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Question from: County Councillor Benjamin Breeze Subject: Support for music in Powys
Question:
What progress is the Council making in delivering its plan for implementing the Welsh Government’s National Plan for Music? As part of its plan, will the Council be working with local Powys based businesses and organisations to procure music resources and equipment?
Minutes: Response by the Cabinet Member:
Powys County Council continues to work closely with the Welsh Government and WLGA on its plan for implementing the National Plan for Music.
The purchase of music resources and equipment has been led nationally. Following a procurement exercise undertaken by the Welsh Government, a dynamic purchasing system was issued to each Local Authority in Wales towards the end of February 2022. This provided a framework of suppliers from which each Local Authority was required to undertake mini competitions in order to procure the instruments that they required. All orders were to be placed by 31 March 2022, and following intensive work with our schools, a supplier was identified, a contract put in place, and core list of instruments was identified across each category. Schools were able to identify their requirements, and orders were placed just ahead of the deadline. The majority of instruments have been received, however there are a few items that had a longer lead time, and they are due to be delivered at the start of the new term.
We were also able to support South Powys Youth Music, Montgomeryshire Youth Music and Glasbury Arts with small amounts of grant funding to continue the support their provide to our schools.
In addition, the WLGA has purchased pBuzzes and pCorders for each Local Authority in Wales. The pBuzzes are to be delivered to County Hall on 21 July 2022, and the WLGA are due to confirm the delivery date for the pCorders during the summer break. Each school in Powys will receive an allocation of instruments from both of these orders.
Funding has also been provided for the purchase of a ‘digital music licence will allow schools in Wales and Music Service staff to access a fully bilingual digital music resource platform developed by Charanga Ltd to support the upcoming National Music Service for Wales. This offers a unique online teaching and learning platform which can be personalised and adapted by partners on the ground to meet local needs and priorities in line with the new Curriculum for Wales. The digital music licence allows access to the musical content on this platform which includes a catalogue of over 250,000 copyrights, downloadable sheet music, interactive on-screen play along resources and a wide range of apps’.
In order to fulfil our requirements regarding the National Plan for Music, we are currently developing a job description to lead on this key area of work. The postholder will be responsible for forming the Powys Plan for Music, in line with grant conditions and the National Plan.
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