Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made establishing new music hubs; and whether she has an expected timeline for when they will become active.

In June 2022, the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport published the ‘national plan for music education: the power of music to change lives’. This plan is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-power-of-music-to-change-lives-a-national-plan-for-music-education. The plan sets out the Government’s priorities up to 2030 for music education for pupils, including plans to strengthen the success of music hubs.

In the plan, the Department also announced its intention to invite applications for the role of music hub lead organisations, and to transition to fewer music hub areas across England, covering larger geographical areas but working in greater partnerships with schools, other music education providers and the music industry. Arts Council England are leading this process and following a two stage consultation earlier this year, they launched their investment programme, seeking applications in October with the intention of newly competed music Hub lead organisations being in place for September 2024. This will include all Music Hubs identifying and working with a small number of lead schools in this time frame, as set out in the plan.