Decision details

In coming to this decision I have given due and full regard to the requirements of the public sector equality duty contained in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”) by reference to the law itself and also the relevant Equality Impact Assessment, which was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

Having fully considered all the available information, I have decided to reject the alternative options and take the recommended decision that:

In the event of the joint consortium bid by (a) Gloucestershire County Council’s Music Service (Gloucestershire Music) b) Swindon Music Service and (c) The Music Works to the Arts council England being successful, that the Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Bus Transport:

a)    approves the acceptance of the joint consortium bid award from the Arts Council England of £1,766,519.00, commencing 1st September 2024 and

b)    delegates authority to the Director of Education in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Bus Transport to enter into the grant agreement with the Arts Council and to undertake the responsibilities of the Hub Lead Organisation.

c)     delegates authority to the Director of Education in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Bus Transport to:

·       Distribute Arts Council funding to the Hub Lead Organisation in line with the ‘Consortium by Contract’ which details the sub-granting arrangements for 2024 -2025. The HLO has confirmed funding for Year 1.

·       Sub granting to delivery partners in Year 1 through the established commissioning process of existing partnership agreements which have been in place for 10 years. For Year 2, either sub-grant arrangements will continue as for Year 1 or move to a contract procurement route through developed frameworks. Sub-contracting would continue an annual basis subject to any Department for Education of Arts Council England changes to funding arrangements.

·       Distribute the capital fund via a Type A, full tender procurement process.

The DfE has confirmed that it will continue to invest around £115 million per annum in cultural education over the next two financial years (2023-24 and 2024-25) via its music, arts and heritage programmes. This includes £76,105,440 of grant-funding per annum for the Music Hub programme, with current levels of funding confirmed until April 2025.

For the reasons set out in the report.

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