This decision follows a public demonstration in Dalkeith on 31 January outside the council building and an open letter from the Musicians' Union (MU).
If the cuts had gone ahead, they would have transformed instrumental tuition in Scotland into a primarily parent-funded service, completely undermining the Scottish Government’s earlier pledge to offer free tuition to all.
‘The MU is pleased that Midlothian Council has reversed these cuts following our protests’, reports Chris Walters, National Organiser (Education and Health & Wellbeing) at the MU. ‘We hope that other local authority councils in Scotland will avoid making similar cuts, which we hear are still being considered in some areas. The MU will continue to fight any proposed cuts to music education in Scotland.’
