Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council says the cut would save £10,842 and be replaced by paid for lessons in schools.
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A council report says: “A smaller number of courses targeted at Wider Opportunities pupils might be a new replacement.”
The authority is bidding to save £100,000 from its £210,000 budget for Solihull Music Service, based at Lyndon School, amid a raft of cuts across the authority.
It is moving to increase fees for the music service by 10 and 20 per cent from September. They went up by 2.5 per cent last September.
Bosses previously said this could make the service ‘more elitist’ and this week said it could damage standards.
The new charges:
The ensembles include wind bands, guitar groups, soul bands and string and jazz bands. Membership charges were introduced in 2006.
Those who pay for lessons would not have to pay ensemble membership costs. Lessons will be offered for free to some poorer families.
A council report says: “We are aware that parents may be deterred from taking evening tuition for their children if pricing increases significantly.
“However, there remain alternatives for the majority of pupils through purchasing tuition within their school setting.”
The report said the service was more expensive for the council than lessons in schools and more children were being taught at school in recent years..
It said it ‘remains possible that this scale of cuts will bring some redundancies’.
It said: “Confidentiality within the team is paramount.
“Great skill and care will be needed in answering enquiries from colleagues, and remaining truthful without raising alarm and anxiety.”
It says many parents of ‘high achieving pupils’ choose for them to have lessons outside of school and to ‘penalise this area unduly would be to risk impact on the high standards of borough groups and ensembles’.
The charges – which include axing free lessons - will need approval from the ruling cabinet at the Conservative-controlled council.
Other savings being considered include:
* Cutting the number of hours teachers travel from two-and-a-half hours to two. Saving - £25,070.
* Cutting ‘already tight’ teacher meeting times by 10 per cent. Saving - £16,000.
* Introducing charges for instrument hire at £10 a term. Income - £6,000.
Taken with the increase in fees this would net the council £187,897.
The service will also consider becoming a charitable arms length body which bosses hope will give it greater access to funding such as grants.
In April last year, council leader Councillor Ken Meeson said: “It is a credit to Solihull and a service of which we can be truly proud.”
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