Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of her Department's spending on supporting music goes to (a) gospel music and (b) other individual music genres; and what was the cost to the public purse of her Department's support for gospel music in each of the last five years.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Gospel music and other individual musical genres receive public support through a wide variety of sources, including Arts Council England. Decisions made by the Arts Council about the allocation of funding are taken at arm's length from the Government. Its decisions are made in line with the Arts Council’s ten-year strategy, Let’s Create, which sets the direction for all the artforms it supports.
Neither the Department for Culture, Media and Sport nor the Arts Council England holds aggregated data for funding for gospel music as a specific sub-genre. Liverpool Lighthouse is a new inclusion in the Arts Council England National Portfolio and incorporates the National Gospel Music Centre. Liverpool Lighthouse will host the first Liverpool Gospel Music Festival which will take place on 9 September 2023.
Other National Portfolio Organisations, such as Punch and Pegasus Opera engage with the gospel community and have supported several gospel-focused projects through the National Lottery Project Grants programme.
Arts Council England holds data regarding a number of other sub-genres its musical investment supports. Data for Lottery and Grant-in-Aid funding in 2022/23 for these sub-genres was as follows:
Music -Subclassifier | 2022/23 |
Brass bands | £1,729,589 |
Choral | £2,345,593 |
Classical | £96,311,624 |
Experimental | £7,737,713 |
Folk | £1,903,573 |
Jazz | £7,264,868 |
Media Arts | £800,960 |
Opera | £67,730,537 |
Popular | £26,257,424 |
South Asian | £6,764,995 |
World | £7,362,628 |
Total | £226,209,504 |
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring large music venues to charge a ticket levy to fund investment in (a) musicians and (b) grassroot music venues.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which play an absolutely crucial role in our world-leading music sector, and are key to developing the future talent pipeline.
That is why we are supporting them to develop the next generation of British talent, by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging and more diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other government support provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund since 2019.
Contemporary, operatic, and classical music subsectors receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including Arts Council England. Decisions made by the Arts Council about the allocation of funding are taken at arm's length from Government. Decisions are made in line with the Council’s ten-year strategy, which sets the direction for all of the artforms and sub-sectors it supports, including opera, contemporary, and classical music.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues of all sizes across the country. The Department works closely with interested parties and across Government to ensure the live music sector continues to thrive. Whilst industry-led discussions on the proposal of a ticket levy are ongoing, we have no plans to enforce large venues to impose a ticket levy.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing the same level of funding to grassroots music venues that host contemporary music as provided for opera and classical music.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which play an absolutely crucial role in our world-leading music sector, and are key to developing the future talent pipeline.
That is why we are supporting them to develop the next generation of British talent, by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging and more diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other government support provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund since 2019.
Contemporary, operatic, and classical music subsectors receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including Arts Council England. Decisions made by the Arts Council about the allocation of funding are taken at arm's length from Government. Decisions are made in line with the Council’s ten-year strategy, which sets the direction for all of the artforms and sub-sectors it supports, including opera, contemporary, and classical music.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues of all sizes across the country. The Department works closely with interested parties and across Government to ensure the live music sector continues to thrive. Whilst industry-led discussions on the proposal of a ticket levy are ongoing, we have no plans to enforce large venues to impose a ticket levy.
Asked by: Lord Watts (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will address the uneven funding between (1) contemporary music, and (2) opera or classical music, to ensure that grassroots music venues are well supported.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which play an absolutely crucial role in our world-leading music sector, and are key to developing the future talent pipeline.
That is why we are supporting them to develop the next generation of British talent, by providing an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund, as announced in the Creative Industries Sector Vision on 14 June. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young, emerging and more diverse artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other government support provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund, and through Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund since 2019.
Contemporary, operatic, and classical music subsectors receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including Arts Council England. Decisions made by the Arts Council about the allocation of funding are taken at arm's length from Government. Decisions are made in line with the Council’s ten-year strategy, which sets the direction for all of the artforms and sub-sectors it supports, including opera, contemporary, and classical music.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a comparative assessment of the impact of levels of public subsidy for (a) contemporary, (b) opera and (c) classical music on music venues.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Contemporary, operatic, and classical music venues receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including Arts Council England.
Decisions made by the Arts Council about the allocation of funding are taken at arm's length from government. It takes these decisions in line with its ten-year strategy, which sets the direction for all of the art forms and sub-sectors it supports, including opera, contemporary, and classical music. The Arts Council has also commissioned further independent analysis on how to best support opera.
Arts Council England produces a robust analysis of its investment, including a breakdown by discipline and geography.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to support orchestras.
Answered by John Whittingdale
HM Government is proud to champion our world-class orchestras and musicians, and help them to thrive. Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, more money is going to more orchestral organisations in more parts of the country than ever before.
The Arts Council’s new national portfolio is supporting 139 organisations classed as ‘music’ by investing c.£65 million of public funding. The Arts Council’s investment in classical music remains high, in particular in orchestral music organisations, with 23 such organisations being funded – an increase from 19 in the last round; and at around £21 million per annum, which is around £2 million more than previously. Moreover, these numbers are likely to underestimate the level of music activity being funded as some organisations will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories. The Arts Council’s investment in orchestras, opera, and other classical organisations through the new portfolio constitutes nearly 80% of all its investment in music.
Organisations such as the Multi-Story Orchestra, Orchestras for All, ParaOrchestra, The People’s Orchestra, and Pegasus Opera are joining the National Portfolio for the first time – bringing down barriers to classical music, celebrating the power it can have in people’s lives, and inspiring the next generation of performers – while long-established organisations such as the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, and the Hallé Orchestra continue to receive funding.
Furthermore, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at Spring Budget 2023 that the Government will extend the current headline rates of relief for the Theatre and Orchestra Tax Relief for two years. The rates for Orchestra Tax Relief will remain at 50% for expenditure taking place from 1 April 2023, reducing to 35% from 1 April 2025 and returning to 25% from 1 April 2026.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have had any discussions with (1) the Musicians’ Union, or (2) the BBC, in regard to the BBC’s new strategy for classical music announced on 7 March, which included a reduction of roles in the BBC's Symphony, Concert and Philharmonic orchestras and the closure of the BBC Singers.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Operational and editorial decisions are independent of Government and are a matter for the BBC.
DCMS Ministers met the BBC on 22 March to discuss a range of issues, including latest developments regarding the BBC’s classical music strategy, announced on 7 March.
The BBC has today announced that it will suspend the proposal to close the BBC Singers, and will continue to engage with the Musicians' Union and the other BBC Unions about its proposals regarding the BBC's English Orchestras.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to conduct a review into opera provision in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from the Government. Arts Council England made its decisions in line with its published guidance and its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector. Any questions about specific funding decisions should be directed to Arts Council England.
Arts Council England’s investment in opera, orchestras and other classical organisations represents around 80% of all investment in music in its 2023–26 Investment Programme. Through this programme, opera will continue to be well funded, with it remaining at around 40% of Arts Council England’s overall investment in music. Organisations such as the English Touring Opera and the Birmingham Opera Company will receive increased funding, and there are many new joiners such as Opera UpClose and Pegasus Opera Company, who are based in South London. It is worth noting that these statistics are likely to underestimate the level of opera activity being funded as some organisations in the 2023–26 Investment Programme will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories.
The Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on opera.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Art Council England National Portfolio Organisation funding between 2023 to 2026 on the opera industry.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from the Government. Arts Council England made its decisions in line with its published guidance and its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector. Any questions about specific funding decisions should be directed to Arts Council England.
Arts Council England’s investment in opera, orchestras and other classical organisations represents around 80% of all investment in music in its 2023–26 Investment Programme. Through this programme, opera will continue to be well funded, with it remaining at around 40% of Arts Council England’s overall investment in music. Organisations such as the English Touring Opera and the Birmingham Opera Company will receive increased funding, and there are many new joiners such as Opera UpClose and Pegasus Opera Company, who are based in South London. It is worth noting that these statistics are likely to underestimate the level of opera activity being funded as some organisations in the 2023–26 Investment Programme will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories.
The Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on opera.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing for (1) secondary schools, (2) music hubs, and (3) national youth music organisations, to give young people opportunities to play in classical music ensembles and orchestras.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
All pupils should have access to an excellent, well-rounded education, and music education is central to this.
The government invested over £300 million of ring-fenced funding in music hubs in 2016-20, to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high-quality music education, including learning to play musical instruments and having the opportunity to play and sing in ensembles.
On 3 January 2020, we announced a further £80 million investment in music hubs for 2020-21. Alongside this investment, charities that help young people learn about different styles of music are also set to receive a further £1 million to support the next generation of musicians. These programmes are In Harmony, National Youth Music Organisations (NYMOs) and Music for Youth.