Libraries consultation – final week

As the 12-week consultation on proposals for radical change to Warwickshire’s Library and Information Service draws to a close, local people are being urged not to miss their opportunity to join more than 4,000 people who have already responded to the consultation. 

All consultation questionnaires, whether handed in at a library or completed online, have to be in by Thursday, June 9. The consultation aims to give people the opportunity to have their say on plans to reshape the library network and cut costs. 

Cllr Colin Hayfield, Portfolio-holder for Customers, Workforce and Partnerships, said: “This will be the biggest transformation in the history of Warwickshire’s library service so I urge local people to make their views known by returning the consultation questionnaire before this week’s June 9 deadline.” 

The Library and Information Service must cut spending by £2 million over the next three years as part of Warwickshire County Council’s plans to achieve required savings of more than £70m across all services. 

Sixteen Warwickshire libraries have been identified as no longer sustainable in their current form, alongside other cost-cutting measures including reduced opening hours, reductions in the workforce and mobile library fleet, and cutting the number of public computers across the library network. 

So far more than 4,000 people have completed questionnaires – 2,025 handed in as written questionnaires and 2,050 completed online. Many hundreds of other people have visited roadshows and public meetings to find out more about the proposals for the future of the service. 

There have also been about 3,000 visits in the last few weeks to a dedicated online blog bringing the latest information about the consultation at www.libraryconsult.wordpress.com 

Councillor Hayfield said there had been strong interest from a number of communities interested in setting up their own libraries. 

“As well as offering staff support to communities preparing business plans, the County Council has set aside £100,000 to help volunteer-run library projects get off the ground,” he said. “We are also prepared, in principle, to consider leasing council-owned library buildings at a peppercorn rent to communities submitting a strong business case.” 

All consultation feedback received by June 9 will be analysed and reported to Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet in July. The report will be made public at the same time. Councillors will consider the contents before making any final decisions on the future of the library service. 

More information, along with the library consultation questionnaire, is available in all Warwickshire libraries and online at: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/facingthechallenge 

Consultation progress can also be followed by Twitter www.twitter.com/warksdirect or via the consultation blog at www.libraryconsult.wordpress.com

Warwickshire Library and Information Service – Facing the Challenge – Cabinet minutes published

The minutes from a meeting of Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet have been published.

Full details of the minutes relating to the Library and Information Service agenda item are included below:

Councillor Colin Hayfield, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Customers,Workforce and Partnership, presented a report setting out proposals for the future direction of the service which will achieve the budgetary reductions set by Council.

Councillor Alan Farnell referred to a petition he had received from Councillor John Ross and others in the Bulkington community requesting the retention of Bulkington Library. Councillor Farnell added that the consultation process had been validated by the Consultation Institute and that the questionnaire would be available after this meeting, provided Cabinet agreed to go forward with the consultation.

Councillor Hayfield reminded the meeting that Warwickshire Library and Information Service is part way through a transformation to develop services to meet modern day needs. The service has also to address an accumulated deficit and ensure it meets the savings targets agreed by Council. The report before Cabinet set out the ambitions for the future of the Service, the changes already underway and the recognition of the need to ensure the opening hours of libraries across the County better matched the use made of them and the need to address the position of 16 libraries identified as no longer sustainable in their current form.

Councillor Hayfield emphasised that this was an open consultation and that all responses will be considered and suggestions for local solutions will be welcomed, which may include joint or alternative use of current buildings. To this end Councillor Hayfield assured the meeting that information would be made available of the costs of the service in each location (e.g. lease or rental costs, utilities etc) so that communities are properly able to assess the position in their area and decide whether they wish to put forward business cases for retaining a local service.

Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group) sought assurance that there would be a clear time line for reaching a decision and proper project management, given the need to meet the savings target and the complexity and scale of the change programme. This assurance was also sought by Councillor John Whitehouse, Chair of the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, who reported the findings and views of that Committee expressed at their meeting on 1 March 2011. (The publication of the minutes of the meeting had been notified to all members and the minutes circulated specifically to Cabinet).

Members also questioned whether income made from disposal or the cost benefits of alternative use of buildings would be allocated to a central Council fund or be used to offset the savings required of the Library and Information Service.

Councillor Hayfield assured the meeting that any benefit gained to the overall working of the County Council and savings made, for example, through alternative use would be credited against the savings required for the service.

During the debate, assurance was also given that any representations made to date, before the formal launching of the consultation document, would be fed into the consultation. It was also noted that the outcome of consultation would be considered by the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee before consideration by Cabinet on 14 July 2011. It was noted that the Committee’s scheduled meeting of 30 June may be too early for this and that a special meeting after that date and before 14 July may be necessary.

 Resolved

(1) That Cabinet approves a 12 week public consultation (March 18 to June 9) based on the proposals contained in this report.

(2) That Cabinet considers a report on the consultation on 14 July 2011.

(3) That Cabinet notes the comments made by Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 1 March 2011.