I was disturbed to read James Dickenson's letter (Letters, 20 April) about Bedfordshire Youth Orchestra. As far as I am concerned, there is no reason why last weekend's concert should be the orchestra's final performance. The facts are that our neighbouring local authority, Conservative-led Central Bedfordshire council, has withdrawn all of its funding from what is currently a Bedfordshire-wide music service, from which most of our young musicians are drawn. Our council, Bedford borough, run by a Lib Dem mayor, has made a public commitment to continue to provide a music service for our young people. I met with Michael Rose, the driving force behind our youth orchestra, and some of his colleagues earlier this week to explain our position, which is that we will continue to provide music education for all Bedford borough children. Our council is winning the fight to protect key services, in the face of the cuts to local government funding. Sadly, many Tory authorities are not showing the same resolve. With our national reputation as a "no-cuts council", music education and performance are safe in Bedford borough.
Lib Dem, portfolio holder, children's services, Bedford borough council