§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made towards implementing the recommendations of the report of the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education; and if he will make a statement. [121950]
§ Mr. Chris Smith[holding answer 12 May 2000]: The Secretary of State for Education and Employment and I announced the Government' s response to the NACCCE report, "All our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education", in January and have placed copies in both Libraries of the House. We have made significant progress in implementing the commitments, notably: guidance on creative development for pre-school children is available to accompany the new Early Learning Goals; schools will be working with a more flexible National Curriculum from September with greater emphasis on the need for creative and cultural education; guidance on building partnerships between schools and arts practitioners has been published; an arts award for schools is being developed and will be piloted shortly; the creation of the National Foundation for Youth Music and the injection of £180 million has made a huge impact on the teaching of music.
We will also be making £150 million available to create multi-purpose sports and arts facilities for primary schools; and work by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on the role of arts and creativity in the curriculum will further strengthen standards of teaching and learning. 13W This is a substantial body of work and underlines the importance we place on creativity and culture in education. But this is just a small snapshot of where we have got to so far. The real value of the NACCCE report is the influence it is continuing to have as our thinking develops.