Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of recent changes in funding for schools on the provision for extracurricular activities in schools including the creative and performing arts.

Schools provide a wide range of extra-curricular activities. For example, a report by Birmingham City University published by Arts Council England shows that in 2016/17 schools delivered over 8,600 ensembles and choirs in partnership with their local music education hub. They also delivered over 31,000 ensembles and choirs independently. Between 2016/20 the Department is spending almost £500 million on a range of creative arts and cultural education programmes that take place in and out of school. The Arts Council England report is available here: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/KeyDataOnMusicEducationHubs2017_0.pdf.

The vast majority of school funding is given to schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant. Schools are free to choose how they spend this to support their pupils, and this includes decisions on funding extracurricular activities. The Department trusts schools and head teachers to spend their budgets in a way that achieves the best outcomes.