A WATCHDOG has thrown out a complaint alleging Clacks Council failed to follow due process ahead of their decision to increase musical tuition fees.

A man, identified only as Mr C, contacted the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) claiming the local authority hadn’t held sufficient consultations on the decision.

He also claimed the council hadn’t sufficiently assessed the impact it would have.

The complaint followed a previous decision by the council to raise non-SQA music tuition prices from £258.50 a year to £524.

However, both of Mr C’s claims were found to be incorrect by the SPSO.

In a written decision released this month, it said: “We found that the council held a number of public consultation meetings relating to their proposed budget and that there was recorded evidence to show musical tuition was raised at some of these.

“We also found they had carried out an appropriate equality impact assessment on the decision, which did not highlight any equality concerns.

“Overall, we were satisfied that the council had reasonably complied with their policies and procedures before reaching the decision.”