FEARS have been raised that the bid by the players of the Royal

Scottish National Orchestra to instigate a new era of self-government

will be put on ice at a board meeting of the orchestra today.

The meeting, at the RSNO centre in Glasgow, will be the last attended

by retiring chief executive Mr Christopher Bishop, who has had a stormy

relationship with the musicians. He is replaced at the beginning of next

month by Mr Paul Hughes, a former manager of the Academy of Ancient

Music, who is moving from a position as artist manager with IMG Artists

in London.

It is understood that the board is anxious to clarify the position of

the band's administrative structure before Mr Hughes takes up his post,

and doubts raised by the Inland Revenue over the continuation of the

charitable status of the RSNO Society under self-government make that

difficult.

Broadly, it is believed that the taxman is unhappy with the prospect

of the players being their own employer and remaining a charity. The

position of orchestras in London who enjoy such status was agreed before

the rules were so strictly enforced, and most of the musicians are

self-employed.

With a smaller pool of freelance work in Scotland, threatened further

by the proposed merger of the BBC SSO and the Orchestra of Scottish

Opera, the RSNO musicians are anxious to maintain their contract status.

Players' spokesman Mr Jeremy Fletcher last night dismissed the fears

of the Inland Revenue, noting that the level of the musicians' wages

would always rest ultimately in the hands of funding bodies, rather than

those of the orchestra management.

''If we tried to boost our wages, we would be out of business,'' he

said.

He conceded that the likelihood of a quick move towards

self-government may well be receding, and acknowledged the prospect of

the plan being put on the back burner.

He said: ''If that were to happen it would be an administrative

convenience, not a slap in the face. Negotiations are still on-going and

it may not be possible to get a final answer tomorrow, but I hope we are

still on course to get to the target we have been working for.''

However, other voices in the orchestra suggested that the move at

board level may be a last attempt by Mr Bishop to put a spanner in the

works of a plan he opposed. Mr Fletcher, who will be one of the player

representatives at today's meeting, said he had no reason to believe

that, although he was not surprised to hear it suggested.