Found: Director, Dynamics Medway; Carolyn Baxendale, Head, Bolton Music Service; Michael Summers, Manager of Music

Found: Some Key Points A The basic aim of the National Plan for Music Education is to bring and develop as

Found: If you look at what has happened with music education, it has been much better supported and there

Found: If you look at what has happened with music education, it has been much better supported and there

Found: If you look at what has happened with music education, it has been much better supported and there

Found: In Medway, we have an incredible entitlement to music education.

Found: trade bodies, festivals, development initiatives and venues; 144 • £76 million per year investment in Music

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in schools in Wellingborough constituency are learning a musical instrument at school.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education

Arts Council England is responsible for collecting and publishing information about each of the Music Hubs. This information is about the music education activity the Hubs provide or support and does not include information on what schools provide without the support of the hub.

The Wellingborough constituency is served by Northamptonshire and Rutland Music Education Hub, including providing opportunities to learn an instrument, including through whole class ensemble teaching.

In 2022/23, 59.4% of schools were supported with whole class ensemble teaching and the Hub delivered or supported lessons to 8,205 pupils in small group tuition, 568 pupils in individual lessons, and 710 pupils as part of large group lessons. In addition, 2,367 pupils participated in Hub-led or Hub-supported ensembles and group activity, and instruments were loaned to 219 schools during 2022/23.

The 2022/23 data was published on Monday 20 May and can be accessed on their website. The link to the website is: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/MusicEducationHubs/music-education-hubs-survey-and-data#t-in-page-nav-2.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the opportunities for children to learn to play a musical instrument while at school.

Answered by Baroness Barran

The government has a long standing commitment to ensure that high quality music education is not the preserve of the wealthy, but the entitlement of every single child, and that this is reflected in the government’s refreshed National plan for music education, which was published in 2022. This plan sets out the department’s strategy up to 2030 and its vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, as well as to have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally.

As part of the plan, schools are expected to teach music for at least one hour a week from Key Stages 1 to 3, to provide access to singing and instrument lessons and to offer a range of music experiences, such as music events and trips to professional concerts. The network of Music Hubs has a vital role to play in supporting schools to deliver this. Working together, schools and Music Hubs can ensure children have access to all the benefits of a wider musical education through instrumental lessons, loans and ensembles, as well as offering clear and affordable progression routes and continuing professional development to teachers around music.

The government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012, including the work they now do with around 90% of all schools. This is why the department has invested around £380 million of funding in Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021 to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality music education. Since 2021, the department has continued to provide £79 million a year for Music Hubs, on average around 40% of their income, with the remaining funding coming mainly from parents and schools.

Further to this, as part of the plan published in 2022, the government announced a £25 million capital fund for musical instruments, which will be distributed across all Music Hubs from September 2024. This will allow schools and Music Hubs to continue to work together to ensure more children and young people have access to musical instruments, as well as access to a high quality music education and to develop their musical interests and potential.

Found: literacy and the arts; core funding for smaller charities; food security and poverty; youth concern; music

Found: This includes our Creative Industries Sector Vision, the National Plan for Music Education, and our Creative

Found: members will know, t he government has a long -standing commitment to ensuring that high -quality music