Minutes:
The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Mr R C Lunn, Mr C J Bloore, Ms C M Stalker, Mr P Denham, Mr P M McDonald, Ms P A Hill, Mr R M Udall, and Ms P Agar.
The motion was moved by Mr C J Bloore and seconded by Mr P M McDonald who both spoke in favour of it, and Council agreed to deal with it on the day.
Those in favour of the motion made the following comments:
· Officers were thanked for stopping the decommissioning process on a temporary basis to allow this motion to proceed. The school library service was the only available access point to books for some children. The number of users might suggest a service in decline but the service provided did not meet the needs of the customer at an increased cost. The Council should have changed the service years ago to meet these needs
· The delegation to the Cabinet Member for Communities to make this decision was inappropriate and prevented adequate scrutiny. Other Councils in the country were able to provide the service and sell it to neighbouring councils and there was no reason why this Council could not use its business acumen to build this service and make it profitable
· Libraries provided education and knowledge to all ages and were the cornerstone of the local community, reflecting its diversity, character, needs and expectations. The social benefits were clear including the prevention of loneliness. The administration were more interested in selling off assets than in educating children and the well-being of the local community
· It was queried why this service had not been included in the wider library consultation. If it had been, this motion would have been unnecessary
· The school library service was suffering a death by a thousand cuts
· Given the neglect of the service and its increased cost, it was no surprise that the take up rate was low. The Council had not asked the people if they valued the service but instead asked schools who were operating in a pressured financial environment whether they could afford to fund the service from their existing budgets.
Those against the motion made the following comments:
· The Cabinet Member for Communities commented that the decision to close the school library service had not been taken lightly but was based on the steady decline in its use which had resulted in it operating at a loss. The less the service was used by schools, the more the cost increased. Despite surveys of schools and promotion of the service, there remained insufficient demand for it and it was decided that the service was no longer financially viable and would have to close. Instead, schools had been encouraged to work with their local libraries. Stock would be offered for schools to purchase
· The Council had looked at the way other councils had provided the service eg Essex County Council but found that their model was not appropriate for this Council. Babcock Prime had not expressed an interest in providing the service. Offers of any sort to provide the service would be considered. However, schools were now looking to invest in books in a different way and this motion went against the wishes of the majority of schools
· Unfortunately it was now too late to save this service. The important thing was to ensure that children had access to books and this should be the focus of the Council's efforts in the future
· The Corporate and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel had considered this proposal and concluded that the service lacked a customer base and therefore did not support the continuation of the service in its present form
· The service had been a very valuable service but had failed to adapt or respond to the needs of its customers
· The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills commented that the issue of the school library service had not been raised as an issue with him on visits to schools. The service was no longer used or respected as it once was. Members had the ability to support the provision of books to schools through their divisional fund
· To invest £90k and improve the marketing in the short term would not solve the issues facing the service and could increase cost pressures elsewhere.
On a named vote, the motion was lost.
Those voting in favour were:
Ms P Agar, Mr C J Bloore, Mr P Denham, Mr A Fry, Ms P A Hill. Mr M E Jenkins, Mr R C Lunn, Mr P M McDonald, Ms C M Stalker, Mr R M Udall (10)
Those voting against were:
Mr B Clayton, Mr A A J Adams, Mr R C Adams, Mr A T Amos, Mr T Baker-Price, Mr R W Banks, Mr R M Bennett, Mr G R Brookes, Ms R L Dent, Mr N Desmond, Mr S E Geraghty, Mr P Grove, Mr A I Hardman, Mr P B Harrison, Mr M J Hart, Mrs A T Hingley, Mrs L C Hodgson, Dr A J Hopkins, Mr A D Kent, Mr S M Mackay, Ms K J May, Mr P Middlebrough, Mr A P Miller, Mr R J Morris, Ms T L Onslow, Dr K A Pollock, Mrs J A Potter, Mr A C Roberts, Mr C Rogers, Mr A Stafford, Mr C B Taylor, Mr R P Tomlinson, Mrs E B Tucker, Mr P A Tuthill, Ms R Vale, Ms S A Webb. (36)
Those abstaining were:
Dr C Hotham, Mrs F M Oborski, Mrs M A Rayner. (3)