(Worsley and Eccles South)
(Lab): The shadow Health Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for
Ilford North (), raised the fact that there have been five Health
Secretaries in two years. The Conservatives have also had 12
Culture Secretaries since 2010, so perhaps it should not surprise
us that, among the many glaring omissions in the Gracious Speech,
there was an absence of any measures to support those who work in
Britain’s cultural sector, and particularly
musicians. I want to focus on that.
Music industry leaders tell me that their sector
feels left behind. Freelancers feel left out in the cold without
the financial stability they deserve. In too many communities,
cultural provision is now dependent on the good will of talented
individuals who are prepared to manage on shoestring budgets with
low income levels. We can do so much better in this country. As a
music leader recently told me:
“The warning bell has been ringing for years, and this Government
seems to have taken for granted the drive, passion and sacrifice
which has somehow kept the industry alive.”
I have been told repeatedly that the problems faced by creatives
come back to this: a decline in arts education, which is leading
to skills shortages; falling funding levels; and the challenges
to touring caused by the Government’s failure to get a visa
waiver for touring in the Brexit deal. The Government choose to
ignore those problems and pretend that they are supporting the
sector adequately—even today they are setting ambitious growth
targets for the creative sector. I want to begin by looking at
the squeeze on arts education, and in particular the decline in
music education.
We know that state-funded schools are increasingly unable to
provide strong music education—or in some cases
any music education. Policies such as the
English baccalaureate, combined with the crisis in
music teacher recruitment and squeezed school
budgets, have led to a reduced provision of
music education for young people in state
schools. On average, music provision in
state-funded schools is only 47 minutes a week. That is
significantly below the Government’s target of one hour, which is
a bare minimum. Compare that paltry target with parts of Germany,
where secondary school students study music for at least two
hours a week, or Finland, where music is studied for eight hours
a week. Meanwhile, the uptake of music at
A-level has fallen by a catastrophic 45% since 2010. There is a
similarly worrying picture when it comes to studying music at
GCSE.
In this difficult environment for schools and teachers, the role
of music education hubs is all the more important, yet those hubs
have had their funding reduced by 17% in real terms since 2011,
and Government plans to reduce the number of hubs risk a further
deterioration of the music offer. The Government’s failed
education policies mean that the opportunities to gain the skills
necessary to be a musician are becoming increasingly the preserve
of those young people whose families who can afford to pay
privately, either through attending independent schools or
through private music tuition. As a result of those Conservative
policies, less than a quarter of the music and performing arts
workforce now come from a working-class background.
As well as fewer opportunities in schools, there are now barriers
to both budding and established musicians
touring beyond the UK’s borders. The failure of the former
Culture Secretary to obtain a touring agreement with the European
Union for cultural workers resulted in an appalling mess of red
tape and extortionate fees for bands and orchestras looking to
perform in EU countries. Agents, promoters, record labels and
musicians have all told me that this is proving
devastating for artists, particularly those trying to break into
the industry. The freelance opera singer Paul Carey Jones
said:
“As ever, it’s those at the start of their careers, without the
backing of an established reputation, who will suffer the
most…the consequent long-term damage to the UK’s position as a
global force in the performing arts is incalculable.”
In a recent interview on LBC, the Culture Secretary implied that
sorting out the mess of visas for touring musicians is not under
the control of her Government, but it is up to the Government to
renegotiate it and to find a solution for touring
musicians.
Then there are the financial challenges that many
musicians face. A recent survey by the
Musicians’ Union found that
musicians earn, on average, just £20,700 a year
from music. Nearly a quarter of musicians reported that they did
not earn enough to support themselves or their families, even
after their lengthy training. There is a direct link between the
working conditions of musicians and decisions to cut arts and
culture budgets. Local authorities are the biggest funders of
culture in the UK, but, as we know, they have suffered a 40%
real-terms reduction in central Government spending since 2010.
That has meant a £1.4 billion shortfall in spending on culture,
heritage and libraries. Meanwhile, Arts Council England had its
per capita budget reduced by 13% between 2009-10 and 2021-22. It
is therefore no surprise that the number of filled jobs in music
is falling.
In the last year alone, the number of filled jobs in music
performing and visual arts fell by a tenth—a drop of 35,000
roles. That reduction is even greater in roles relating to
instrument manufacture, sound recording and the operating of
music venues. How can we expect children and young people to
aspire to work in the music industry if there are no jobs for
them to go into?
Funding shortfalls may also sadly have an impact on the important
work undertaken by music organisations in health and care. For
example, the Liverpool philharmonic has just celebrated 15 years
of its music and health programme, which works with the NHS to
help people access music to support their recovery and their
wellbeing. Another brilliant health initiative is the English
National Opera’s “Breathe” programme, where ENO chorus members
have used singing techniques to aid recovery from covid-19 or
long covid. There is also a great deal of work involving
musicians bringing joy to people with dementia and those living
in care homes.
The failure to support musicians and other creatives is not a
peripheral issue, because expression in all its forms is central
to the task of recreating a sense of community, identity, pride
and hope, and our creative workers are at the heart of that
potential. We will never achieve the diversity needed for the
arts sector to thrive under the Tory policies I have discussed.
The systemic failure to protect creative workers under this
Conservative Government has led to working-class representation
in the creative industries halving since the 1970s.
Today, the Culture Secretary is in Manchester, praising the
creative industries as a driver of economic growth. At the same
time, she is presiding over the cutting of the funding streams
that feed them, and expects them to run on empty, doing more with
less, year after year. It is time for this Government finally to
accept that their policies have failed, and that Britain’s
culture sector would be better off under a Labour Government.
