It has been reported in The Scotsman newspaper that the success of Scotland's free music tuition policy is in "jeopardy", with four local authorities potentially reducing their own spending commitments towards the provision of the service.

Following a long and successful campaign against the imposition of fees, the Scottish Government will now give £12 million in funding for the forthcoming year for the "removal of fees"- a policy that in 2022/23 saw over 61,000 children take part in lessons, nearly 9% of the total school roll.

It is understood the funding was "not to meet the full cost of providing the service", with councils also having to contribute to align with their government funding.

Four council reviews

However, the newspaper now reports that West Lothian Council agreed last year to review its service, potentially saving it from spending over £420,000, whilst East Lothian Council has redesigned its provision with the possibility of saving it a contribution of over £325,000.

Perth & Kinross is reported to aim to save almost £200,000 through its review process, with North Lanarkshire looking at saving around £140,000.

According to the report, the councils have stated there will be "no impact on jobs or the service provided to pupils as a result of budget changes".

Councils cutting their spending on instrumental and vocal education in schools appear to be wilfully ignoring the guidance provided by the Scottish Government on the use of funding for local authority music servicesAlaistair Orr

Wilfully ignoring

However, the respected campaigner for free tuition, Alaistair Orr said: "Councils cutting their spending on instrumental and vocal education in schools appear to be wilfully ignoring the guidance provided by the Scottish Government on the use of funding for local authority music services."

Another campaigner Ralph Riddiough told the newspaper that the time had come for the funding to be part of the core education budget.

"I'd just like to stop this annual fight about whether instrumental music is going to be cut. It needs to be viewed, once and for all, as part of core education provision."

Challenging redesign

In response to the article East Lothian Council said that due to a challenging financial climate "a number of measures were agreed including carrying out a redesign of the instrumental music service."

Perth & Kinross Council stated that their review would "make recommendations for how the music service is delivered", whilst West Lothian stated their review was "designed to ensure more efficient use of resources".