SNP to blame for local councils using free music lessons money to shore up other services
Councillors are being forced to make tough spending decisions because of years of underfunding by the Scottish Government
Five years ago, in response to public uproar, SNP ministers decided to give local authorities enough money to enable fees for school music lessons to be removed.
However, new research has found many councils are not using all the money for free tuition with, in some areas, only an estimated 11 to 15 per cent of the intended amount being passed on to the instrumental music service. This has prompted calls for formal ring-fencing of the funds to ensure councillors cannot re-allocate them elsewhere.
The Scotsman wholeheartedly supports the idea of free music tuition, once reasonably standard in schools across the country. Provision should never have been eroded in the first place and it is scandalous we have got ourselves into such a situation.
Making a mockery of local democracy
No one talks about ‘free physics lessons’ or ‘free PE’ because it’s obvious these subjects are part of an ordinary education, but so too should music be. It is a fundamentally important part of Scottish culture, as recently demonstrated by the Tartan Army’s massed bagpipe bands at the World Cup.
However, the growing trend towards hamstringing the power of councillors by ring-fencing different funds for specific purposes is making a mockery of local democracy. Councils should be free to make decisions in the best interests of the people who live in their areas.
The problem is absolutely not that uncultured councillors have a disdain for music, but that local authorities have been shorn of the requisite amount of money necessary to run vital services like social care for elderly people and, indeed, education for far too long.
Instead of ring-fencing music tuition funds, the Scottish Government should solve the problem by giving councils enough money to do all their jobs properly.
Responding to the Scottish Government’s budget settlement for 2026/27, local government body Cosla said council leaders had “agreed this is a very poor settlement which fails to address the dire financial situation of local government in Scotland”. It was a continuation of a long-running theme.
This is why councillors are being forced to rob Peter to pay Paul, to make heart-breaking decisions over children’s education – because the alternatives are even worse.
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