CILIP, the library and information association, has issued a statement outlining serious concerns about Swindon Council’s library proposals and the way in which they have been reached. The proposals include closing ten out of fifteen libraries unless community groups come forward to run them.
In a statement Nick Poole CILIP Chief Executive said:
CILIP operates under a Royal Charter which requires us to intervene to promote the adequate provision of library and information services to meet the needs of the public.
We have therefore taken the extraordinary step of issuing this statement expressing our serious concerns at the proposals set out by Swindon Borough Council in the paper Securing a sustainable future for Swindon’s Library Services and the process by which they have been reached.
In summary, the Council’s proposals are to:
- Reduce the complement of libraries in Swindon to a ‘core service’ of five
- Further reduce the staffed hours of these libraries to fifteen hours a week
- Transfer the remaining ten libraries to community ownership
- Discontinue all mobile library services
- Discontinue the deposit and collection service currently provided to residential care homes
- Continue the existing ‘home library’ service
We note that these proposals are less severe than the model originally put forward to public consultation. However, given that one of the five ‘core’ libraries, Park Library, is completely unfunded and the remainder will be operating on severely limited staff, we feel that the proposed model falls far short of any reasonable definition of a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ service.
Having reviewed the publicly-available documentation, we feel that there are serious concerns to be addressed about the public consultation conducted on behalf of the Council. We note that the financial decision concerning the level of budget reduction had been made prior to the consultation – in effect rendering the consultation meaningless, given that insufficient funds were allocated to provide for anything other than the model now put forward to Council Cabinet.
We note in the Cabinet papers that the concerns that were voiced by thousands of Swindon residents have not been addressed and are instead dismissed under the overall context of affordability. Similarly, we note that a staff-led proposal to establish an independent trust – a model that is seeing some success elsewhere in the country – has been dismissed without appropriate consideration on the grounds of affordability.
Again, we consider this prejudicial to the appropriate conduct of public and staff consultation as required under the terms of the 1964 Public Libraries Act as set out in the Government’s own guidance:
“Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 ‘to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons’ in the area that want to make use of it (section 7). In considering how best to deliver the statutory duty each library authority is responsible for determining, through consultation, the local needs and to deliver a modern and efficient library service that meets the requirements of their communities within available resources.”
We note that the Council is considering the transition, with some support, of ten libraries to community-led models. The paper asserts that similar models in neighbouring Wiltshire are ‘working well’, but makes no qualitative assessment of the viability of these models for Swindon. We note that up to 400 individuals have expressed an interest in being involved in the running of these libraries, but would strongly caution the Council to be aware that this fits a general pattern of significant initial interest which tapers away sharply in the first 2-3 years of operation. We also caution the Council to be fully aware of the limitations of community-led libraries, which cannot in all cases offer the full range of library services to which taxpayers are entitled.
We have reviewed the publicly-available financial papers considered by Council, and specifically the document 2016-17 Budget Management and 2017-18 Draft Budget to be laid before Cabinet on the 7 December 2016.
It is clear that the Council is in a very challenging financial position, and we understand and appreciate the consideration and effort that has gone into budget management. However, we also note that other Councils, facing similar budget reductions, have been able to do more to preserve their paid and staffed library services. We note from the accompanying Peer Review that the Council is commended on their efforts in managing the impact of significant reductions in centrally-distributed grant. However, the Peer Review focuses more on managing the potential negative reputational fallout than it does on seeking to protect frontline services to the greatest extent possible.
In short, we believe from the papers that rather than entering into the process of consultation without prejudice, a highly prejudicial decision was made concerning budget allocation to the library service and that the end result is a service that has been hollowed-out to the point at which it can no longer be considered ‘comprehensive and efficient’.
We believe that there are three potential routes for the Council to follow:
- The first is to re-engage with the proposal put forward by staff and to seek to negotiate a solution which fulfils more of the criteria they have set out, as reflected in the public consultation.
- The second is to place the burden of responsibility for this situation back onto Central Government. If Central Government has placed the Council in an impossible position in respect of paying for statutory services, then the Council ought to declare its position and petition the Government for a remedy.
- The third is for the Secretary of State to exercise his powers to intervene in the development of library services, where there is any “serious doubt or uncertainty as to whether the local authority is (or may cease to be) complying with its legal obligation to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service.” Given the severity of the proposed service reductions we fail to see how these proposals can be interpreted otherwise.
We are fully aware of the challenges confronting Local Authorities across the country and are committed to working with Councils to secure the best outcome. The proposals put forward by Swindon Council are the most damaging we have seen to any library service anywhere in the country. We therefore urge the Council either to reconsider the proposals or to take corresponding action before continuing on this path, which calls into doubt both the execution of their duties and the right of Swindon’s residents to benefit from a statutory library service.
