A new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Performing Arts Education and Training is due to start work in March.
The Group aims to support MPs in discussions relating to training, education, assessment and professional practices across the performing arts, especially drama, dance and musical theatre. It will also explore the Continuing Professional Development of practitioners in the sector and aim to highlight the wider benefits of engaging with the performing arts for students, practitioners and audiences.
The Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre, which provides quality assurance and membership services to institutions delivering training, education and assessment, was the driver behind the initiative. It will act as the secretariat and public enquiry point for the Group. This will include encouraging submissions from vocational training schools, conservatoires and awarding organisations on current issues in the sector.
Among the themes to be under review are the implications of Covid-19 and EU withdrawal; the need for more connections between state and private sector teaching; and Government support for world-class professional training in dance, drama and musical theatre.
The group, which will involve politicians from both the House of Commons and the Lords, will meet quarterly, chaired by Simon BaynesMP. Conservative MP for Clwyd South since 2019, he was a Choral Exhibitioner at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Chairman of the North Powys County Youth and Orchestra Band 2005 to 2012, served as a trustee of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and Mid-Wales Opera, and was the first Chairman of the Holroyd Community Theatre near Chirk. He is also Vice-Chair of the Theatre APPG.
Vice Chairs will be Lord Taylor of Warwick and Jack Lopresti MP, and members will include Lord Vaize of Didcot, Sharon Hodgson MP, Lord Aberdare and Lord Clement-Jones.