The next item is a statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language on the National Music Service: delivering the national plan for music education. I call on the Minister to make his statement—Jeremy Miles.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Experiencing he joy of music, in all its forms, should be at the heart of every school and education setting. But we know that, for too long, learning to play an instrument has been for the few who can afford the tuition costs, and that is not acceptable. No child should ever miss out through a lack of means. Every child, regardless of their background and family income, should be able to benefit from music education.

I am pleased, therefore, to launch our new national plan for music education. The plan states that a national music service will be established, which is one of the main commitments in the programme for government. Some £13.5 million of funding will be provided to local authorities and their music services over the next three years to provide a sustainable future for music education in Wales. The plan sets out how all children and young people, from the ages of three to 16, will have the chance to learn to play an instrument. It ensures that our children and young people from all backgrounds make the most of what our rich culture, heritage and our communities, all over Wales and beyond, have to offer.

Our foundations of the National Music Service have already begun to be laid. Last year, a significant sum was spent—£6.82 million—to purchase musical instruments and adapted musical instruments to support our children and young people with additional learning needs. As part of this package of support, digital music licences were arranged for local authority music services and professional learning to help train our music practitioners and to ensure teaching and experiences are in line with the Curriculum for Wales.

Over recent months, we’ve worked with a wide range of stakeholders across music and education, schools and settings and the creative industry. We've listened to them on what we can do to help our children and young people to learn and experience the joy of music, and to provide them with experiences of that joy. Their enthusiasm on what we can do to help learners and their well-being, and the helpful and honest discussions about the challenges they face in recovering from the pandemic, have all helped shape what should be at the core of a national music service.

With music being one of the disciplines in the expressive arts part of the curriculum and 'what matters' statements that our schools and settings have to follow to develop the skills, experience and knowledge of our learners, the close links with schools and settings that will be delivering in this area will strengthen the service. Its close links with schools and settings will do this by delivering the expressive arts part of the curriculum, an essential part of the curriculum. In order that all children and young people can have lessons and experiences in music within schools and beyond, the National Music Service will nurture stronger links with organisations and work in partnership with our wider music community. Deputy Llywydd, working together, we will ensure that there is a diverse range of opportunities for music making and for enjoying music for life across Wales, no matter where the school or setting is based.

The National Music Service will be made up of key partners and organisations working together as a hub, with the Welsh Local Government Association, as the lead body, responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the service and its work programmes. They will ensure that the work programmes are diverse and accessible to all children and young people, and allocate funding to local authorities to provide the necessary resources and staff to deliver the work.

The plan sets out our work programmes for the service, which will ensure that access to music education is fairer and more consistent right across Wales. The main focus of our work programmes will, from September, help our children and young people in schools and settings, with support for our learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, low-income households and those with additional learning needs to be able to access and progress with music tuition. Children and young people from under-represented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds will also be supported to join music ensembles as part of the plans.

For example, our First Experiences programme will give children in primary schools and settings a minimum of half a term of musical instrument taster sessions, delivered by trained and skilled music practitioners, to take part and enjoy making music. Our secondary schools and settings will receive funding for experiences that will support young people's health and well-being and their progression to GCSE music, providing them with opportunities to develop in playing an instrument or singing, and so nurturing their talents and ambitions. There'll also be a Making Music with Others initiative, which includes an ensemble recovery programme to support the recovery from the COVID pandemic in this area, and opportunities for our young people to gain industry experience through working alongside musicians and creative industries. A new national instrument and equipment library will also be created to support local authorities in establishing access to a resource bank of instruments and equipment to be shared across Wales.

Crucial to the service's success is the ability to assess how well these programmes are doing. The WLGA will develop an evaluation strategy, looking at the benefits to our children and young people and, more importantly, its success. They will have the flexibility to develop new work programmes if a programme is not going well, and adapt accordingly. The WLGA will also look at the challenges facing the music education workforce across Wales. To ensure our local authority hosted music tutors are treated equitably and that their contribution to music education is recognised properly, the WLGA will carry out a review of the terms and conditions, which will begin in autumn 2023 and is expected to complete by summer 2024.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I know how important it was to me, when I was in school, to have the opportunity to learn the baritone, in my case, and to be able to play in brass ensembles. I'm not alone in this. Music, I know, is something that many of us here today hold close to our hearts. I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of many Members of the Senedd who've campaigned in this area over recent years, none more so than Rhianon Passmore, whose passion in this area is clear for all to see. I'd also like to recognise the work of the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications committee, whose inquiry and recommendations in the last Senedd have played an important role in today’s announcement.

Dirprwy Lywydd, the National Music Service and the national plan represent a bold step forward in supporting music education in Wales. Nerth gwlad, ei gwybodaeth—the strength of a nation is its knowledge. Our new National Music Service delivers on our manifesto, our programme for government commitment, and is vital to make that difference for our children and young people to nurture their musical skills in schools and our communities and for their well-being, so that we continue to produce new talent from our land of song for the next generation to come. 

Conservative spokesperson, Laura Anne Jones.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank the Minister for his statement today. We welcome this statement, as we feel Government financial input into music for young people is long overdue. I'd also like to extend my thanks to Rhianon Passmore for the work that she's done in the last Senedd. But we also—. It still remains that we have some practical concerns about your announcement today, Minister. 

There has always been a postcode lottery in regard to access to music facilities and music learning opportunities across our council borders. This inequality of opportunity has to end, but is your proposal the right way to go about it, or is this another sticking plaster from this Government, as this really does need to be a long-term, sustainable plan? Music provision currently differs radically between all 22 Welsh local authorities, and the postcode lottery at the moment is very real.

For too long, this has been left to cash-strapped councils trying to rescue these services by themselves, and individuals—an example of this being the late Peter Clarke, former Monmouthshire County Council councillor, who was a huge advocate of Gwent Music, which helped secure that musical opportunity to a degree in Gwent. But it really has taken individuals on a crusade until now across our councils in Wales to save these musical opportunities for our children, which is clearly wrong. 

It is clear that music education in Wales needs rejuvenation, and this National Music Service has the potential to be the catalyst for that, accessibility, of course, being a key factor in order to ensure success—to instruments and lessons. So, I hope that transport costs for those living in rural areas will be taken into account to ensure that equality of opportunity and access to those services and instruments—or will there be delivery costs for the instruments? I'm just wondering about those practical concerns that we have. The chance to use a free instrument could provide an invaluable experience to young people across Wales, and set them on that musical pathway, but there are still big questions as to how this would work in practice.

We welcome, obviously, the six months of lessons for children, but could you please clarify where they're coming from? Is that bodies like Gwent Music that the musicians are coming from? I just wanted some clarity on that for myself. If, after six months, a child or young person wants to carry on those lessons, how will they be financially supported to do so, so they don't just get that snippet of six months if they do want to take it further? Will they have vouchers? Will they have discounted services? Because, obviously, after that six months, those same financial concerns will remain for many of our families.

Also, prompted by speaking to my own child this morning about this, in terms of in school, when will they be delivered? Will they be delivered in lunch times, in break times, or as part of the new curriculum? Because I'm very aware of many children that would be put off by having them in their break times, which they value, obviously, greatly for their outdoor exercise and fresh air. So, that's the last thing that we want to happen. But if it is part of the curriculum, how will that fit into the school day, because this is three to 16? I'm just particularly concerned about, in secondary schools, how would that fit into the school day.

And finally, Deputy Presiding Officer, Minister, your Government has said that children from low-income families and those with additional learning needs will be given priority, but I'm just wondering how you're going to identify those children now, obviously, with free school meals going to be available for all.

So, I just wanted to ask if you could answer those practical concerns that we have today, and I look forward to your answers, because we all want this National Music Service to succeed. Thank you.

I thank Laura Anne Jones for the constructive questions that she has raised today and for the support that she's given to the proposals that I've announced in my statement. She asked whether the proposals were the right way of going about ensuring consistency of provision across Wales, and I can confirm to her that they are. The model that we've adopted to deliver the National Music Service is essentially a hub-based model, so the WLGA will be the national body on a Wales-wide basis, but working with the music services in all parts of Wales together, and other agencies as well, to deliver the service, and I think there are twin objectives, really. One is to ensure, as she says in her question, a greater consistency in all parts of Wales of the offer available and also, by working together, to increase the range of options available to pupils in schools in Wales. The First Minister and I were at St Joseph's school in Swansea yesterday, and we were able ourselves to experience a range of instruments, which the pupils were having a fantastic time playing. And our ambition is to see that happening in all parts of Wales.

The other point that she made in her question relates to the variability of the experience of the teaching workforce in different parts of Wales. A component of the plan, which is to undertake a review of terms and conditions of local authority hosted music tutors to ensure a greater consistency across Wales, is also an important dimension in that picture.

In relation to the point that she made about accessibility and instruments, she will remember the announcement that we made at the end of last year of almost £7 million-worth of investment to purchase instruments, and what we will be developing as part of this plan is a Wales-wide library of instruments so that we know what is where and what's available to support the ambitions of our young people, but also, importantly, to provide access to the ensemble experience, which is important outside the world of the school as well.

In terms of the progression question that she raised, there'll be, in the primary stage, at least half a term of free music taster sessions, so that young people can explore their tastes and preferences, if you like, in terms of instruments. But it's an important focus for this plan to make sure that music tuition remains accessible throughout a child's and young person's journey through school. So, for example, we will also be looking at agreeing a maximum charge for music tuition across the system. And also, if anyone is undertaking music tuition as part of their GCSE or, in fact, an A-level, that that will also be free. And for those learners who would not otherwise be able to afford tuition or an instrument because of the circumstances of their family, those will be prioritised for support as part of the plan.

The point that she makes about FSM eligibility as being a criterion that is relevant here is actually a common question across a number of areas of Government policy. Of course, FSM eligibility will still be a relevant criterion for secondary, and we are working on a set of metrics that will apply across the range of eligibility that we are responsible for.

Lastly, on the point in relation to the curriculum, the role of the music services in relation to the curriculum as part of this plan is essentially to support teachers to deliver the curriculum. Obviously, the design of the curriculum remains in the hands of the teachers themselves, but the tutors under the plan, under the service, will be able to support and signpost and advise the range of experiences that are available to young people as part of their service. So, they'll be working very much hand in hand with classroom teachers, and there'll be a range of professional learning resources that will be provided in order to support that work that the WLGA, the consortia and local authorities will be feeding into to make sure that it's consistent with the needs of the curriculum. 

For Plaid Cymru, Heledd Fychan.

Thank you. I'd like to welcome this announcement today and note specifically how pleased I was to hear one word being repeated by the Minister, namely the 'joy' of music. The emphasis on the importance of music in terms of the health and well-being of all of us is something that all of us should welcome, and, particularly in the context of the cost-of-living crisis and the child poverty crisis, I welcome how important the emphasis is on equal access for every child and young person in Wales to music education, as well as the emphasis on equal access for children and young people with additional learning needs. The only thing that was a cause of regret in terms of your statement was hearing about your baritone voice and, therefore, that you didn't sing in your statement. But certainly, the fact that the emphasis is on joy in such a difficult context for many families is to be welcomed.

Because the truth is that there is a crisis in terms of music in schools. Estyn has found that music was one of the subjects most impacted by the pandemic, but we do have to acknowledge that the crisis existed before the pandemic. Since 2014, the number of pupils taking GCSE in music has fallen almost 20 per cent, and almost 40 per cent at A-level, creating a risk in terms of the future of the music sector in Wales. Further, research shows that 50 per cent of pupils in private schools receive music lessons frequently, as compared to 15 per cent in state schools, and this is reflected in terms of the numbers who go on to have a successful music career. This investment, therefore, is to be welcomed in terms of providing redress for the underfunding of services that were seen, until today, as something that was nice to have rather than something vital for the development of every child and young person.

I'd like to ask about a few practical points in terms of Estyn's role, and the role it will play in ensuring, by making school music provision a part of its inspections, that every school does take full advantage of this provision. Given that this is part of the new curriculum, I take it that this will included, but it would be good if we could have that confirmed. I would also like to have more information on evaluation, because it's important that we understand the impact of this, because if there hasn't been access to music education for so long, it is going to take time for pupils to want to take up this provision, and there will be a gap in terms of some students, too.

I also welcome the emphasis on the range of instruments, because not every instrument suits every person. I think that is important. Even where there is provision of music education in schools, sometimes only one specific instrument is provided, and if you don't love that instrument, then you're not going to love music in general. So, the range of instruments is very important, too. 

May I also ask, with regard to the plan, whether there's an intention to ensure equal access to practice space? Because one of the challenges, of course, is to have that space at home. If you live in a flat, or somewhere with thin walls, and so on, you could face complaints, perhaps. We all know that when you start to learn an instrument, you might not produce the most pleasant noise in the world, but it is important that you are able to make those mistakes, so that you don't then feel put off when it comes to the need to practise. So, there is a requirement for practice space, and is that related to extending the school day, and the opportunity with regard to music there? Is that part of your intention?

Like you, Minister, I personally benefited from music education classes in school, as I learned the cello, clarinet and harp, and I borrowed instruments during that period, because instruments can be very, very expensive, too. I remember being able to have a harp on loan for £30 per year, and so I had the opportunity to learn. And I think that's to be welcomed in this plan, too. 

Laura Anne Jones's points were very fair in terms of the long-term view. This is a three-year plan, and I very much welcome that question about the continuity of the investment, because this is an exciting and significant investment, in my view. I think one of the challenges is how we can sustain those opportunities in future and also the opportunities to take part in orchestras. There are often summer trips associated with that, which can be very costly. I think there will be many things that we will learn as this plan proceeds, which is to be welcomed, but this will also need to be evaluated. 

I'd also like to pay tribute to Rhianon Passmore and the work of the culture committee. And, of course, I have to talk about Bethan Sayed. I see from Twitter today that she welcomes this very much, and if she were here today, she would be on her feet to welcome this plan. So, I look forward to seeing how this will all go, but it is important that we keep a close eye on this and ensure that there is that continuity so that equal access is maintained. Thank you. 

Thank you, Heledd Fychan, for those questions. She's right to say that the situation has been something that we've wanted to address for years. I remember when I was in school taking advantage of free music lessons and, as the Member was able to, I was able to borrow a brass instrument, without our having to buy one as a family. Unfortunately, the landscape has changed significantly since then, of course. And the committees, including Bethan's committee, as the Member referred to, undertook work in the last Senedd to shape this, and it has been very valuable. And I would also like to talk about the work that Kirsty Williams, my predecessor, did in terms of investment in instruments and establishing Anthem, which has been a contribution to this important landscape. 

In terms of the work that we will be doing with other bodies beyond the borders of the service, there will be a role for local authorities, Estyn and the consortia to help shape how the work of the service touches with the needs of the curriculum and so forth. In creating resources, we'll be working with Estyn on that in order to create professional training resources, for example, so that tutors have access to the best means of ensuring that this happens. And the element of evaluation, I think, is an important one in this sense, because this is a significant investment, and the structure we have is one that's growing from the grass roots up, rather than the other way around. That's exciting, and it enables experimentation and local approaches, and we'll learn from those in terms of what works best and what doesn't work. That is inevitable, I would say. So, this process of evaluation, as we go on, is important so that we can make changes in order to respond to the best practice that will be demonstrated. And I think the Member is right to say that we have to do that in the context of looking at what's happened during the last two years, as that has had an impact. 

The point about practice space is important. I think this is part of the wider agenda that we have as a Government in terms of schools that have a community focus and are therefore open beyond the restricted hours of the school day in order to allow their resources to be used in the way that she mentioned in her question. 

Just as a final point, this commitment is a three-year commitment. We've only got a three-year funding commitment currently for everything, so that's the reason for that. Of course, we'd want to see the continuation of this sort of service beyond that. I hope, and I expect, that this will be a period where we'll be on a new path. I'm sure we'll see success in this area over the next three years and that we'll want to build on that. 

This is music to my ears, this announcement. [Laughter.] I'd also like to pay tribute to Rhianon Passmore, who has been instrumental in championing this. I learned music through a recorder at school, and then stuck notes on my grandmother's piano so that I could learn on her piano as well. And people learned through the colliery brass bands, didn't they, at one time. My son learned through the Flintshire music service 10 years ago. Then, though, there were 2,500 young people taking part through one council's music service, because it was free, and it was a marvellous community. But it was austerity and cuts to public service funding that impacted over the years, as it could no longer be subsidised by the council, and charges started increasing, increasing, bit by bit each year. There was free transport then as well, which was amazing—it was a real community—but it was the cuts then that impacted so much that now there are only a few hundred that take part. 

You need to ask your question now, please.

Okay. So, I encouraged my son to learn when it was free. We would not have had access otherwise to that music service, and he would never have had the chance to learn because we couldn't have afforded it. So, will it really be free for people to try? And also, he learnt the trombone because it was the only instrument left for him to try, but he stuck with it and managed to do it to grade 8. But, we need to make sure there's a variety of instruments for people to learn—and it was great that that was the only instrument left—so that young people don't just want to learn drums and guitar, because those seem to be the really popular ones, because we need to have a variety, don't we, for ensembles for brass bands, for all these great things? 

And there was just one more thing. It was mentioned previously—

No, you're over your time. There are no more things. 

Okay, fine. I will write to the Minister with the other one. [Laughter.]

Can I commend Members generally for having been restrained in their use of musical puns in their contributions today? But, I'll just say, Carolyn Thomas, that your contribution hit the right note. I hope Members won't feel this is too orchestrated. [Laughter.] But, just to say, I think the point that she makes about the variety of experience is absolutely at the heart of this. I started off playing cornet and then became a euphonium and baritone player, partly because of the availability of instruments. So, I think we want to do everything we can to make sure that there's a range of instruments available and, certainly, if the experience that the First Minister and I had yesterday in the school in Swansea is anything to go by, there was definitely a menu of options for young people to choose from. And actually, the investment that we made at the end of last year has been invested with that very much in mind. 

In relation to the costs, yes, for those who need the most support, tuition will be free, and for those for whom it's an important part of their GCSE or A-level examinations, it'll be free. But, for everybody, the ambition in the plan is to agree a maximum charge for the tuition that is delivered during school time. So, that'll be an important part of the work that the WLGA, together with the music services, will be delivering as part of this.  

Can I join Members in welcoming today's statement on the launch of the Welsh Government's National Music Service? I declare that my sister-in-law is a peripatetic music teacher in north Wales. But, Minister, you referred a couple of times to your visits yesterday, and I did enjoy the video of yourself and the First Minister, but it did highlight to me the importance of a national plan for music tuition being developed, because it was certainly inspiring. But, last year, I had the pleasure of visiting a Wrexham and Denbighshire music co-operative to watch one of their live streamed performances to local schools, showing children a range of musical instruments and encouraging them to take up music themselves. This is just one example of many fantastic organisations out there that provide this service for our young people. So, in light of this, Minister, what assessment have you made of the role of organisations such as Wrexham and Denbighshire music co-operative in helping to deliver and making a success of the National Music Service? Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

I thank the Member for that. When I was on the committee that looked into this in the last Senedd, we took evidence from a range of music services. So, the ambition of the plan isn't to stipulate the form of the service delivery; that will remain a function for the local authority, but all music services will be able to work together with the WLGA to deliver the plan overall. But, one of the challenges that we faced for some time in Wales is actually the variability of the experience of music teachers in different parts of Wales, whatever the form that the service itself takes. And I think a really important advantage of the plan that we have here is, over the course of the next, 2023-24, academic year, an important and quite complex, actually, piece of work to look at the different terms and conditions that apply to music tuition right across Wales, and to seek to bring greater consistency and fairness to that, because I think, ultimately, to deliver a long-term, sustainable step change, which is exactly what all music services want to see as part of this plan that I'm confident will be delivered, it will be important to make sure that the workforce have that consistency across Wales, insofar as we can do that.

I find myself this week amazed to be following contributions from Laura Anne Jones and not shouting 'object', which is a surprise to me, but it's clear, Minister, that this statement today has cross-party support, and I commend this statement to this Senedd.

But as Members have said from across the Chamber, including yourself, I couldn't contribute to today's statement without paying tribute to my good friend Rhianon Passmore, because it is due to her drive and determination that we are here today—her drive and determination to get it into the Welsh Labour manifesto, which we stood on and won. I do hope that this music strategy inspires the next generation of musicians, and I'm sure that it will, because those are the real winners. The children of Wales are the real winners, because they will be given that gift of music. 

Minister, I have already had excited constituents asking me: how can they get involved, how can they sign up, how can they take part in this programme? I would be grateful for a response to that question, because this is a really important announcement today. I very much welcome this. I welcome it from a Welsh Labour Government bringing forward a great strategy. 

I thank the Member for that, and I think that his point about inspiring the next generation is really at the heart of this. Whether your experience of music is just to have a go at an instrument at primary school, or whether it becomes a lifelong passion, or whether it becomes your career, I think that part of the offer here is to make sure that we connect young people who have a particular passion, who might want to make a livelihood out of music, helping them along that journey, connecting them with the support that they need, and the career options that are there for them. But even if you don't want to do that, even if you just want to have music as a passion and a pastime, the service will support you in doing that.

So, the plan is for this to be rolled out from September of this year. So, one of the, I would imagine, first tasks that the lead body, the WLGA, will be setting itself is to make sure that the information is cascaded out into schools, through the music services already embedded in those schools, so that our young people know what the opportunity is and how they can access it and make the most of this exciting opportunity.

And finally, Ken Skates.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, thanks so much for this very welcome statement today—a statement that you would not be making had it not been for the contribution that Rhianon Passmore has made in regard to this particular issue over many years. Just a small number of questions from me.

First of all, how do you envisage using or utilising the Welsh diaspora, and in particular some of the most successful modern-day musicians that we have representing Wales around the globe, including people like Jonny Buckland, who went to Mold Alun High School, and is one of the world's most successful modern-day musicians as a member of Coldplay, and who regularly reflects on the fact that it was his music teacher, Mrs Parr, who gave so much in his development? Secondly, Dirprwy Lywydd, I would like to ask the Minister whether any thought or consideration is being given to similar initiatives for drama and dance. Diolch.

I thank Ken Skates for those two really important questions. On the first of the two questions, actually, we have already had contact from a number of high-profile Welsh musicians—some in Wales, but some beyond our borders—who have been terribly excited by this announcement and have been getting in touch to say, 'How can we help?' So, referring back to the question that Jack Sargeant asked earlier, we will want to look over the coming weeks at how we can harness the commitment and enthusiasm of those who have made a real success of music in Wales, to help us promote the availability of the service from September onwards. So, I think that there is a really important task for us to undertake there.

And I hope that the kind of approach that we are taking in relation to music education here can have benefits in other parts of the creative and expressive arts. It's an integral part of learning in the new curriculum, but beyond that, we absolutely know the value that artistic expression and creative expression of all forms can have in terms of well-being and, in particular, I think, in the course of the experience that young people have had over the last two years. The more that we can do in this space, the more that we should, and I'm sure that young people right across Wales will benefit from that.

I thank the Minister.