National Centre for Arts and Music Education

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I start my reply by thanking my noble friend for her contribution in this area in the other place and her continuing interest in our noble House. I assure her that the department will engage with music hubs and the wider sector to establish how the national centre can best support improving outcomes for children and young people—including, as she quite rightly mentioned, those who need adapted instruments. Both of the questions she raised are significant and important. In the current climate, monitoring progress and re-engagement after absence, for whatever reason, is certainly a topical issue and a consideration that I know will be brought forward during the consultation. We look forward to the outcome with interest.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords the Minister will know that her department and DCMS worked with an advisory panel, which I had the privilege to chair and undertook a large-scale consultation to hear from the cultural sector its advice on cultural education. One key idea that emerged was the creation of a virtual education hub to harness the power of technology and AI to do some of the things that this centre could deliver: for instance, helping busy schools connect with their local cultural providers and offering CPD. Can she confirm that the panel’s advice and the findings of the sector consultation will be taken into account in developing this national centre? Will the potential of technology and AI be fully exploited so that their impact can be as great as possible?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

Again, I start by thanking the noble Baroness, because I know the amount of work that went in, led by her and other colleagues. I reassure the House that although the report has not been published yet, its contents will be taken very seriously indeed. Of course, there will be future opportunities to feed into the process. The possibilities of the virtual space, tech and AI are, frankly, endless, and I look forward very much to hearing more about those ideas and seeing how we can make the most of them.