Music Hub Investment Programme

• Timeline: Arts Council England updates the timeline for the Music Hub Investment Programme on their website. View the timeline.
• FAQs: Read answers to frequently asked questions.
• Updates: Arts Council England has a dedicated mailing list for news about the Investment Programme. Sign up to their mailing list or read previous communications here.
• The National Plan: In June 2022, the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport published the National Plan for Music Education: the power of music to change lives. Find out more about the National Plan.

Read about the Music Hub Investment Programme on the Arts Council England website.

Outcome

On 8th April 2024, Arts Council England shared the outcome of the Investment Programme with applicants under embargo due to the period of sensitivity for local elections. Arts Council England will announce the new Hub Lead Organisations publicly in May.

Arts Council England is continuing to seek new Hub Lead Organisations in two Music Hub areas: London – South West and South Yorkshire. Any organisation can apply to become the new Hub Lead Organisation for each area. Arts Council England will publish information about how to apply in the week commencing 22nd April 2024. Applicants will need to submit their applications to Arts Council England by 12:00 on 6th June 2024. The outcome of these applications will be released in July 2024. Find out more about the application process.

• Complaints: Arts Council England have a complaints procedure in place that can be used in a specificed set of situations. Complaints must be made within ten working days after the date that a decision has been received. Find out more.

Music Mark Support

Our package of support to organisations affected is listed below and will evolve to reflect the needs or our membership.

• Support:
  • Conversations with Bridget Whyte and Gary Griffiths: Request a one to one conversation with Bridget Whyte, CEO at Music Mark and Gary Griffiths, our Music Hub support consultant.
  • Facilitated Group Conversations with Åsa Malmsten, Marion Friend or Gary Griffiths: Request a facilitated conversation which could be helpful in a number of scenarios, including for Hub Lead Organisations and their proposed delivery partners, newly-formed partnerships, and consortiums to discuss next steps.
  • Mentoring and Coaching: Music Mark Members can work with one of our trained mentors or professional coaches.
  • Board Recruitment Support: We’re going to be making it free for Music Mark Members to advertise voluntary roles on our Jobs Board. For non-members, adverts for voluntary roles will be charged at £50+VAT per advert. Your vacancies will reach thousands of music education professionals in our weekly Jobs Bulletin and on our social media channels. Submit a vacancy.
  • Wellbeing Support: Take a look at our collated selection of resources intended to support mental health and wellbeing.
  • Advice Partners: Music Mark Members can access a range of support from our advice partners including on legal matters and human resources. Visit your Member Welcome pack to find out more.
• Guidance:
  • Heads of Terms Checklist for a Partnership Agreement: Download guidance on Heads of Terms from Bates Wells. The aim of these heads of terms is to help consortium members to agree the key legal and governance principles that underpin the consortium.
  • Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations Guidance: Download guidance on TUPE Regulations written by Gary Griffiths.

If there is any additional support that you would like to request, please get in touch with info@musicmark.org.uk.

Applications

The application deadline for the Music Hub Investment Programme was 12:00 on Thursday 12th October 2023.

• Documentation:
  • Read the information and guidance for applicants.
  • Download templates and how-to guides.
  • Watch the 5-minute explainer videos:
    • Understanding the differences between Hub leadership, governance and partnership arrangements
    • Developing your Local Plan for Music Education, including the commissioning of Hub activity
    • Other key things to consider, including funding and the Capital Grant for Musical Instruments
• Funding: Download a spreadsheet showing the confirmed grant allocation for each Hub area.
• Watch the Webinar: On 28th June, Arts Council England held a webinar outlining the application process and answering questions. Watch the webinar and download the transcript.

On 16th June 2023, Music Mark held a ‘Big Meet’ with members to discuss the latest announcements. Music Mark members can access notes and other resources from this meeting.

Music Mark Support

Music Mark Members were invited to request support in preparing bids to the Music Hub Investment Programme. The three levels of support available were as follows:

• Consultation with a lawyer from Bates Wells
• Facilitation led by Åsa Malmsten, Marion Friend or Gary Griffiths
• Conversation with Bridget Whyte, Gary Griffiths or an existing multi-area Hub lead

Partnerships

Music Hub Lead Organisations work with a wide range of partner organisations, drawing on their knowledge and experience to ensure every child and young person has access to high-quality music education.

• Develop your Partnerships: Arts Council England are producing a regularly updated resource listing organisations who are interested in working in partnership with a Music Hub. Find out more and register your interest in being included in the resource.

Bates Wells: Formalising Partnerships

Music Mark hosted two online webinars (one in April and one in July) in which law firm Bates Wells discussed the legal and governance options available to organisations looking to collaborate as part of a new Music Hub. Watch the recording of the webinars and download resources from the sessions.

Music Hub Partnership Models with Arts Council England

On 21st September 2022, Music Mark and Arts Council England hosted an event exploring different partnership models across the creative, culture and education sectors, including research on current multi-area Music Hub Partnerships by Andrea Spain. Watch the recording of the webinars and download resources from the sessions.

Music Hub Geographies

New Music Hub Geographic Areas

On 6th June 2o23, the Department for Education released the new Music Hub geographic areas.

• View a map of the new geography.
• Download the new geography as a spreadsheet.

Proposed Music Hub Geographic Areas

On 10th March 2023, the Department for Education shared their expectations for the future Music Hub geographies.

• View a map of the proposed geography.
• Download the proposed georgraphy as a spreadsheet.

Current Music Education Hub Geographic Areas

• View a map of the current geography.

Rationale

The rationale behind the new geographies was updated in March 2023 following feedback from the January consultation.

• Read the updated rationale.
• Read the original rationale.

On 16th March 2023, Music Mark held a ‘Big Meet’ with members to discuss the proposed geography and the latest announcements. Music Mark members can access notes and other resources from this meeting.

Consultation

Arts Council England began a consultation phase in autumn 2022. Find out more about the consultation phase.

• Surveys:
  • Arts Council England ran a survey from 4th – 15th January 2023 focusing on ‘potential methodologies for creating new prescribed geographic areas for Music Hubs and what the implications might be for partnership development, governance, access and engagement’. Find out more about the survey and the findings from it.
  • A second survey asking for feedback on the proposed Music Hub geographies closed on 31st March 2023. Find out more about the survey and the findings from it.
• Focus Groups: In December 2022, Arts Council England invited expressions of interest from people who would like to take part in a digital or in-person focus group. Find out more about the focus groups and the findings from them.

On 10th January 2022, Music Mark published a statement outlining our concerns around the consultation phase. Read the statement.

Music Mark held a consultation with its members to discuss their concerns around the Music Hub Investment Programme. The results of this consultation, including recommendations to take to the Department for Education and the next steps for Music Mark are outlined in a document which Music Mark Members can download here.