Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 12 March 2019.
Thank you very much for raising this issue. We certainly recognise the current pressures facing music services and the need to take action, and positive action, as soon as possible. This is one of the reasons why an additional £3 million of funding has been provided over 2018-19 and 2019-20 for music provision across Wales. Since the Minister for Education's response to 'Hitting the Right Note', I can confirm that officials have been working on taking those accepted recommendations forward and an element of that work is to carry out a feasibility study to explore suitable options for the future delivery of music services in Wales. I understand that officials have undertaken a consultation with stakeholders and with key partners to seek their views on various aspects of that study, and following consideration of all information received, and the options available, the Minister has approved the procurement of the feasibility study. The invitation to commission a contractor to undertake that study has been published on Sell2Wales and is currently open to tenders.