Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on
the development of their cultural education plan.
(Con)
In begging leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the
Order Paper, I declare my interests as the chair of the national
plan for music education.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, progress is continuing with the cultural education
plan. Since May, the Department for Education and the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport have conducted extensive engagement
with external stakeholders across the education and cultural
sectors—a comprehensive series of nearly 50 events. We also
appointed an expert advisory panel in July 2023, chaired by the
noble Baroness, Lady Bull. Both the panel and the stakeholder
engagement are helping to inform the development of the plan and
its emerging proposals.
(Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that Answer.
Cultural education, like music education, is delivered not just
in schools but by partnerships with cultural, voluntary and faith
organisations and the third sector. Can my noble friend say how
the plan will address the current lack of infrastructure to
signpost opportunities and broker these connections? Music
education has dedicated music hubs to do this; what resources
will the Government put in place to fulfil this same function, in
terms of education, for other art forms and disciplines?
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for her question. Obviously, she will
understand that I cannot pre-empt the decisions and
recommendations on the cultural education plan, but I absolutely
agree with her about the importance of partnerships. I understand
that the expert panel is looking at examples of good practice, of
exactly the type that my noble friend set out, but also the
barriers to implementing them, including in relation to
infrastructure.
The (CB)
My Lords—
(CB)
My Lords, would the Government agree with me when I say—
Noble Lords
Order!
(CB)
I do not understand.
(Con)
My Lords, let me explain to the noble Lord. Again, could the
noble Lords in question come to a gentlemen’s agreement on who
speaks first?
(CB)
Do the Government agree with me that one of the best ways of
emptying our prisons is by investing in our youngsters who go
wrong and using art and culture to bring about social
transformation in their lives? I am a living embodiment of that:
if it was not for culture in my early years, I would not be
here.
(Con)
The noble Lord speaks with great authority on this. I absolutely
agree with him that art and culture, as well as other
extracurricular activities such as sport and other opportunities,
are critical for young people at risk of offending or in
prison.
(Lab)
My Lords, the number of creative studies teachers is on the
decline in England: between 2011 and 2022, there was a 20% drop
in drama teachers, 15% in music and 11% in art. The Government
are still missing targets for recruitment to combat this decline.
The impact is that fewer students are studying creative subjects,
limiting children’s creativity and risking future talent
pipelines for our creative industries. Notwithstanding the answer
the noble Baroness gave to my question yesterday, what are the
Government doing now to improve the picture for creative
education in schools?
(Con)
Well, unfortunately, my recognition of the noble Baroness’s
figures has not changed since yesterday. My understanding is
that, since 2014-15, the number of qualified music teachers has
risen from around 89% to an average of about 95% in the last
couple of years. Similarly, for art and design, 96.5% of lessons
are taught by teachers with post-A-level qualifications. However,
since yesterday I can share with the House that there will be a
new survey on extracurricular music uptake, which will be
published later this year, which shows much higher levels of
participation in June 2023 in relation to singing and instrument
lessons, access to live music performances and participation by
children in live music performances. So the Government are not
talking about it—the Government are delivering.
(LD)
We welcome this cultural education plan, and we have every
confidence in the noble Baroness, Lady Bull. Of course, cultural
education is not just about learning—it has to be about seeing,
doing and having the opportunity to visit art galleries and
museums, listening to concerts, going to theatres and seeing
heritage. But, of course, children and young people from poor
families really struggle to make that happen. How do we go about
that?
(Con)
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question, because the
focus of the cultural education plan is to tackle those
disparities in opportunity and to promote more access for
children in areas of significant deprivation, making sure that
children have good cultural experiences in school but also
outside school.
The (CB)
My Lords, the plan has highly laudable aims, but does the
Minister not appreciate that the national curriculum and
accountability measures being out of scope, as the terms of
reference clearly state, is supremely unhelpful, if a major goal
is universal access to the arts in schools, since this in effect
limits the solution before the inquiry even gets under way?
(Con)
I simply do not accept the noble Earl’s assertion. I will make
two points. First, the knowledge-rich curriculum, which this
Government have delivered, gives a foundation for children to
exercise their creativity. Secondly, in all my visits to schools,
of which I make many around the country, I see them doing
extraordinary things, offering children all sorts of cultural
opportunities across drama, the arts and music.
(Lab)
My Lords—
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, there is no gentlemen’s agreement on this side, so I am
going to keep standing. This is another plan with which I am not
very familiar. Will the Minister ensure that the plan embeds this
country’s rich heritage, which enriches our children’s
understanding, knowledge and respect for history, which has been
talked about? It created the anti-slavery movement and the
movements against colonisation and apartheid, which has resulted
in this country becoming a beacon of multiculturalism.
(Con)
The plan is quite clear that cultural education has an important
social value, helping children recognise the value and richness
of the different communities that make up our great nation.
(Con)
My Lords, I refer to my interests in the register, particularly
as chairman of Historic England. Following on from the noble
Baroness, we know that heritage education as a part of cultural
education has an enormous impact on young lives, particularly in
building community and a sense of civic pride, providing an
avenue for skills and jobs. I am concerned that the cultural
education plan may not include its fair share of emphasis on
heritage. Can my noble friend the Minister provide some
reassurance that heritage will be taken very seriously, as the
cultural education plan develops?
(Con)
I take this opportunity to congratulate my noble friend on his
appointment as chair of Historic England, and also to reassure
him that we absolutely agree about the importance of heritage. On
the panel, we have one of the teachers from the heritage schools
programme, Ashley Bartlett, a history teacher from Leicester;
Robert Peal from the West London Free School also brings
expertise in this area.
(Lab)
My Lords, has any progress been made in discussions or
negotiations with our European neighbours to enable youth
orchestras once again to tour throughout Europe? It is a tragedy
that this has been brought to an end. Can the Minister give some
hope that it might be reversed and reintroduced?
(Con)
I understand the noble Viscount’s concerns about our youth
orchestras. I will need to co-ordinate with and talk to my
colleagues in DCMS, but I am happy to write to him with an
answer.
