Skip to main content

Arts: Pupils

Volume 473: debated on Monday 17 March 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with the Department for Children, Schools and Families on improving access to the arts for school pupils; and if he will make a statement. (193753)

[holding answer 13 March 2008]: We are committed to working closely with the Department for Children, Schools and Families on improving access to the arts for school pupils.

On 13 February 2008 we announced a £25 million Find Your Talent programme of 10 pilots that will trial ways of offering children and young people a range of high quality cultural experiences for five hours a week, in and out of school.

We have published a prospectus seeking applications from partnerships in local areas around the country, setting out a core range of activities we believe young people should be able to engage with. We are looking for innovative bids that will test different ways of delivering a range of cultural opportunities over the next three years, including ways of ensuring all children are able to experience at least five hours. The pilots will give us the information we need to make decisions about rolling out the offer nationally.

These pilots will build on the considerable amount of cultural activity already taking place in and out of school and the investment we put into this area. For example we recently announced that we will invest a further £110 million to expand the successful Creative Partnerships programme over the next three years so that it works with more than 2,000 schools per year.