Musical education for fledgling talent receives welcome boost amid cutbacks

North Yorkshire County Council announced yesterday that it had secured £1.7m in funding from the Arts Council to develop a scheme to ensure children in often remote communities are given the chance to develop musical skills.

The Arts Council has taken over handing out funding packages from the Department for Education, and the windfall over the next three years will maintain a similar level of support that had previously been provided by Westminster.

But the county council admitted its own financing of North Yorkshire’s music education has had to be reduced as it attempts to make £69m in cuts across its services. A council spokeswoman admitted budgets “remain tight and the challenges considerable”, but the new drive for music education is intended to deliver better value and greater accountability.

The Arts Council’s funding package will be used to provide a more targeted approach to ensuring every child in the county is given the opportunity to try instruments or sing. The initiative will focus on one-to-one or small group tuition for those who want to develop their talents. After-school “academies” are also being developed, with smaller ensembles for gifted pupils, which will run alongside the county’s existing network of six music centres.

The council’s executive member for schools, Coun Arthur Barker, said: “As a lead organisation this funding gives the county council the opportunity to work with partners to set out a service with clear priorities, fit for purpose and maintaining high standards.

“Music-making should be open to every child as a life-enriching activity. We are delighted that this funding will enable us to build on the excellent music provision that children in North Yorkshire have long become accustomed to.”

The Arts Council is investing more than £171m of funding on behalf of the Department for Education in a network of music education hubs across England from August this year to March 2015.

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