To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been (a) allocated and (b) spent on musical instrument tuition for young people in schools since December 2007. (252924)

The Department allocated £82,567,000 to local authorities in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 through the Music Standards Fund. We have asked local authorities to prioritise the provision of instrumental and vocal tuition at Key Stage 2 with this funding but we neither specify nor collect information on the actual amount that is spent on instrumental tuition. We are also investing £10 million per year to 2011 for the purchase of musical instruments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to encourage an increase in uptake of music (a) GCSE and (b) A level courses. (253497)

The Department allocated £82,567,000 to local authorities in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 through the Music Standards Fund. We have asked local authorities to prioritise the provision of instrumental and vocal tuition at Key Stage 2 with this funding. We are also investing £10 million per year to 2011 on Sing Up, the National Singing Programme spearheaded by Howard Goodall. With this early introduction to quality music experiences we believe that children will come to see themselves as musicians and will have a real and long-lasting enjoyment of music which will encourage them to continue their learning as they move into secondary school. The compulsory Music Curriculum at Key Stage 3 is now much more focussed on performance and hands-on music making. The curriculum builds on students’ own interests and skills and should, therefore, engage them more fully which in turn will encourage them to continue with their studies in music through to GCSE and A Level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils were learning a musical instrument in each year since 2000. (254579)

While this information is not collected centrally, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 15 July 2008 Official Report, column 384W. That reply states the percentage of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils reported as receiving specialist instrumental or vocal tuition in the surveys conducted by the Institute of Education, University of London in 2002, 2005 and 2007.

Data on secondary school pupils was not collected from Music Services in 2007. The 2005 Survey of Local Authority Music Services reported that overall, 8.4 per cent. of pupils Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 4 were learning to play an instrument, a small increase on the figures for 2002. The 2005 report also pointed out that one of the obstacles to increasing the number of pupils playing was the legislation preventing charging for groups larger than four pupils. That legislation has since been amended.

The survey reports are available at

www.dcsf.gov.uk/research.