Agenda item

Report of Councillor Gibbons (attached)

At the invitation of the Chairperson, Councillor Gibbons presented the report on the Music Service and the reasons behind the required changes to it.  She informed members that Music Education, as required by the Department for Education (DfE) would change radically in 2023. The report proposed actions which sought to protect the existing music offer for young people and build a vibrant and robust music education future for young people in North Somerset. The service was not a statutory service but a traded one and was currently jointly delivered in partnership with South Gloucestershire Council and Bath and North East Somerset via a grant received from the DfE, not from council funds.

The council recognised that the partnership working had the potential to do much more and that a broader, more universal offer was being achieved because of the efficiencies gained by working together. Through partnership, the services were beginning to realise their potential to deliver an improved offer for all young people from the most vulnerable to those who are gifted and talented.

Additionally, the new Department for Education vision for the governance and delivery of music education in England was significantly different to the current model and required changes to transform the service so that it was fit for the future.  The merger between North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire music services would put the service in a position to make a strong bid for DfE grant funding.  The new merged service would be set up as an independent company limited by guarantee registered as a charity and with a trading arm.

Thanks were extended to Councillor Wendy Griggs and the scrutiny panel for the work around the risks and opportunities of the proposed change.

In discussing the report, members were supportive of the direction of travel but noted some concerns in that it may mean a less tailored service which had less contact with local musicians in North Somerset thus losing its intimacy and more time would be spent in considering how to bid for funding rather than delivering a service.  Councillor Gibbons responded that the hope was that there would be more innovation because of the change with the potential to unlock greater funding to do much more and to protect what was already being done.  The change was around the governance of the service not a change in the personnel delivering it.

Resolved:

                 i.          That the Executive approved, in principle, the proposal that the Music Service merges with Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) and South Gloucestershire Council’s Music Services, into one single service.

                ii.          That the Executive approved, in principle, the single service being established as an independent organisation outside the 3 Councils, enabling the Service to be eligible to retain government funding, protect staff and develop a broader, more universal youth music education offer on behalf of the 3 Councils.

              iii.          That the Executive delegated authority to the Executive Member for Corporate Services and the Director of Corporate Services (s151) officer to make the final decision on potential transfer and the terms thereof once transfer negotiations had progressed and proposed terms could be reported as the final actuarial details and proposals for any pension admission agreements for the proposed independent organisation were still to be received.

Reasons for the decision:

As set out in the report and discussed above.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

As set out in the report and discussed above.