Contact: Nicola Horsey Ext: 5423

1. Introduction

1.1 Hampshire County Council runs a scheme for supporting young people through their training and schooling at a registered dance school where they partake in an intensive programme of ballet training on top of their curriculum work.

2. Background

2.1 The Dance Bursaries scheme was passed to the Recreation and Heritage Department from the Education Department in 2000 with a budget of £46,200, which was believed to be sufficient to run the scheme with one child going to Dance School each year. The auditions for the bursary are organised by the Hampshire Dance Trust and the bursary is open to any child aged between 11 and 16 living in Hampshire. The award is for the payment of tuition fees, boarding and examinations at one of two dance schools, Elmshurst Ballet School, Birmingham and The Arts Educational School in Tring, Hertfordshire. The value of the bursary is determined by an assessment of parental income, but it could cost up to £20,400 a year per student.

2.2 The Dance Bursaries Scheme is run by the Student Support Unit of the County Council.

3. Current Situation

3.1 The Scheme now costs considerably more to run than is in the budget because:

i) the charge from the schools has suddenly increased, one by over 25% for 2004/05, compared to 2002/03.

ii) some students start on the Scheme at 11 years old, some at 12 or 13. They then all remain on the scheme until age 16. This means the 11 year olds are on the scheme for five years, whilst the 13 year olds are on the scheme for only three years. The more students that start the Scheme at 11 years old, the more the Scheme costs as it continues to take on a new student every year, regardless of how many are on the Scheme already, and the rising charges from the Ballet schools.

3.2 The cost of the Scheme for 2004/05 is £66,500 compared to £46,891 in 2003/04. Officers have been aware of this funding issue for several months and have made contingency plans to cover the deficit for 2004/05; but this situation cannot continue.

3.3 The cost of the Scheme for 2005/06 falls to £49,664 as two students leave the scheme in July 2005, provided a new student is not added to the Scheme during 2005.

4. Other Issues

4.1 There is no doubt that the students who have benefited from the Dance Bursaries Scheme greatly appreciate having been on it. Currently there is no formal monitoring mechanism apart from receiving copies of student reports from the school. So the County Council does not know what the students go on to do when they leave.

4.2 However, it is unusual for a County Council to be running such a bursary scheme and it is very specialist scheme by funding just one child a year to go to ballet school.

4.3 Other issues to be considered include:

· Offering the scheme to children at 13+, not 11. At 11 years old it is difficult to assess how a child's body will develop and whether it would be suitable for ballet.

· Cap the funding to, say, £10,000 a year per student.

· Although ballet is the foundation of all dance training, the Dance Bursary Scheme could offer students the opportunity to move from ballet to jazz, tap or musical theatre once they are at ballet school.

· Improving communications between the Audition Panel (run by the Hampshire Dance Trust), Student Support and the Arts Officer.

· Adding a third and cheaper school to the Bursary Scheme

5. Impact Assessment

5.1 No impact has been identified.

6. Conclusion

6.1 The Arts Office will set up a meeting early in 2005 with the Dance Trust and Student Support to discuss various options, reporting back to the Executive Member later on in 2005 about a new way forward for the Dance Bursaries Scheme.

6.2 In the meantime it is recommended that the decision is made now to suspend the Dance Bursaries Scheme for 2005 because the Scheme cannot afford to take on another student.

Recommendation

That the Dance Bursary Scheme is suspended for 2005 and a report on the way forward for the Scheme comes back to the Executive Member later on in 2005.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

N.B. the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents that disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE LOCATION

Notes of meeting Arts Service filing

Spreadsheet of expenditure Arts Service filing