North Yorkshire Council

Meeting with Executive Members

21 May 2024

Acceptance of the Music Hub Grant to run the North Yorkshire/York Music Hub to deliver the National Plan for Music Education

1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1    

 i) To recommend that the Executive authorises the acceptance of the Music Hub grant totalling £1,258,152 made up of £947,053 revenue grant plus a related capital grant of £311,099 for musical instrument purchase.

2.0       SUMMARY

2.1      The DfE and Arts Council have decided that there should be fewer Lead Organisations in its next round of funding. They have redrawn the map of music hubs to combine areas across the country. We have been paired with York Music Hub, a charitable trust in York who are the current Lead Organisation in York grant, as we are for North Yorkshire. The successful Lead Organisation for the Music Hub in our area will need to deliver to York and North Yorkshire from September 2024 onwards. We received permission to bid for the Music Education Hub grant and have been successful. We now need to seek permission to accept the bid and lead the new North Yorkshire/York Music Hub.

3.0       BACKGROUND

3.1       The Music Service has been Lead Organisation in the North Yorkshire Music Hub since the introduction of the National Plan for Music Education (NPME) in 2011. The Music Hub is simply a collection of organisations operating in North Yorkshire, with whom we work to deliver a wider range of outcomes for pupils.  It has received an Arts Council grant to work with partner organisations to deliver the NPME across schools in North Yorkshire. Initially there were four core roles, which were whole class instrumental lessons; small group and individual tuition; access to ensembles in and out of school time and a singing strategy. These were then expanded to include supporting schools with their music curriculum through CPD and providing tuition where schools had no specialist teacher.

3.2    In 2020 the Government announced that a refresh of the National Plan for Music would be produced. This came out in 2022 and with it, a new bidding process for the grant. However, this time they announced that the successful hub lead organisation will need to oversee more than one local authority area.

3.3    We have won the bid and if we accept, we will be the Lead Organisation for both North Yorkshire Council and the York area, currently led by York Music Hub charitable trust. The bigger range we have as the Lead Organisation for the combined area will provide opportunities for increasing our income, provide a greater range of opportunities for children and young people and expand our partnerships with other cultural organisations.

4.0       ISSUES

4.1 There are several Arts Council/DfE conditions we will need to satisfy before inception.      These are as follows:

· Music Hub Development Plan – a full plan covering York and North Yorkshire on development of school support, instrumental delivery, sustainability, and growth.

· Partners Table – a list of all partners both strategic and operational

· Financial Information template – budget management of the hub

·     Music Hub’s governance and management arrangements.

           These were already outlined in the original bid, so progress has already been made in all these areas.

4.2   North Yorkshire Council will be responsible for the grant for the whole area, as well as the outcomes. The North Yorkshire Music Service will be working closely with York Music Hub, (who may deliver some of the programme) and be responsible for reporting back to Arts Council England. In collaboration with our legal team, we are drawing up a firm Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with York Music Hub to set out the nature of the agreement and expectations for reporting procedures.

4.3    Appendix 1 is the awards letter and clearly sets out the path for accepting the grant award.

5.0 CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN AND RESPONSES

5.1 The Music Service is consulting with legal to draw up a partnership agreement with York Music Hub. We have previously consulted with HR and Exec Members for CYPS to gain permission to bid.

5.2       We have consulted with the finance team to make sure due process is followed.

5.3        We are consulting with the procurement team in relation to the £311K for musical instruments, that will be part of the overall award.

6.0       ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERATIONS

6.1 It was important that the Music Service remained Lead Organisation in the Music Hub, so we have control of our own finances and delivery models. To not bid would have meant a third-party top slicing the grant and potentially directing how and when we deliver instrumental lessons for North Yorkshire Schools. As a result, no other alternatives were available to us.

7.0       FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

7.1 Not bidding or accepting the bid would have serious financial implications for the Music Service, as another organisation would be asked to become Hub Lead. This would mean we would not necessarily have control of our own financial situation and may face increased budget pressures because of the grant being top sliced.

7.2      We will be able to increase our traded offer to York schools, particularly on our whole class instrumental programmes. This will benefit the service financially.

7.3      The grant is only guaranteed for 1 year. However, the National Plan for Music Education is a 5-year plan so it is expected that funding for Music Hubs would remain post 2025. If it is halted, the Music Service would need to reorganise as it does not receive any core council funding.

7.4       The Legal Team have drawn up an MOU to cover delivery agreements with York Music Hub. It is expected that we will top slice some of the grant to cover our own increased management costs and work we will do on behalf of York Music Hub.

7.5     The revenue grant is for £947,053 and the capital grant is £311,099. The capital grant is linked to the revenue grant and will be released after presentation of the revenue grant. The capital grant is purely for providing new instruments to pupils and cannot be spent on storage, repairs or other costs relating to instruments.

8.0       LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

8.1 The receipt of these grants does not contravene the Subsidy Control regime. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 will be complied with in any procurement relating to the expenditure by the Council of the grant monies.

8.2 Both the revenue and capital grants, which are separate but linked, are the subject of detailed and stringent terms and conditions that must be adhered to and have been reviewed by Legal Services. Legal Services will draft any required partnership agreements, as prescribed by the Department for Education in the grant terms and conditions.

9.0       EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

9.1 The Music Service has completed an Equalities Impact Assessment. There are no implications around equalities. We will continue to offer remissions for eligible pupils in North Yorkshire Schools for the forthcoming academic year. As funding is only guaranteed for one year, we will assess the ongoing implications of our remissions scheme for pupils next fiscal year when further funding agreements have been identified.

10.0     CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

10.1 To support the DfE’s Operations and Supply Chains Action Area 4 and as part of the procurement process for the capital fund for musical instruments, we will question/score companies on their sustainable practices.

10.2     We have undertaken an initial screening for a climate change impact assessment. There are no implications on climate change.

11.0     HUMAN RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS

11.1     At this stage there are no HR implications in accepting the grant.

11.2    If grant funding continues past 2025, we will assess the structures of the Music Service to meet the expected increase in demand for instrumental lessons across the hub.

12.0 CONCLUSIONS

12.1     The grant award enables us to maintain control of our own future and opens possibilities for York and North Yorkshire pupils to gain more opportunities for musical development, benefit from a wider range of partners, venues, and ensembles.

13.0     REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

13.1     We need to accept this grant so we can continue to deliver instrumental lessons in North Yorkshire and deliver the Governments National Plan for Music Education. The reduction in the number of Lead Organisations, as dictated by Arts Council England, means that we will now be responsible for the plan in York.

14.0	RECOMMENDATION
	i) That the Executive authorises the acceptance of the revenue grant for £947,053 and the capital grant is £311,099 (totalling £1,258,152) for the delivery of the new Music Hub for North Yorkshire and York.

            APPENDICES:

Appendix A – Arts Council Award letter

Appendix B – Equalities Impact Assessment

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

Corporate Director – Stuart Carlton

County Hall

Northallerton

Report Author – Ian Bangay (Head of Music Service)

Presenter of Report – Ian Bangay (Head of Music Service)

Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT IF ANY REPORTS / APPENDICES INCLUDE SIGNATURES THESE MUST BE REMOVED / DELETED PRIOR TO SENDING REPORTS / APPENDICES TO DEMOCRATIC SERVICES.  Appendices should include an Equality Impact Assessment and a Climate Impact Assessment where appropriate