Baroness Ashton, junior minister for early years and school standards, told a conference of the Music Education Council in London that every child should have the chance to learn to play a musical instrument.
She said the music Standards Fund grants, set up by David Blunkett in 1997, had halted the decline in music services.
THE WINNERS
Major Award: Hertfordshire.
Diploma: Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, Highland, Oxfordshire and Southampton
