THE government’s much-vaunted announcement of a £300 million cash injection for music lessons was dismissed yesterday as “a sticking plaster to cover a gaping wound” by teaching unions.

Unveiling the additional funding, ministers said the money would go to a network of 121 “music education hubs” across England over the next four years.

This would, they claimed, give hundreds of thousands more children and teenagers the opportunity to learn to play an instrument, sing in a choir or join a band.