Lord Addington
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Music and Dance Scheme
Lord Addington Excerpts(1 day, 15 hours ago)
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Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
I hope the noble Lord recognises that I recognise the contribution the MDS makes, and particularly the way it enables children who otherwise would not be able to afford this type of education to afford it. As I pointed out, it is longstanding and the Government have made a commitment to it this year, including to the bursaries that are necessary for those young people to benefit from it. We will make further announcements about this in the future. Sadly, given the way that funding decisions and budget planning go, it is not that unusual for there not to be a longer-term commitment to something. But, so far, the Government’s commitment to this has been right and appropriate, given the contribution that it makes.
Lord Addington (LD)
My Lords, will the Government take the opportunity to let us know whether they will at least upgrade the grants they are talking about in future? If you leave them stationary, they will very rapidly become token gestures. Can the Government represent their long-term planning by saying they will upgrade the support they are giving to people on this particular scheme?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
The Government have maintained a commitment to providing generous support to help students to access the specialist music and dance education and training that this scheme funds, committing £36 million for this academic year. That means that all families below average relevant income of £45,000 per annum will continue to benefit from additional financial support in the next academic year. The Government were able to upgrade the contribution made through the music and dance scheme bursary, for example to ensure that all families were unaffected financially by the VAT change in January 2025. I think the noble Lord is trying a different way to get me to commit future funding to this scheme, at a point at which, as I have already identified, it is not possible for me to do so.