising the potential of the UK music industry and its musicians.
We continue to regularly engage with industry and organisations, including the Musicians Union, to understand the challenges facing musicians, including those identified in the ‘Musicians’ Census’.
The Government has taken action to address these challenges, by supporting growth in the sector and creating more opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to pursue a career in music.
This includes working with the Department for Business and Trade to support UK musicians to successfully export to international markets through initiatives such as the International Showcase Fund and the Music Export Growth Scheme. Additionally, we are committed to protecting creatives through our world-leading copyright and intellectual property laws, and the Government is also establishing an industry working group to discuss issues around creator remuneration.
We are also taking action to support young talent to pursue a career in music. In June 2021 we published the National Plan for Music Education, setting out ambitions to increase music opportunities for all children and young people, regardless of circumstance and needs. Grassroots venues are also vital to supporting the talent pipeline, which is why we committed to providing an additional £5 million of funding to support grassroots music venues over two years.
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 discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the levels of Orchestra Tax Relief.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State has regular conversations with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a number of issues, including creative tax reliefs.
As announced at the Spring Budget earlier this year, His Majesty’s Government has extended the current headline rates of Orchestra Tax Relief. The rates for Orchestra Tax Relief will remain at 50% for expenditure taking place from 1 April 2023, reducing to 35% from 1 April 2025 and returning to 25% from 1 April 2026. As of August 2023, £75 million has been paid out relating to 740 claims. This represents 2,940 productions.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to Orchestra Tax Relief announced in the Spring Budget 2023 on the economic sustainability of orchestras.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Orchestras are a crucial part of the UK arts sector. That is why at Spring Budget 2023, the government went further to support orchestras by announcing a 2-year extension to the current 45% (for non-touring productions) and 50% (for touring productions) rates of orchestra tax relief (OTR).
From April 2024, qualifying expenditure for OTR will be that incurred on goods and services used or consumed in the UK. To qualify, 10% of expenditure on a production must be incurred on goods or services that are used or consumed in the UK. This is a significant decrease from the current requirement for 25% of expenditure to be incurred on goods or services in the UK or EEA. The government expects this will support companies in adjusting to the new rules.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the cultural tax reliefs beyond 31 March 2025.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the value of the UK’s world-leading creative industries and arts sectors.
The ‘cultural tax reliefs’ consist of theatre tax relief (TTR), orchestra tax relief (OTR) and museums and galleries exhibitions tax relief (MGETR).
There is no end date for the TTR or OTR.
MGETR will end on 1 April 2026. The sunset clause for MGETR was extended to this date at Spring Budget 2023, to enable museums and galleries to benefit from the extension of the 40% (for non-touring productions) and 45% (for touring productions) rates of the cultural reliefs. However, the Government keeps all tax reliefs under review.
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 new musical instruments have been provided to schools under the National Plan for Music Education, published on 25 June 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In June 2022, the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport published the National Plan for Music Education and set out the expectation that from the 2023/24 academic year, state-funded schools should deliver high quality curriculum music for at least one hour a week in Key Stages 1 to 3, supported by co-curricular learning, and musical experiences.
The latest data for the 2022/23 academic year shows over 85,500 hours were spent teaching music in secondary schools in England to years 7 to 13 in a typical week, more than at any time since 2014/15. At Key Stage 3, the 2022/23 academic year saw over 59,000 hours of music being taught in a typical week. These are the highest levels since 2011/12.
The Department also surveyed head teachers in May 2022. The results showed that among schools providing timetabled music teaching, the average duration received by pupils was 47 minutes in a typical week. It was reported that secondary school pupils received more timetabled music teaching each week on average (58 minutes compared to 45 minutes for primary pupils). The Department plans to continue to monitor teaching time in music over the coming years.
As part of the refreshed Plan, the Government will continue to invest £79 million per year in Music Hubs, who have a key role in supporting schools to provide high quality music provision, as well as £25 million for musical instruments. This funding will increase the existing stock available to all pupils. The funding will be given to Music Hub Lead Organisations to distribute as appropriate from Autumn 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 and what proportion of schools offer at least one hour of music lessons each week.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In June 2022, the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport published the National Plan for Music Education and set out the expectation that from the 2023/24 academic year, state-funded schools should deliver high quality curriculum music for at least one hour a week in Key Stages 1 to 3, supported by co-curricular learning, and musical experiences.
The latest data for the 2022/23 academic year shows over 85,500 hours were spent teaching music in secondary schools in England to years 7 to 13 in a typical week, more than at any time since 2014/15. At Key Stage 3, the 2022/23 academic year saw over 59,000 hours of music being taught in a typical week. These are the highest levels since 2011/12.
The Department also surveyed head teachers in May 2022. The results showed that among schools providing timetabled music teaching, the average duration received by pupils was 47 minutes in a typical week. It was reported that secondary school pupils received more timetabled music teaching each week on average (58 minutes compared to 45 minutes for primary pupils). The Department plans to continue to monitor teaching time in music over the coming years.
As part of the refreshed Plan, the Government will continue to invest £79 million per year in Music Hubs, who have a key role in supporting schools to provide high quality music provision, as well as £25 million for musical instruments. This funding will increase the existing stock available to all pupils. The funding will be given to Music Hub Lead Organisations to distribute as appropriate from Autumn 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 primary school music teachers left the teaching profession in the period between (a) 2010 and 2015, (b) 2015 and 2020 and (c) 2020 and 2023.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the number of teachers leaving state-funded schools and the number of teachers by subject in state-funded secondary schools in England are published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistic available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
In the year to November 2022, the full time equivalent (FTE) of 43,997 qualified teachers left the state-funded sector in England, while 47,954 qualified teachers joined.
The latest available data shows that in November 2022, the latest data available, there were 7,184 FTE teachers teaching music in state-funded secondary schools, a slight increase from 7,003 in the previous year.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers1 of music in state-funded secondary schools
2011/12 to 2022/23
| Number of teachers of all years |
2011/12 | 8,043 |
2012/13 | 7,432 |
2013/14 | 7,268 |
2014/15 | 7,109 |
2015/16 | 6,862 |
2016/17 | 6,720 |
2017/18 | 6,480 |
2018/19 | 6,525 |
2019/20 | 6,543 |
2020/21 | 6,837 |
2021/22 | 7,003 |
2022/23 | 7,184 |
Source: School Workforce Census, published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/94487fba-1bd5-4bef-b77d-08dbd08e1875
1: Teachers were counted once against each subject and key stage they taught, irrespective of the time spent teaching.
The requested figures for music teachers leaving the teaching profession are not available.
The quality of teaching remains the single most important factor in improving outcomes for children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Department plans to update the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, originally published in 2019, and build on existing reforms to ensure every child has an excellent teacher, including in music. The strategy update will reflect progress in delivering these reforms, and set out priorities for the coming years.
For those starting initial teacher training in music in the 2024/25 academic year, the Department is offering £10,000 tax-free bursaries. This should attract more music teachers into the profession and support schools in delivering at least one hour of music lessons a week.
The Government will also be placing a stronger emphasis on teacher development as part of the Music Hub programme in the future, including peer-to-peer support through new Lead Schools in every Hub.
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 left the teaching profession in the period between (a) 2010 and 2015, (b) 2015 and 2020 and (c) 2020 and 2023.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the number of teachers leaving state-funded schools and the number of teachers by subject in state-funded secondary schools in England are published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistic available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
In the year to November 2022, the full time equivalent (FTE) of 43,997 qualified teachers left the state-funded sector in England, while 47,954 qualified teachers joined.
The latest available data shows that in November 2022, the latest data available, there were 7,184 FTE teachers teaching music in state-funded secondary schools, a slight increase from 7,003 in the previous year.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers1 of music in state-funded secondary schools
2011/12 to 2022/23
| Number of teachers of all years |
2011/12 | 8,043 |
2012/13 | 7,432 |
2013/14 | 7,268 |
2014/15 | 7,109 |
2015/16 | 6,862 |
2016/17 | 6,720 |
2017/18 | 6,480 |
2018/19 | 6,525 |
2019/20 | 6,543 |
2020/21 | 6,837 |
2021/22 | 7,003 |
2022/23 | 7,184 |
Source: School Workforce Census, published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/94487fba-1bd5-4bef-b77d-08dbd08e1875
1: Teachers were counted once against each subject and key stage they taught, irrespective of the time spent teaching.
The requested figures for music teachers leaving the teaching profession are not available.
The quality of teaching remains the single most important factor in improving outcomes for children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Department plans to update the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, originally published in 2019, and build on existing reforms to ensure every child has an excellent teacher, including in music. The strategy update will reflect progress in delivering these reforms, and set out priorities for the coming years.
For those starting initial teacher training in music in the 2024/25 academic year, the Department is offering £10,000 tax-free bursaries. This should attract more music teachers into the profession and support schools in delivering at least one hour of music lessons a week.
The Government will also be placing a stronger emphasis on teacher development as part of the Music Hub programme in the future, including peer-to-peer support through new Lead Schools in every Hub.
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 has held discussions with (a) artist representatives and (b) live music businesses on the report by the Competition and Markets Authority entitled Secondary Ticketing, published on 16 August 2021.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting fair and transparent ticket pricing and tackling unacceptable behaviour in this market.
Officials at the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and at the Department for Business & Trade engage with a number of key organisations and people operating in the ticketing and live music sectors on the opportunities and challenges facing the sectors, including in relation to ticketing and the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA's) report on enforcement of the secondary ticketing market. This engagement has included STAR (the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticketing industry in the UK), the CMA, Fanfair Alliance (the campaigning body against industrial scale online ticket touting), and the live music sector.