Backbench councillors claim they have been “kept in the dark” about how controversial changes to Ceredigion County Council’s music service have been handled.

Cllr Ceredig Davies, one of the councillors who had raised concerns about how the council pushed through changes to the peripatetic music service, said he was unhappy about the “dire state of affairs” in informing councillors after two scrutiny committee meetings were cancelled.

The Friends of Ceredigion Young Musicians had issued a statement saying that the group was happy with the council’s handling of service changes and saying that it believed changes had been made sympathetically.

But Cllr Davies said he believed there had been a lack of information about the changes to backbench councillors.

“As a councillor I am extremely unhappy in the manner in which the music reorganisation has been dealt with, as backbench councillors are still waiting to be informed on the new staffing structure, the implications to the peripatetic staff, the manner in which the lessons are to be delivered and at what financial cost to the pupil," he said.

“It is a dire state of affairs that once again councillors are better informed through reading their local paper than they are from being briefed by Cabinet members and council officers.”

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