Sector promised a say on music education shakeup

The music education sector will have an opportunity to shape plans to reduce the number of Music Education Hubs across England as part of a consultation beginning next month, Arts Council England (ACE) has said.

Guidance published by ACE on its website reveals that it will begin a dialogue with the sector in late September in order to "determine the most appropriate mechanisms" for achieving a reduced number of hubs and to "talk through any concerns".

The plans were first set out in the government’s refreshed National Plan for Music Education (NPME), which was unveiled in June. ACE has been tasked with implementing the changes by leading the new investment programme for Music Hubs – the Music Hub Investment Programme – worth £79m a year.

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"We want to understand and talk through any concerns on how to realise the ambitions within the NPME and explore what the geographic options and partnership model arrangements could look like," ACE has said.

There are currently 118 hubs across England consisting of groups of organisations – such as schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts education organisations, community or youth organisations – working in partnership to deliver high-quality music provision. Each is run by a hub lead organisation (HLO).

The government wants them to cover wider geographic areas to allow them to be more strategic and consistent in their delivery and coverage, and offer a broader range of opportunities and more high profile, ambitious platforms and projects for young people.

"We expect that many current Music Education Hub Lead Organisations will remain an important part of the new programme, either because they successfully apply to become a Music Hub Lead Organisation for a larger Music Hub area or partnership, or because they are a key delivery partner in one of these larger areas," ACE said.

Music Education Hubs were first established in 2012 in response to the government’s initial NPME, with local authorities, limited companies, charities and community interest companies acting as HLOs in different parts of the country.

According to ACE statistics, existing hubs have worked with approximately 90% of primary schools and over 85% of secondary schools in England.

In 2020/21, they raised £110m of additional income against the Department for Education’s (DfE) annual £78m investment and supported 350,000 pupils to have online or blended music lessons.

The consultation process for the new system will include surveys, workshops and focus groups.

Multi-area hubs

Of the current 118 hubs in England, 22% of hubs serve or are organised across more than one local authority area, so-called "multi-area hubs". Decreasing the number of HLOs will lead to an increase in multi-area hubs.

Just over a third (36%) of local authorities in England are currently served by a multi-hub area, with over three-quarters of these (76%) currently led by a local authority.

ACE-commissioned research by Andrea Spain found existing multi-area hubs have proved more resilient and sustainable than single-areas hubs, due to being less easily impacted by local changes. Existing multi-areas hubs have also experienced increased profiles and more local political buy-in, due to being larger and more influential entities.

A 2020 survey of young people musically active in multi-area hubs found they value the opportunities they make possible, including meeting and playing with more fellow musicians, and the access to a wider range of musical activities and ensembles.

But Spain’s research warns multi-areas hubs require effective delegation and communication to overcome logical constraints associated with travel and transport and the alignment with different policies and systems.

It also underlines that multi-area hubs are not necessarily easier or cheaper to run than single-area hubs and require skilled facilitation and leadership.

Future partnerships

ACE says it will be the responsibility of organisations applying to become a HLO to bring together a range of organisations and individuals via hubs partnerships.

If awarded funding, these partnership will be responsible for “ensuring local needs, demands and opportunities are responded to and that a consistent, high-quality offer of music education is available to all children and young people within the hub area,” ACE's guidance says.

Hub funding comes through a ring-fenced grant from the DfE and is administered by ACE. Existing grants to hubs range from £53,000 to £3.8m a year, with the average allocation by local authority equating to £500,000.

A recent report by left-wing think tank the Fabian Society said current hubs were "struggling to deliver" amid stagnant funding.

It is yet to be confirmed when the new cohort of Music Hubs will take over from existing HLOs. ACE says it is working closely with the DfE to confirm details and timeline for the application stage of the investment programme.

An ACE seminar with music education member association Music Mark to explore what future Music Hub partnerships could look like is scheduled for 21 September.