Agenda item

Cabinet considered proposals put forward for the Libraries Service following the public consultation and Peer Review of the service. The Cabinet Member for Communities explained that the Council had a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service as set out in the report. Since 2011 £3.9 million of savings had already been made, but further savings and transformation had been agreed in 2018. As well as a consultation, which involved public meetings and an on-line survey, a peer review was undertaken.

Following the consultation changes were made to the isolation index and the rankings of libraries were amended due to the length of time it took public transport to reach the library as well as their opening hours. The consultation also found that the public believed that library profiles should be raised and a substantial amount of people used the computers or Wifi.

The Peer Review asked specific questions around best value, contribution to the corporate agenda, serving the local community and finding good practice from other authorities. The Review concluded that a new library strategy should be developed and there should be more engagement with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. There needed to be more innovation such as with Open Libraries Plus. The savings target had been remodelled following savings that had already been achieved from the deletion of vacant posts and improved I.T., and contributions to the running costs of two libraries by Worcester City Council. The development and implementation of the Libraries Strategy would deliver the necessary savings by 2021. Partnership working such as with DWP continued to be important.

Finally, the Cabinet Member thanked the Corporate and Communities Scrutiny Panel for the work they had done on looking at the re-modelling of the library service. She explained that the remodelling was not about closing libraries but rather modernising the service to ensure it was efficient and met the needs of the local community.

The Cabinet Member for Highways paid tribute to the Cabinet Member for communities for her hard work in overseeing the exercise which was about modernising the service without impacting on front line provision. The Cabinet Member also thanked Councillor Marc Bayliss, Leader of Worcester City Council for contributing to the support of St John’s and Warndon libraries.

The Chairman of the Corporate and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel presented the views of the Scrutiny Panel who had considered the Cabinet report. The Panel:

·  Welcomed the positive consultation and Peer Review and supported the approach that Libraries should support the Corporate Agenda

·  Agreed with the vision for re-modelling libraries by assessing each setting for the needs of their own communities. Tackling social isolation was important, as was considering commercial opportunities. The Hive was a vital asset, which needed to be a leader for the rest of the service

·  Was pleased that the development of the strategy would involve residents, communities, partners and Local Members

·  Believed an improved marketing and communication approach to promote library use was required

·  Supported the likely areas for inclusion in the strategy; improved connection between libraries and other council agendas, skilled workforce, the Hive attracting investment for service initiatives which could be cascaded around the County and being open to new ways of working and growth

·  Welcomed that all Councillors would have an opportunity to contribute to the development of the strategy and agreed that the Panel would consider the draft strategy before it was brought back to Cabinet.

Members of the Cabinet commented that they were pleased that Scrutiny supported the process and were particularly pleased that libraries were helping with the issue of social isolation and keeping people mobile. It was also clarified that the process had not been about closing libraries but about modernising services and working with partners to continue to provide an effective library service for communities.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

(a)  noted the feedback and findings from the public consultation held from 29 October 2018 to 28 February 2019;

(b)  noted the feedback from the Local Government Association Peer Review held in May 2019;

(c)  agreed to adopt the proposed updated definition of Library need as described in paragraph 14 and in more detail in the Libraries’ Needs Assessment;

(d)  agreed to use the Libraries’ Needs Assessment, the findings from the public consultation, the Peer Review and discussions with the DCMS to inform the development of a Worcestershire Libraries Strategy that sets out the longer-term vision for the service across Worcestershire which continues to meet the statutory duty;

(e)  approved the proposed plan to realise the necessary in-year savings for Libraries as outlined in paragraphs 29-30 of the report;

(f)    agreed to use the proposed Libraries Strategy to then inform the decisions around change and resource allocation for front-line library provision from 2020/21; and

(g)    agreed to receive a further report in Autumn 2019 to consider and approve the Libraries Strategy and implementation plan.