Council and democracy

Agenda item

2014-15 Savings - Libraries

Minutes:

The Director of Children’s Services briefly introduced the report, and in doing so explained the library service had been relatively stable since the last restructure which had taken place in 2011/12, however the budget now needed to be reduced and the community consulted on possible options.

 

The Strategic Lead for the Operational, Resources and Libraries Unit further highlighted the following key points:

 

·         Between £569,000 of savings needed to be achieved from the library service and the proposed options would be consulted on with the local community following this meeting.

·         The Library had been through a restructure in 2011/12 and staffing was currently at a minimum owing to previous government budget cuts.

·         A significant proportion of the library budget was spent on staffing; therefore any option would have a considerable impact on the service. 

 

The Committee were informed of the three proposed options and advised that a consultation document had been prepared in order to gain the views of stakeholders.

 

Councillor Halden commented that he had given the proposals considerable thought and recognised that officers had made a good case as to why the savings needed to be made. He made the following further key points:

 

·         That Options 2 and 3 were clever and had merit, but felt that Option 1 was not an option.

·         That the mobile library was a needed flexible resource.

·         He was concerned that the proposed library restructure would decrease opening hours and therefore capacity, and that this in turn would make the service less viable in future as footfall would fall as a result.

·         He did not feel that the any of the options proposed presented a comprehensive offer and that enough detail had not been provided to demonstrate how the options would work in reality, for example if the opening hours reduced what would become of the buildings in the days that it was closed.

·         That the proposals would have an impact on Community Hubs and if a hub was established in Stanford what this would mean for neighbours such as Corringham.

 

Members were concerned that a vague consultation document could drive down response rates and therefore the validity of the overall consultation.

 

Councillor Ojetola supported a wider review of the library service rather than a piecemeal restructure and felt that proposals needed to be both realistic and pragmatic in order to achieve the savings. He further added:

 

·         That the timing was not perfect and felt that wide scale changes would be difficult to implement.

·         He recognised that a consultation needed to begin as soon as possible but was concerned that due to the timings of meetings and the forthcoming election it was unlikely that the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be able to fully consider the outcomes of the consultation in detail and recommend alternatives due to time constraints.

·         He felt that it was important the consultation results be referred back to the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee even if it required an extraordinary meeting to be scheduled.

·         He questioned what would be the alternative uses for the library buildings if option 2 was agreed and how in reality these could be re-let to achieve the required savings.

·         That option 1 – the closure of libraries – was not an option.

·         That increasingly residents relied on the libraries to access IT services in order to conduct business, especially as the public sector was encouraging the use of online services.

·         He recognised that this was a politically sensitive issue by all and recounted what had happened when the Chafford Hundred library was closed.

 

Reverend Barlow felt that the report was well written and highlighted the following key points:

 

·         That it was important the public and library users had the opportunity to express their views.

·         He echoed that that if the library opened less it would be used less and therefore could be viewed as a service not required in future budget savings.

·         He felt that it was important a central library was retained in Thurrock and that any change to Grays Library at Thameside was not a good option.

·         He raised concern that this work would be politicised especially in the time before the next election.

·         That in the examination of options 2 ‘Community Hubs’ and 3 ‘Community Partnered Libraries’ it was important to consider disadvantaged communities and the fact that some library users were reliant on the service to obtain access to computers or have a social place they can meet to combat loneliness.

 

Councillor Morris-Cook made the following key points during the course of the discussion:

 

·         That the service should begin with a ‘blank sheet of paper’ in order to fully examine what Thurrock wanted from a library service rather than making piecemeal cuts which would dilute the resource.

·         That she would like to see a 21st Century library service which was fit for purpose.

·         She felt that community hubs were beneficial to the community and the proposals could affect the viability of hub development.

·         She recognised that the mobile library had been off the road for a long time and questioned whether savings could be made in this area.

·         She felt that Thurrock should offer library users an ‘Amazon’ style service so that books could be requested and delivered to their homes.

·         Whether the service could be delivered differently and other options considered, for example by sharing a mobile library service with another authority in order to retain this benefit for residents.

·         That if libraries needed to be closed it was preferable to close a library that was nearby to another, as Blackshots Library was close to Grays.

·         She was concerned about closing libraries in communities such as East Tilbury, as the residents would need to travel further for this service and could become isolated.

·         She questioned whether areas of excellence could be created in different locations with specialist libraries in different subjects.

·         She felt that it was important the main Grays Library should be open 7 days a week and questioned whether the library could be moved into another council building to improve efficiency.

·         Whether the use of kindles could be supported to reduce pressures. 

 

The Director of Children’s Services welcomed the comments made by Members and advised that the library service did loan kindles and were expanding the way residents could use the library service. She acknowledged that this was a particularly emotive issue and that library provision in Thurrock was valued.

 

The Committee were advised that Thurrock already operated an ‘Amazon’ style service through the Homelink programme.

 

Revered Barlow recognised that there was a danger that the most unhelpful outcome would be to only open a library for a few hours each week.

 

Members questioned what would be an acceptable response rate to the consultation as there needed to be a decent measurement to evaluate the options against.

 

Members were concerned that with gradual cuts to the libraries year on year there was potential for Thurrock to be left with an unviable service.

 

All Members were in agreement that a consultation needed to take place but that it needed to be a wide ranging consultation in order to for the public to explain how the service added value to their lives. 

 

The Director of Children’s Services outlined some of the questions that had been included in the draft consultation document, and following the Committee’s request, confirmed that additional questions would be added to the consultation document to seek the public’s views on the three proposed options and an open ended question to allow for other ideas to be put forward.

 

The Committee were in agreement that each option should be fully detailed within the consultation document and that a further ‘Mobile Library’ option should be included within options 2 and 3 so that residents could note their preference. All members felt that this additional option of a mobile library as part of the service proposed in options 2 and 3 should be included.

 

Councillor Halden was concerned that the consultation was going out to reduce the library service but the savings figure had no approval.

 

The Director of Children’s Services informed the Committee that the higher savings figure of £569,000 had already been approved in principle by Cabinet and advised that the outcomes of the consultation would be reported to both Council in February and Cabinet in March 2015.

 

Members had a discussion on the savings figure, during which it was emphasised that the level of savings was not a question for the Committee as it was beyond their remit (as the Committee had no decision making authority), rather it was the role of the Committee to add value to how the savings could be realised.

 

Following the debate Democratic Services reworded recommendation 1.2 in the printed agenda until it was agreed by the Committee.

 

Members were in agreement that the outcomes of the consultation should be reported back to the Committee in the form of a briefing note as soon as possible for comments which could then be incorporated in any future report to Council and or Cabinet, to which officers agreed.

 

Councillor Morris-Cook added that the consultation should be widely accessible and available in schools, sheltered accommodation and libraries.

 

The Director of Children’s Services acknowledged that this would be the case and that the consultation was expected to close on 19 February 2015.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.         That the concerns and comments of the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the options put forward be referred to Cabinet.

 

2.         That it be recommended a broad public consultation takes place, to include full details on the options as outlined within the report including mobile library provision, and that the outcomes be reported back to the Committee in the form of a briefing note before being referred to the appropriate decision making body.

 

Supporting documents: