Royal Military School of Music

HC Deb 25 October 1983 vol 47 cc259-64

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Boscawen.]

11.42 pm

Mr. Toby Jessel (Twickenham)

British army bands are the envy of the entire world. They have a high standard of excellence. They lift the spirits of the nation. Who does not feel uplifted by the sight and sound of a British Army band on one of our royal or state occasions? They are without doubt one of our finest traditions. As part of the traditional British scene, they help to attract visitors whose spending generates employment and income and yields tax to the Government. The amount of that yield cannot be measured, but it undoubtedly exists and allowance should be made for it. Some such allowance should be offset against the cost of bands.

With regard to their military value, military bands do not merely enhance morale and promote recruiting. Their members serve as medical orderlies or take other roles in war time; and Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templar wrote in a foreword to the book "A Hundred Years of Military Music": All soldiers who understand regimental soldiering properly appreciate what military music contributes to military efficiency in the broadest sense. Sometimes those in positions of authority who decide on questions of army organisation have been tempted to see in bands a fruitful source for economy in man-power and money. Usually better judgments have prevailed before too much damage has been done. The immensely high standard of British Army bands is linked inextricably with the famous name of Kneller Hall, the Royal Military School of Music at Whitton, which is in the Twickenham constituency. The Daily Telegraph recently described Kneller Hall as "world renowned". It trains Army bandmasters and instrumentalists to a level of precision, strength, control and musicianship which, in military music, has never been surpassed.

It is an efficient training. It is tried and proven, with its quality and fame distilled from vast experience and woven into an effective system. Kneller Hall is also enormously popular— 25,000 visitors pay to come annually to its celebrated outdoor summer concerts. The bandmasters and pupils benefit from the stimulus of an audience, 80 per cent. of whom are said to come from within 10 miles. However, of the rest, some travel very long distances.

At one concert this summer the audience numbered 5,000 almost enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall. Thus, Kneller Hall does a great deal for the popularity and public image of the Army.

Furthermore, it helps our national economy. The name and fame of Kneller Hall help to attract 15 or 20 per cent. of its pupils and bandmasters who are sent to train from overseas, mainly Commonwealth countries. I have here the programme of a concert that I attended on 18 August at which four student bandmasters conducted——one from Australia, one from Ghana, one from Pakistan and one from Woolwich.

The export earnings of Boosey and Hawkes, Britain's largest musical instrument manufacturers, are helped by its association with the name of Kneller Hall.

Within Twickenham and Whitton, Kneller Hall is a highly prized asset. The odd one person in 50 who does not like the fireworks that go with the celebrated Kneller Hall performances of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is heavily outnumbered by those who delight and rejoice in its glory.

All this is now at risk. There are rumours of a joint services music school. To save money, Army band training would combine with that of the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force. Kneller Hall would not be large enough, without building at heavy expense new quarters on land which the chief executive of Richmond upon Thames borough council, on behalf of that authority, has described as a very valuable pocket of greenery and break in the built up area which contributes to local character. He continues: It has some good trees. The Council would object to any loss of the open ground in the very strongest way and there would undoubtedly by a great public outcry against any loss". He means loss of open space. At the suggested venue for a joint school at Eastney near Southsea in Hampshire, the home of the Royal Marines, there is a barracks with surplus capacity. The theme that I wish to stress is that the quite modest savings that would arise do not justify putting at risk, by huge disruption, the absolutely first class standards of an internationally famous institution.

I warmly congratulate my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary on his appointment, and I am glad to see him here deputising for the Minister of State. I ask my hon. Friend to examine with extreme care all the points that I shall make concerning cost. I have given his Department notice of these points. I ask him to put them to the Minister of State, who was kind enough to see me in July to discuss this matter. I am sure that the Minister of State is fully aware of my anxiety.

First, I fear a drop in standards. The Royal Marine bands are excellent, but their system of training is completely different. I shall not go into detail now, but I do not believe that the two bands will gel together. On the contrary, I believe that they will both suffer. I ask my hon. Friend to take technical advice from all three services as to exactly how the efficiency of training would be affected. There is no security aspect to this matter, and there is no need to keep secret the advice that he receives on this or any other question that I may raise.

The top orchestral instrument players in London orchestras and in the colleges of music in London who give tuition in Kneller Hall, which is 10 miles from central London, are unlikely to travel to Eastney, on the Hampshire coast.

Is my hon. Friend able to provide figures for the savings envisaged both on annual revenue and on capital accounts? I hope that he can provide them now, but if he cannot I hope that he will tell me that he will soon do so in writing. In particular, have the following items been taken into account? First, on the capital account, how much could be raised by the sale of Kneller Hall? What is the site value that the Property Services Agency has estimated to the Ministry of Defence? Kneller Hall is a grade 2 listed building, which cannot be much altered. With those difficulties in the way of conversion, what amount could it be expected to raise as a hotel or country club or a company headquarters? The amount that could be raised for those three, or for any other use, must be limited.

The land cannot be built on, as the Secretary of State for the Environment would have to be consulted and I have no doubt he would endorse the outlook of the Richmond upon Thames borough council. I understand—perhaps my hon. Friend can confirm this either now or in writing later—that it is not, and it is never, the practice of the Ministry of Defence, when disposing of land, to use its legal powers to override planning procedures to give itself planning permission and then to sell the land with planning permission that would not have been obtained had the land been sold privately.

Next on the capital account, what is the value of the living quarters at Kneller Hall? What value would be attached to the living quarters at Eastney, which could be sold if the Royal Military School of Music were to stay at Kneller Hall? What allowance has been made for the cost of repairing the roof at Kneller Hall? As it is a listed building, these repairs have to be done, even if the Army moves out. Constituents living nearby tell me that they have seen that work has begun. What is the cost of that work, is it already under contract, and has it been allowed for in these calculations?

As to revenue savings, what savings will there be per year for the joint school at Eastney, and can this figure be analysed into two components? How much of the saving is from adult recruiting, which means a shorter training course, and how much is from joining the three schools together? In other words, if there is to be adult recruiting in any case, and it is done at Kneller Hall, which would mean that Kneller Hall is kept on, would not the savings there be already quite substantial, and would not additional savings from the merging of the three schools into one be fairly small? Are foreign and overseas students to be given accommodation at the Eastney joint school, if it is set up, and, if not, how much income would be lost from them?

The total defence budget for 1983–84 is, I am told, just under £16.5 billion. I do not know what might be saved from closing Kneller Hall, but if it were £1 million a year that is only one sixteen thousandth part of our defence budget, and, in a population of 55 million, for every man, woman and child the saving would be under 2p per head per year. If the saving were £500,000, it would be 1p per head per year.

There is so little to gain and so much to lose. Therefore, I hope that another look will he taken at this matter and that the scheme will be dropped.

11.55 pm

The Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement (Mr. John Lee)

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Mr. Jessel) on his alacrity in securing the Adjournment debate almost immediately after the return of the House from the recess. I thank him for his kind remarks about me.

My hon. Friend has displayed the greatest vigour and persistence in keeping the merits of Kneller Hall before Ministers. He had a meeting with my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces a few days ago, and another with my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces before the summer recess. Again tonight he has represented the interests of his constituency eloquently and forcefully.

I wish, first, to record my own appreciation and very high regard for the musical skill of our Army bands and Army bandsmen, which is admired and recognised the world over. In the Army's long tradition of musical excellence, Kneller Hall, as the home and focus of Army music, has a proud and honoured place not only in the Army, not only in this country, but internationally.

One hundred and twenty five years ago the regimental band was virtually unknown outside the regiment. If the regiment wished to have its own band, it was left to it to find the musicians and to pay all the costs. A bandmaster was hired to train the band. It is perhaps not surprising that as a result of that system—or lack of system—musical standards throughout the Army were abysmally low. At the victory parade on the conclusion of the Crimean war a number of those private regimental bands played together. I am told that they had had no rehearsal. The result can be imagined. The Duke of Cambridge, appalled by the cacophony, decided that something must be done. He resolved to set up a military school of music and the first military music class was formed at Kneller Hall in 1857. Kneller Hall quickly improved the overall musical standards in the British Army. It has gone on upholding those standards ever since.

Bandmasters remain at the school for three years receiving both musical and command training. The course for pupil bandsmen lasts one year, and most of the adult recruits to the bands will arrive at Kneller Hall within two or three years from entry for musical training. The pupil bandsmen's course also trains about 20 foreign students a year.

Those two courses, the pupil bandsmen's course and the student bandmaster's course, have over the years ensured that the standards of musical excellence in the regiments are fully maintained. Kneller Hall, as well as being the focal point for regimental music, has also been the foundation of musical tradition in the armies and police forces of many foreign and Commonwealth countries. Kneller Hall is proud of its traditions and of the magnificent job or work it continues to do. It has every reason to be proud.

I know, too, that Kneller Hall has a very special place in the affections of the local community. Every summer, open-air concerts are given at Kneller Hall. These are an extremely popular local event and attract an audience not only from the local community, but from overseas as well. As my hon. Friend said, about 25,000 people attended the recent season of open-air concerts. It is also a matter, I know, of considerable local pride that musicians from Kneller Hall provide trumpeters to perform at major public and state occasions. In June this year, at the military musical pageant at Wembley, about 1,500 musicians were gathered under Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan Beat, who is the director of music at Kneller Hall.

All that is convincing evidence of the firmly established reputation which Kneller Hall has throughout the world in military music. Its motto, Nulli Secundus, is well deserved, and I can assure my hon. Friend of our respect and admiration for the skill and tradition of the Army bands and of our recognition of the important and historic part that Kneller Hall has played in this.

May I now deal with the specific issue of the Government's consideration of the organisation of musical training for all three services, which has prompted my hon. Friend's debate and his anxiety. As my hon. Friend understands, the Government, in every activity and in every Department, are committed to finding the most cost-effective way of meeting their obligations.

The study of musician training in the services is one of a series of studies that have been conducted by the training studies steering group chaired by my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces. Those studies are part of our wider efforts to ensure the most cost-effective use of defence resources and are designed to examine a particular area of training carried out by two or more of the services to ensure that it is being done as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible and to examine the scope for further economies through rationalisation or privatisation.

In some cases we have sought the assistance of an outside consultant specialising in the field under study. This was true of the musician training study as well as two others currently under way into engineer officer training and general automated data processing training. By using outside expertise in this way we believe that we can profit from an objective and up-to-date view of our training methods.

Musician training in the services has been under study for about two years. As part of our examination we invited an outside music specialist to make an independent assessment of our training methods and practices. His report made a valuable contribution to our work.

We have been looking not only at Kneller Hall, the home of Army musical training, but also at the Royal Marine school of music at Deal and the Royal Air Force school at Uxbridge. We have been assessing the practicability and the cost effectiveness of a tri-service defence school of music. With the advice of the principal directors of music we have looked at the shape of possible courses at a defence school of music and we have considered the possible sites for such a school.

We worked from the premise that the high musical standards of the services had to be maintained and that single-service ceremonial and other traditions should not be affected. We examined the teaching arrangements at the three schools—Deal, Kneller Hall and Uxbridge—to find a common core curriculum which would be the basis of a new combined school. We then considered making provision for the other differing requirements of the services by means of single-service courses. Any defence school of music would have separate service wings and to ensure that musical standards would not fall the principal directors of music of the services would be closely involved in the study at all times and would design the courses and the musical accommodation required.

We are now considering the results of that study. No final decisions have been made. I can assure my hon. Friend that the study certainly includes comparisons of the financial and manpower costs of the various options as they affect the three service schools of music.

These estimates take into account comparative operating costs and all potential capital savings and expenditure. Important as the financial considerations are, they are not the only factors to be borne in mind.

We have also had to look at the suitability of existing training and support facilities and sites for the options under consideration. Where facilities and sites would require modernisation, we have had to consider the cost and practicality of such programmes. Manpower is, of course, another important factor. All the options that we have considered have different manpower implications for military and civilian numbers. In all this we have been guided by the need for cost effectiveness and efficiency in our training organisation, balanced against our desire to preserve the essential musical and ceremonial traditions of all three services.

My hon. Friend said that the costings were wrong. I can assure him that my Department will consider all the figures carefully. The savings identified at Kneller Hall do not include the cost of roof repairs which are under way. The savings relate to future maintenance and modernisation which will be needed if Kneller Hall remains open. He asked about the publication of the costings. We are not in a position to publish them as yet, they are still being examined, but we shall consider his request to publish. He spoke about the concept of a defence school of music and whether it offered any manpower or financial savings. We shall be looking at the totality of the package. He mentioned the geography and asked whether outside experts and lecturers would be prepared to travel. I draw his attention to the fact that I understand that there is no difficulty in obtaining outside experts to travel to Deal.

My hon. Friend asked about the residual value of Kneller Hall, and the planning position there. Again, I assure him that all his points will be considered. He mentioned the drop in standards, which I covered earlier in my remarks, and asked about the training of foreign students at Eastney. I assure him that I shall ensure that my Department writes to him about the training of foreign students.

I assure my hon. Friend that no decision about service musical training will be taken which puts at risk the standards or quality of any of the service bands. We wish to maintain those standards. Indeed, we wish to ensure that the facilities provided for that training are improved, not the reverse. I am grateful for my hon. Friend's extremely valuable comments during the debate, and I assure him that all his points will be taken fully into account when we take the final decision on the future of service musical training in general and Kneller Hall in particular. My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to my hon. Friend as soon as a decision has been made.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at five minutes past Twelve o' clock.