News – Music in Wales

Eleanor Burnham AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, has accused government ministers of cultural vandalism following the release of papers under the Freedom of Information Act relating to the 2004 cutting and subsequent scrapping of Waless £3m Music Development Fund (MDF). The fund provided access to instruments, workshops and training for over 60,000 young people in Wales, and, according to the documents, ministers were warned in letters and briefing documents provided by the Arts Council of Wales that cuts to the fund would hit the poorest and those from rural areas, hardest.
The Estyn Report, an evaluation of the use made by local authorities and schools of the MDFs resources, was published earlier this year. It found that where music provision has increased, local authorities and schools report a positive impact on the life and ethos of schools and on pupils achievement, not only in music, but right across the curriculum. It concluded that the MDF had contributed significantly to raising standards among young people who were in school during the period of the funding.