THE cost of children's instrumental lessons at school is to rise, sparking protests from parents, writes Julian Seva.

Worcestershire County Council's Instrumental Music Service is raising the cost of an hour's music tuition from £21 to £30 to 'remain solvent'.

Some of the rise will be absorbed by schools, some of which part-subsidise the cost of lessons.

But from September, parents are still likely to pay more for their children to learn an instrument for the second year running.

Last year, tuition prices rose from £14 to £21.

Parent John Basevi, of Matchborough West, has three children taking lessons, two at Arrow Vale High School and one at Ipsley Middle School.

A county council spokesman said the tuition service was part-subsidised by a Department for Education and Skills grant from the Music Standards Fund.

But he said the grant did not allow for inflation and new Government initiatives like carrying out performance management procedures.

Chris Stowell, the county council's head of Instrumental Service, said: "These increases are necessary in order to continue meeting the costs of providing a quality-controlled music service to our schools.

"If we did not put fees up, there is a very real danger that the service would not be financially viable and it would have to fold.

"I accept that a 114 per cent increase over two years may seem excessive but we have no control over the forces that dictate the cost of provision."