Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to music hubs for the increased employer contributions to the teachers’ pension scheme.

Music Hubs have a vital role in ensuring pupils across the country can access high quality music education. I value the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, including the re-competition of Music Hub Lead Organisations which is currently taking place, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that the Department is providing a core revenue grant totalling around £76 million from September 2024 for academic year 2024/25, alongside a new capital grant totalling £25 million. There are no plans to change the revenue grant to reflect teacher pension scheme costs, and any subsequent changes to the grant from 2025/26 onwards is subject to the next spending review.

The grant funding has consistently provided, on average, around 40% of a hubs total income and music hubs have been using this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme, this will also be the case for the new programme from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, organisations applying to become lead organisations will need to evidence how at least 50% of a hub’s total income should come from sources other than the revenue grant provided by the Department by the end of the current funding period.