£300 million government funding to continue music hubs

The government has announced more than £300 million to continue to fund a network of 121 music education hubs which work with schools, local authorities and community organisations to get more young people taking part in music and arts. The funding will be for the next four years.

First set up in 2012, the hubs allow children to play instruments, sing in choirs or play in bands.

Government investment will also help young people from lower income families access music and arts. The Music and Dance scheme, which provides grants to talented young artists who could not otherwise afford to attend world-class institutions like the Royal Ballet School, will receive an additional £29 million a year until 2018.

The six recently announced opportunity areas - parts of the country identified as the most challenged when it comes to social mobility - will be given particular focus.

A further six cultural education programmes which cover heritage, dance, art and design, film and museums will share a further £4.1 million a year until 2018.

Alongside this, further funding for a series of other arts and cultural education programmes has been announced. This includes £500,000 a year until 2018 to In Harmony, an orchestral training programme for pupils in extremely disadvantaged areas, intended to develop positive character traits. £600,000 will go towards other small music programmes across the country for each year until 2020. And £13.5 million a year will be given to the Dance and Drama Awards scheme until 2018. This scheme offers income-assessed support for tuition fees and living costs for students aged 16 to 23 at a number of high quality private dance and drama schools.