Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Baroness D'Souza Excerpts

Tuesday 20th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness D’Souza (CB)]

My Lords, as a non-contributor to the Bill so far, it seems to me that the amendment is not being spoken to. I wonder whether I could support those who have enjoined contributors, on this day 1 of Committee, to speak to the amendment and to limit the length of their speeches. I also ask the Government Front Bench whether they would monitor this.

[Baroness Fleet (Con)]

My Lords, I speak to the intended purpose of the Bill, which includes improving the well-being of children, as given in subsection (1)(a) of the proposed new clause, and removing barriers to opportunity, as given in subsection (2)(c) of the proposed new clause. I declare my interests as governor of Shoreditch Park Academy, former chair of the national plan for music education and co-founder and chair of the London Music Fund.

We are debating the future of our schools and children, and the well-being of our children. What could be more important than that? This Government were elected on a mandate of change, but on so many issues Ministers cannot explain the reason, in this Bill particularly, for the change. What is the problem the Government are trying to solve? On this Bill, the bewilderment about the reason for change is now greater than ever.

As my noble friend Lord Johnson of Marylebone said, we will be voting on a Bill that includes a curriculum that all schools will be obliged to follow—a curriculum about whose content neither we nor, it seems, the Government have any idea. This is absurd. This is not change to benefit children and improve their well-being but simply ideological change to satisfy trade union leaders and their followers. If they get their way, children’s education will certainly be damaged, not just for the sake of change.

At Second Reading, I focused on the importance of academy trust independence. Today, I narrow my focus to follow the procedure to one subject which I believe is missing from the Bill that could have a hugely positive effect on the well-being and academic outcomes of every child. That subject is music. Do noble Lords recall that, on the day of the magnificent VE celebration concert in Westminster Hall, the composer and conductor Keith Burstein said of music that it unites, consoles and galvanises?

The evidence is there: music helps listening, concentration, reading and memory. Music boosts self- esteem and helps young people understand the benefits of discipline. You cannot learn a musical instrument without self-discipline. That, in turn, helps to develop self-reliance, determination and grit—the very word the Government invoked last week. Music is not just about learning notes and techniques; it helps emotional and social development and brings young people together, enriching their lives.

The Prime Minister recently warned of the danger of Britian becoming a nation of strangers. Music, as he has acknowledged in the past, unites people. It unites children. Children of all backgrounds would benefit from the common enjoyment of music in their schools. An RPO survey showed that 85% of children wanted to learn a musical instrument. Music makes children happy and particularly benefits children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Every school should have a flourishing music department.

Music can transform an unhappy, failing school. In Bradford, at Feversham Primary Academy, in one of the most disadvantaged areas of the city, an intensive music programme for every pupil has transformed the school from failing to outstanding. I have visited a great many schools with wonderful music, choir ensembles and orchestras. Most are academy trusts, such as United Learning, Ark Academy and the City of London Academies Trust, whose schools, including Shoreditch Park, where I am governor, have the ethos and music of their hugely successful independent schools: the City of London School for boys and City of London School for Girls.

As co-founder and chair of a music charity, the London Music Fund, I have seen how music has changed lives. Our four-year scholarships for children from disadvantaged backgrounds are transformative. Many of our students from the first cohorts are now university and some are at the Conservatoire.

Among hundreds of examples, I think of one girl living in a high-rise on a bleak west London sink estate. Her mother seldom left the flat. The 10 year-old girl had only once visited central London. She had shown an aptitude for music, so we awarded her a four-year scholarship, gave her a clarinet, paid for her music lessons, gave her a mentor and helped her join an orchestra. Alongside music, she excelled at maths. Thanks in part to the London Music Fund, she is now studying maths at Imperial College. Talk about opportunity.

Even for children who are not musically talented, the benefits of the programme are wide ranging, improving self-confidence and well-being. Research from countless countries—Finland, Hungary, Turkey, China and so on—shows the value of music education and the positive impact it has on young people. Why is it that, after all these years of evidence, politicians still seem to have a blind spot about music? What do they not understand about the benefits of music education? I live in hope that, with the Prime Minister’s early enthusiasm for the flute and the imminent curriculum review from Dr Becky Francis, there will be a significant change of heart.

But—I stress the “but”—more teachers are needed to teach music. Schools must have the freedom to hire the best music teachers, not just the ones who have qualified teacher status. Taking away that freedom is change for change’s sake, simply pandering to the unions, not benefiting the children. A serious, long-term funding commitment to music that puts music at the heart of every school would improve the well-being and the academic outcomes of the next generation.

Support for these disadvantaged children, whose well-being and academic outcomes would undoubtedly be improved if music became a central part of their school lives, is so important. I would add: put the child to the fore in this Bill.