THE report by the Audit Commission on Bradford's cultural services, although not wholly damning, does not make impressive reading for Ilkley residents.

The timing of its publication is particularly apt, given the news about the problems with one of the town's premier cultural institutions, the Ilkley Music Centre Band.

In these days of local authority cost cutting, cultural services often have to bear the brunt of any budget slashing - it is just a sad fact of modern economic reality.

In 2001, the funding of the Ilkley Music Centre was taken over by Education Bradford, the local authority's private partner in delivering education services.

The company has announced that the DFES Government funding it uses to finance music centres can no longer be used for bands which contain adults.

This leaves the adults in the band high and dry, ending a tradition which goes back at least 25 years.

Alternative funding may be available but at this moment it looks as if the band will have to be merged and re-formed as a separate entity from the children's band.

A recent council report stated that the district's museums were suffering from decades of under-funding which also came as no surprise.

And at this moment Bradford Council's asset management is scratching its collective head to come up with ways to make up for decades of under-funding at the district's leisure facilities, including letting private companies manage them.

Now Ilkley has been singled out by the Audit Commission as lacking in local authority cultural services, and those services that are available have problems with access for older and disabled people.

The message seems to be if you want a life rich in cultural and leisure activity - do it yourself.