During my final weeks at Sound Connections last September, after over 14 years as director, I was asked to write a farewell article for their newsletter, reflecting on my time there and recent changes across the music education landscape. In it, I stated that a key focus in the new National Plan for Music Education in England included the restructuring of music hubs down to 43 larger, regional hubs. While this shift has faced criticism, I see this as an opportunity to reimagine equity, diversity, and inclusion in music education.
The consolidation of music hubs into 43 regions, each managed by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO), began in September 2024. Arts Council England's choice to adopt a sub-regional model rather than a more local structure has sparked debate. Critics, including the ISM, argue that the decision lacked a thorough evaluation to confirm its effectiveness. A report in MT July 2024 highlighted similar concerns raised before the House of Commons Education Committee, questioning the rationale behind the restructure and whether larger regions will truly benefit smaller or disadvantaged communities.
While many of the original music hubs favoured maintaining the old structure, some music organisations saw in larger hubs potential for collaboration and innovation. My perspective is that cost-saving goals and a desire for strategic management likely influenced the decision. Past informal regional alliances among hubs have shown the value of such collaboration, facilitated by Music Mark's coordination.
With these new structures now in place, and this current period seen as a time of transition and development, I see four key areas that will help hubs to succeed, with equity, diversity and inclusion at the centre of their work.
Youth voice should be at the heart of any new strategy. We need to encourage creative agency, empowering young people we work with on whatever journey they wish to take. This necessitates a youth-centred approach and a move away from a more hierarchical and traditional approach to teaching and learning. The challenge is to balance a local approach to listening with a more strategic opportunity for young people's voices to be heard at the very top.
An understanding of local need and context is crucial, with a commitment to hear from a diversity of voices. This could prove challenging, given the complexity of cities such as Birmingham and London or the mix of urban and rural areas in some of the new hubs. It should be noted that 18 of the 43 new areas (41%) comprise four or more local authorities, resulting in large and complex geographic areas. There need to be mechanisms in place to ensure that every consultation is authentic and robust, and that solutions are locally focused.
A professional and diverse workforce, which reflects the schools and communities they work in, should exist. There are major issues for the wider sector to overcome around recruitment and retention of music leaders, but we must encourage younger and more diverse musicians to value teaching as an essential part of their portfolio career. The new sub-regional structure could foster a dynamic, adaptable workforce if local employment conditions support it as well as sharing of resources and expertise.
Governance is central to the success of these new entities, with hub advisory boards and an independent chair providing clear leadership and guidance. As well as the heads of the music services, it is essential that there is representation from charitable and commercial music organisations, youth services, local authorities, music leaders in schools and, crucially, young people. These representatives should reflect the diversity of the communities they come from, and hold those delivering services to account. I believe that a larger hub structure may lead to more effective advisory boards with a strategic focus, better aligning hub activities with community needs.
These principles of youth voice, local responsiveness, workforce diversity, and robust governance are applicable not only in England but across music services and other music organisations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It puts strategy and young people at the centre within an ecology of music-making that is equitable, diverse, and inclusive for all.
As I now embark on my new freelance career, I echo the optimism of Carolyn Baxendale, head of Bolton Music Service, who commented at the House of Commons Education Committee that Greater Manchester and central Manchester were ‘looking forward to the future, with new opportunities in mind’, and that what was required was the time and space for the partnership to evolve.
