Music education hubs: ACE seeks fresh bids for two areas

Arts Council England (ACE) is inviting fresh applications from organisations interested in leading music education hubs in South West London and South Yorkshire, it has been confirmed.

Following government plans announced last year, from September the number of music Hub Lead Organisations (HLO) will be reduced from 114 to 43.

ACE has been responsible for administering the bidding process to become a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) from academic year 2024/25. Announcing the successful organisations today, ACE said it was reopening the application process in the two areas after rejecting the bids that were submitted. Interested organisations have less then a month until the application deadline on 6 June.

READ MORE:

• Music education hub reforms 'immensely challenging'
• Ministerial commitment to music education questioned

“We assessed all music hub applications according to the criteria we published as part of the guidance for applicants. In two areas, no application strongly evidenced how they would meet those criteria,” an ACE spokesperson told Arts Professional.

“We are therefore re-opening the application processes for these areas, to ensure the organisations we appoint to lead these music hubs from September 2024 have an ambitious and achievable plan to deliver high-quality music education for every child they serve.”

Lead organisations are required to work in partnership with schools, colleges, universities, cultural organisations, local authorities and other educational, creative and community organisations to deliver the objectives of the government’s National Plan for Music Education.

The DfE is providing £101m to HLOs for academic year 2024/25, made up of £76m in regular funding for the music hubs programme and £25m to invest in musical instruments, equipment and technology. The funding will include resources specifically designed for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

HLOs will also be responsible for coordinating additional funding. Application guidance stipulated at least 50% of the hub’s total income should come from sources other than the DfE’s revenue grant.

Today’s delayed announcement arrives after ACE postponed revealing the names of lead organisations last month to prevent it coinciding with the local elections.

Larger areas

When the DfE announced plans to reduce the number of music hubs last year, it said hubs spreading wider geographic areas will offer “more and better strategic collaboration” and will improve the quality, breadth and consistency of music education.

Over half of the refreshed music hubs span at least three upper tier local authorities. In the case of the Greater Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen Music Hub, it spans 11 – Bury, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford, Stockport, Oldham, Wigan, Bolton, Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen.

In South Yorkshire, the chosen HLO will be responsible for merging the work of previous hubs in Barnsley, Doncaster, Sheffield and Rotherham. In South West London, the HLO will work across an area spanning Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Wandsworth, Sutton, Hounslow and Croydon.

A newly-formed London West Music Hub (LWMH) is a consortium of five music services – Brent Music Service, Ealing Music Service, Harrow Music Service, Hillingdon Music Service and the Tri-borough Music Hub – and covers seven London boroughs.

LMWH spans 121 square miles, 485 schools and almost 250,000 pupils and has received a £2.8m grant from DfE, alongside a £700,000 grant to invest in musical instruments, equipment and technology.

“Through detailed and collegiate discussions over the past few months between the current heads of the five existing music services and their local authorities, we are looking forward to working together to connect the opportunities in our part of London,” said Stuart Whatmore, LMWH Strategic Lead and Head of Tri-borough Music Hub, a hub which previously covered the boroughs of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham.

School Standards Minister, Conservative MP Damian Hinds, says all the newly-announced HLOs will “ensure every child across the country has the chance to develop a love for music, whether it’s through singing, learning to play an instrument or creating their own music”.

“Studying and engaging with music isn’t a privilege, it’s a vital part of a broad and ambitious curriculum – and all children and young people should have access to an excellent music education and all the knowledge and joy it brings,” he added.