Agenda item

The Assistant Director of Families, Communities and Partnerships provided an update on the Libraries Transformation Programme. She advised that the Consultation launched in October 2018 had closed on 28 February 2019 and 1,947 responses had been received, which were currently being analysed in detail. Drop-in sessions had been held at all 23 libraries, facilitated by Libraries Officers and the Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR) for Communities had attended every event. Some of the key themes were as follows:

·         A staff presence was felt to be important and was valued

·         The fully volunteered model was not supported

·         Concern was expressed about the Open Plus model, especially around safeguarding

·         General concern was expressed about the reduction of a service which was really valued.

The Panel was reminded that one of the aspects of the Consultation was to seek views on the methodology used to define need. The Needs Assessment would therefore be refreshed as a result of the findings, which might have an impact on the rankings compared to those originally given. In terms of social isolation, for instance, the Assistant Director confirmed that there would be a review of the isolation ranking to ensure that access to public transport was considered.

Members were informed that Place Partnership Limited had been instructed to carry out a strategic asset review of library premises to identify what options there were for savings to be made. Stakeholder meetings were also being held to ensure everyone was kept informed of developments.

In terms of going forward, full proposals would be presented to the Cabinet in June. In drafting those proposals, the Assistant Director advised she would be mindful of some clear messages that had come to the fore during the Consultation ie:

·         Whenever possible, frontline service should be protected

·         Use of current library properties should be prioritised, whilst looking at ways in which the buildings might be able to be used differently to increase income

·         Wherever possible, management efficiencies be obtained from back office services

·         There could be implications for the front-line service, such as Open Plus.

The CMR thanked all the staff who had been involved in the drop-in sessions. She was pleased to report that the £200k of savings for 2018/19 were on track, with a further £600k of savings to be achieved over the next two years. She confirmed that liaison work would continue with District Councils regarding the importance of library locations.

The Assistant Director advised that the Department had been invited to take part in a Local Government Authority (LGA) Peer Review of the Library Service. She welcomed this opportunity, which would test out proposals ahead of the Cabinet meeting in June. The Chairman commented that the Panel would be happy to be involved as appropriate. The Assistant Director advised that when she had further information she would liaise with the Chairman.

Councillors Morris and Raine had carried out a site visit to Yate Library the previous week, to look at their Open Access Library Scheme. They advised that it had proved to be a very useful visit, with detailed information obtained and their understanding enhanced as to how the open libraries worked in practice. Some of the key learning points were:

·         South Gloucestershire Council was part of the Libraries West Consortium incorporating large areas of the West of England including Gloucestershire, Dorset, Bristol and Somerset. The Consortium was used to gain efficiencies in purchasing, joint tender bids, IT, licensing etc.

·         A budgetary situation whereby significant savings needed to be identified across libraries services led to a consultation on open access being expanded to all libraries. There was a one-off capital cost of introducing Open Access, with Biblioteca being the company used to supply and set up the system.

·         By April 2019, all South Gloucestershire Council’s libraries would have the Open Access system in place.

·         Overall opening hours had increased by 93% with the Open Access scheme, whilst staff hours had been reduced by 27%. The savings were achieved without any compulsory redundancies.

·         Staff were very positive and felt it could be developed further in due course, for instance with longer opening hours for open Access.

·         Using Open Access, generally allowed for opening hours from 8.00am to 7.30pm, including weekends.

·         Results of the Consultation exercise with users of Open Access had shown 73% to be positive about their experience.

·         There had been 37,000 visits to libraries during Open Access hours. (7% of total visits)

·         In terms of overall users, 30% had been over 65’s and 62% have been female.

·         A range of community users made use of the library hub.  Access could be given to a Group Leader as a private booking, via their Open Access card, and they were then responsible for the members of their group.

·         Police Officers and Social Workers were encouraged to use the library as a base whenever they wished.

·         Public concerns regarding public safety had not proved to be an issue.

·         Under 16’s were not allowed to enter the library building during Open Access on their own due to safeguarding, however, they could do so, if accompanied by an adult.

Members asked some additional questions:

·         The CMR was asked whether there would need to be any library closures to achieve the £600k of savings. In response, she advised that they were currently looking at ways to change the delivery of services and was confident at the moment but added that there could be consequences if other occupiers decided to cease their use of library buildings. She highlighted that If such action was required there would need to be a separate consultation exercise. The Assistant Director added that she was confident that there would be a minimal effect on library services.

·         A Member who was observing the Meeting, drew the Panel’s attention to the special circumstances impacting on Alvechurch Library, in that it was built as part of a school complex about 10 years ago and was included in a commercial Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangement. The premises were relatively small but the rent was around £46,000 pa. As well as the rent, the PFI controlled the opening hours of the building, hence taking value for money (VFM) considerations out of the Council’s influence. In light of the above, the Member suggested that Alvechurch Library should be seen as a special case. The CMR confirmed that she was fully aware of the set-up of Alvechurch Library and that residents had been very vocal in putting forward their Library’s case. The Assistant Director advised that VFM had not been included in the Needs Assessment but was only being used to assess overall costs. She stressed that every library was different and that this would be reflected in the Cabinet report.