“It shall be the duty of
every library authority to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service….
set in the context of local need: that is, specifically of those who live, work
and study in the local area".
On the DCMS website The
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport advises that:
“The closure of one or even a small number of library branches is not
necessarily a breach of the 1964 Act. We judge such cases on the basis of the
authority’s overall provision, but we would be concerned if libraries were
closed, or their
services disproportionately reduced, just to save money”
The County Council’s
proposals clearly breach that duty.
Why has there been no
proper consultation (such as took place in 1997 for the 1998/9 review)?
No decisions have yet been made. These are proposals. The County Council will be undertaking a full
consultation starting in February. This
will last for 12 weeks. There will be a
comprehensive needs assessment relating to all communities which will be
considered before any decisions are made that will inform the final
proposal. Following the consultation,
the County Council’s Cabinet will make the decision about what should happen.
We believe that we are acting in accordance with the 1964 Act.
What
factors did you consider in making the decision about Chinnor?
No
decisions have yet been made. These are proposals.
In the current proposals, the county council
is seeking to modernise the service for the 21st century and in doing so it has
started from the following principles:
·
Library provision is focused on centres of
population and evenly spread geographically
·
Library provision reflects regular shopping and
travel patterns from local communities
·
Library provision reflects key patterns of current
use
·
Access to library services (via mobiles, community
initiatives etc.) is targeted in areas of socio-economic need
·
The physical library network is supported and
complimented by virtual provision, including e books and e audio
Chinnor borrowers represent 0.9% of all borrowers
using the static libraries in the county. For comparison, the central library
in Oxford serves over 29,000 borrowers (17% of total).
Chinnor ranks in the middle in terms of numbers of
borrowers: it comes 21st from the bottom out of 43 libraries.
Chinnor ward is home to over 5,800 people. More than
20% of households living within the Chinnor ward currently use Thame library.
50% of Chinnor residents remain in the immediate area
for work, with another 18% travelling to Thame and 10% commuting outside the
county where they may be using other library services.
Many local residents shop in
Thame and Wheatley. Shopping patterns
show that 48% of people in the Chinnor area travel to Thame for regular
shopping such as groceries. Another 29%
shop in Wheatley, while 19% remain in Chinnor. Under the current proposals,
library services will be retained in both Thame and Wheatley.
Chinnor provides
facilities for residents of surrounding hamlets: Emmington, Sydenham, Henton,
Crowell and Kingston Blount/Aston Rowant.
In their Core Strategy,
South Oxfordshire District Council designated Chinnor as a centre for services
for the rural population in this area.
Why has this apparently
been ignored in the decision-making process?
We understand that South Oxfordshire
District Council has identified a significant number of settlements as centres
in this way. It is just not feasible to
have a library in each of those centres.
Our proposals are based on trying to make sure that there is a
reasonable geographical spread of libraries across Oxfordshire. They will take account of the needs
assessment.
Has this
been fully considered?
Many Oxfordshire residents already live
more than 5 km (3 miles) away from their nearest library. It would not be feasible to ensure that every
single resident in Oxfordshire lives within 3 miles of their nearest library. Our final proposals will take account of the
needs assessment.
Please
confirm that this is correct or provide accurate figures.
The proposals would save £2m a year from 2014/15
onwards. This is 23% of the current
expenditure on libraries (£8.7m). The
County Council is looking to save approximately ¼ of its budget over the next
four years. The savings from libraries
is proportion to the savings being made from other services.
Please confirm that this is correct or provide accurate
figures.
See the answer to question 5. £50,000 a year is 2.5% of the total savings
(£2m ) that are proposed. However, the
costs of Chinnor library are about £55,000.
Savings range from approximately £21,000
for North Leigh to £150,000 for Headington Library in Oxford.
We understand that no rent or service maintenance fees are paid for the premises of Chinnor Library. Does this mean that the County Council owns the building?
Yes
If the County owns the
building, what will happen to it in the event of the Library closing?
It is premature to say what will happen to
the building. If funding were to cease
and if the library was not used as a community library then the County Council
would want to consult again on what would happen to the building.
If not, what is the
situation?
Why have no other options
for cost savings been proposed, such as reducing library staffing and limiting
opening hours across the whole library service?
We have explored the implications of going
for a cross the board reduction in opening hours. We have experience of what is likely to
happen. Between 1998/9 and 2003/4 book
expenditure was reduced and opening hours were cut by 15% (in particular the
least well used hours) in order to make savings. They were restored to current
levels in 2003/4. Over the intervening period, visits remained static but book
issues declined by 20%. Saving £2m by
reducing opening hours at all libraries would require opening hours to be cut
by 30% with potentially disastrous consequences for the use of the library
service as a whole.
9. We have noted that
How does the County reconcile a
strategy of library closures with this self-promotion, or do the rural areas
not count?
We have to find savings across all services in order
to work within the significantly reduced resources available to the County
Council. We have targeted our savings
within the library service to have the least impact on those libraries. 82% of visits take place at the 23 libraries
that would continue to be funded. It is
not true that we have targeted rural areas.
In Oxford, we are proposing to withdraw funding from 5 of the 7
libraries.
10. In the event that a
library closes:
i. What will happen to the book
stocks and the public computers?
We would be prepared to make these available to a
community run library at no cost
ii. What is the likelihood of replacement with a mobile library service?
If there was no library, then we would expect that
larger villages (which would include Chinnor) to have a mobile library visit.
11. How does the closure of rural libraries tie in with the Government’s policy of “Future Libraries as promoted by the Rt Hon Ed Vaizey?
The library proposals are not targeted at rural
libraries. As noted above they are
informed by an aspiration to secure even geographical coverage across the
county.
12. In the event that communities are persuaded to take over running of libraries, how will the formal functions of professional management, HR, H & S, training etc be managed?
There would be the opportunity for communities to buy
in for these services. How much it would
cost will depend on the level of support required by a community.
13. When will a final decision be made?
We are currently considering how much time we will
need between the close of the consultation period in May and the Cabinet
meeting. This time will be necessary to
evaluate all the comments made during the consultation. The decision will not be taken before the
June Cabinet meeting and may take place in July.
14. There is a view, being expressed more and more
widely, that having been elected to their positions, our rural County
Councillors no longer wish, or are no longer able, to serve their rural
electorate.
Would you agree that
withdrawing funding from important public services such as rural libraries,
then expecting communities to “pick up the pieces” certainly gives that
impression?
It is appropriate for this question to be
answered by an elected County Councillor.
This is a joint answer from Cllr Keith Mitchell, Leader of the Council
who will be present at the meeting on Wednesday and Cllr Judith Heathcoat,
Cabinet Member responsible for the library service.
No. County Councillors are elected to
serve the communities they represent whether individual electors voted for them
or not. Elected members are also
expected to have a concern for the whole of the authority, its citizens and its
services. The County Council has to
plan for savings of £119m over the next four years as part of the coalition
government's policy of reducing the large structural deficit in the national
finances. Of that total savings figure,
the county council has to make cuts of £58m in its spending plans for
2011/12.
The County Council has decided to ring
fence funding for two critical service areas.
These are the Fire & Rescue Service and Safeguarding Children. If we were to ring fence further service
areas such as libraries, we would be adding to the cuts to be made to
children's social care, adult social care, services for the learning disabled,
services for those with mental health problems or highways maintenance. This does not seem fair and we have elected
to apply cuts relatively evenly over many service areas.
The County Council is proposing (and it
must be remembered that these are proposals at this stage as a full
consultation process will commence in February) to cease funding 20 libraries
that currently account for only 18% of all library visits in the county. The remaining 23 libraries currently handle
82% of all library visits and 80% of book issues. This is not a question of rural versus
suburban or urban. It is an issue of
fairness between different communities and different services. We are proposing to cease funding a number of
libraries in the heart of Oxford City as well as one in Banbury because of
their proximity to another library on good transport links. If we were to exempt all of our libraries
from cuts, we would have to add the £2m savings foregone to another service
area - children's social care; adult social care; services for those with
learning difficulties; those with mental health problems or highway
maintenance. Switching cuts across
services would also hit rural areas.
Unless you are proposing that a Council
administration drawn mainly from the rural parts of the county should
deliberately target for cuts those urban areas where they are not
represented? I hope you are not
suggesting this and my Administration would not countenance it. We are seeking to find a solution to a very
difficult position that is fair across the county.