Sir Edward Leigh MP Protests Library Cuts

Sir Edward Leigh, the Member of Parliament for Gainsborough, has protested the scale of cuts to libraries in Lincolnshire. Writing to Lincolnshire County Council, the MP called local libraries “an absolutely vital local resource” and said they “inculcate in the young a sense of the adventure of learning and provide access to new avenues of knowledge for them to explore”.

“No one disagrees with the need for savings to be found and for cuts to be made.

“But it is necessary we in Lincolnshire think about the long term. If we close too many libraries now we are ending a long and organic tradition that has been cultivated for generations. When prosperity returns, it will be much more difficult to restart these libraries and the services they provided, especially if property is sold off to become residential or commercial units.

“I’m sure an analysis of the long-term costs and benefits would show that it would be immensely wiser to make cuts elsewhere in budget and keep as many of these libraries open as possible rather than to cut off innumerable future generations from the immeasurable benefits of a local library.”

Sir Edward also pointed out that the County Council could be more pro-active in finding solutions for libraries to remain open, citing the case of Nettleham where the parish council have sought a minimum five-year lease in exchange for operating their local library, but have been turned down.

“Nettleham Parish Council are being perfectly reasonable in their demands, and they deserve a much more favourable reaction from the County Council.”

The Save Lincolnshire Libraries campaign has sought judicial review from the High Court regarding the County Council’s libraries plan.

Cllr. Giles McNeill, Conservative (Nettleham Ward), and a member of Nettleham Parish Council, said:

“I welcome Sir Edward's intervention. The way the Parish Council and the local community are being treated by Lincolnshire County Council is not what I would expect. Cllr. Nick Worth, who is the portfolio holder at Lincolnshire County Council with responsibilities for the library service, should re-consider his intransigent position. Surely we both want the same thing. Nettleham Library to remain open, run by community volunteers.”

Nettleham Library Will Not Be Volunteer-Run By Parish Council

Following Lincolnshire County Council’s decision to proceed with its implementation of library closures, Nettleham Parish Council has now been left with no alternative but to withdraw its Expression of Interest in running a community-led library in Nettleham. 

Nettleham Parish Council had decided, in principle, at an extraordinary parish council meeting held on Wednesday, 19th March 2014, to submit a business plan to operate a community-led library in the village; this being conditional upon Lincolnshire County Council agreeing to an extension of the time in which to do so, renegotiation of section 2.2 of the Heads of Terms (the agreement between the county and parish councils), and finally the outcome of the judicial review.

A spokesman for Nettleham Parish Council said:

“The Parish Council believes that it has made every effort to bring about the establishing of a Community Library in the village but sadly the intransigence of the county council to negotiate a more realistic lease agreement has made this impossible. 

“Lincolnshire County Council would not agree to a minimum five year lease on the existing building, insisting that its Model Heads of Terms are applied allowing it to break the lease arrangement at any time.”

Nettleham Parish Council did not feel it could invest the time and money into this venture under such conditions and expressed appreciation to the ninety residents who had come forward to volunteer their services in an effort save this vital community asset.

The spokesman continued:

“The Parish Council is also grateful to County Councillor Jackie Brockway for her considerable mediating efforts with Lincolnshire and hopes it is not too late for any other interested parties to step in.”

The Chairman of the Parish Council Terry Williams added:

“This is an extremely disappointing outcome, but the Parish Council was left with no choice in the matter due to the insistence of the County Council on the inclusion of a condition in the Lease of the Building that meant they could terminate the arrangements at the drop of a hat.”

West Lindsey District Councillor for the Nettleham Ward, Cllr. Giles McNeill, commented:

“It is absurd that Netteham's library will almost certainly close despite Nettleham Parish Council and over ninety local volunteers having come forward to continue to operate a local library.

“Nettleham Parish Council requested a slight extension in order to put together the business plan, given the delays on the part of the county council this seemed a reasonable request. The business plan is important because it gives the county council assurance the community-led library will be successfully delivered; a request was also made to reconsider part of the agreement between the parties.

 “Nettleham Parish Council has had no option but to withdraw from the process, leaving local residents with an uncertain future for the library in the village.”

Lincolnshire County Councillor Nick Worth, Executive Member with responsibilities for Library Services, defended the county council's position saying:

"We offered the parish council a 10-year lease on the current library building. However, as is standard practice, this includes a clause allowing us to break the lease if the community hub is underperforming. 

"This is an important clause that's needed to ensure the public receive a quality service. 

"We thank the parish council for their efforts, and we will now focus on working with Lincolnshire Co-operative who have submitted a business plan for Nettleham."

In Nettleham, a bid from a community group has also been withdrawn, but Lincolnshire Co-operative remains in the running.

A total of thirty libraries are threatened with closure following the decision of Lincolnshire County Council's Executive who have decided to make cuts of £1.7 million to the Library budget by removing professional staff.

The move has been criticised by campaigners who lobbied unsuccessfully for the council to drop the proposals, and which are now subject to a judicial review. The county council has proceeded with the cuts despite receiving a petition against the closures which gained more than 23,000 signatures.

Communities across Lincolnshire provided thirty firm bids to run the libraries as 'community hubs'.

Nettleham Parish Council Responds to Lincolnshire County Council's Library Proposals Describing them as 'Irrational'

The following letter has been sent to Lincolnshire County Council's Head of Libraries and Heritage:-

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Dear Mr Platt 

Re: Proposed changes to library provision in Lincolnshire 

Further to your letter and Information Pack dated the 20 June 2013, the Parish Council held an Extraordinary Parish Council meeting on 11 September 2013 regarding the above proposals and in particular the proposal to close Nettleham Library. 

At the above meeting the Parish Council unanimously resolved to formally object to Lincolnshire County Council’s proposal to close Nettleham Library in May 2014.  The Parish Council’s reasons for objecting to the proposals are summarised as follows:-

1. As stated in your letter the statutory responsibility for providing Public Libraries lies with Lincolnshire County Council and the proposals to transfer your statutory function to voluntary organisations/Parish Councils is simply irrational.  
2. The Parish Council acknowledges that Lincolnshire County Council has to make savings due to the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, however, a 31% reduction in the library budget is totally unreasonable; cuts of 5-10% would be acceptable.
3. If the £1.9 million reduction sought in the library budget was spread across those living in the county (over 700,000) this would equate to merely 5p per person per week, which illustrates the absurdity of your current proposals.  
4. On the 50p coin that was issued in the year of the Millennium there is depicted “Public Libraries”, which was intended to celebrate 150 years (1850 – 2000) of such libraries across the whole of the UK. If LCC proceed with their current proposals, they will in effect be dismembering the work that was undertaken by our forefathers over that long period of time.
5. These proposals would have a significant impact on children’s educational needs, especially in the current economic climate.  Furthermore the elderly population would be adversely affected as they would be unlikely to access the proposed retained libraries due to transportation/health issues, etc.  A large proportion of the elderly do not have access to IT equipment which is becoming more and more necessary to undertake day-to-day activities. 
6. A library is not just about borrowing books; it is also a hub for seeking assistance from the professional library staff for a great number of activities including assisting with IT issues and gaining necessary information.
7. The library service could continue to be undertaken by LCC if it adopted a more commercially astute approach in terms of the running of this service.  For example, Nettleham Library at present only occupies a 1/3 of the overall building and rather than expecting other organisations to take over the management of the library service, some of the remaining 2/3 of the building could be rented to small/medium sized businesses thereby securing an income that could be used to off-set the costs associated with the running of the library. 
8. We have serious concerns in relation to the costs stated in the consultation document especially in relation to the support costs which were the highest in the country; some investigations need to be undertaken in relation to these costs. 
9. The online consultation process was not user friendly and the timetable (being held during the summer period) was grossly unfair.  Moreover, the requirement to lodge an Expression of Interest before the end of the Consultation process was fundamentally flawed. 
10. Finally, a topic of this magnitude should be decided by the whole Lincolnshire County Council voting on the matter and not by LCC’s Executive Committee; such an approach is quite frankly undemocratic. 

Despite its formal objection the Parish Council nevertheless decided as a fall-back position that it would submit, on a without prejudice basis, an Expression of Interest prior to the 30 September 2013 deadline. 

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Local residents voiced their concerns over Lincolnshire County Council proposals on BBC Radio Lincolnshire yesterday (24th September) when Melvyn Prior broadcast for 3 hours from outside the library.

You can listen again to 'Melvyn in the Morning' by clicking here.

Nettleham Parish Council To Object to County Council Library Proposals

Last night Nettleham Parish Council decided to join with other parish, town and district councils across Lincolnshire in objecting to proposals brought forward by Lincolnshire County Council.

Lincolnshire County Council, like other local authorities across England, are dealing with a difficult financial settlement from central government. Substantial reductions, savings or new revenue stream need to be found to balance the authority's budget.

Among the ways to achieve this is a cut of 31% to the Library Service budget, which will require a reconfiguration of the service away from a local authority model to a model with greater community engagement, through the use of volunteers running libraries in rural areas. Nettleham is one library that the county council would like to see run by volunteers.

Nettleham Parish Council held an Extraordinary Meeting at Nettleham Village Hall, Brookfield Avenue to consider the county council's proposals. Cllr. Terry Williams, the Chairman opened the meeting and explained how the meeting would be conducted. He introduced his fellow councillors, the council's officers and welcome 35 members of the public. The Chairman outlined the county council's proposals before welcoming Mr. Gary Porter, from the Library Service, and Cllr. Mrs. Jackie Brockway, Conservative (Nettleham & Saxilby Division) to answer questions from the public.

Questions were asked about the process that political leaders would be taking, the county council's need to make spending reductions, difficulties at pilots with regard to volunteer access to computerised library management systems, the effect on reading groups and disabled access to alternative mobile library provision.

Following the question and answer session, Mr. Porter left the meeting. Residents were then given the opportunity to make their views on the proposals, all universally against the proposed changes.

Cllr. Mrs. Brockway made a statement, she outlined that she had been working hard to dissuade her colleagues at the county council from pursuing this policy and was not prepared to support it. She stated she was really please with the quality and thoughtfulness of the comments made by local residents and that it gave her encouragement.

Finally the members of the Parish Council would debate and discuss the matter. Each Parish Councillor spoke. Cllr. Malcolm Leaning - who is also a district councillor - Liberal Democrat (Nettleham Ward), harked back to his use and the arrangements of the bookcase at the Church Institute in the village.

Cllr. Giles McNeill, Conservative (Nettleham Ward), also a district councillor, spoke in favour of objecting to the county council's proposals. He said:

"There are plenty of arguments about the specific proposal for Nettleham and the proposals more generally. I would like to offer another option for those campaigning against these proposals to pursue. The County Council is run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Independents and the largest group is the Conservatives.

"The Liberal Democrats' manifesto from march makes no mention of the Library Service. However the Conservative Manifesto said this: 

"We will encourage more people to play their part in stronger communitites by encouraging volunteering and neighbourliness as well as a greater use of public buildings such as schools and libraries where approriate.  

"We Promise to... Continue a countywide library network with better access and opening hours. 

"I was Jackie's Agent in the recent local elections and Agent for nine other county candidates across the district, eight of the ten were elected. I have to say I am ashamed that so little regard is being paid to the promises made so recently."

Cllr. McNeill also stated that, following debate at the district council on the preceding Monday evening, he had joined the working party at West Lindsey District Council that would be submitting the district council's response to the proposals.

Cllr. Joseph Siddall described the 'consultation  document' as 'an insult to the word'. Whilst Cllr. Mrs. Janice Clayton, the Deputy Chairman of the Parish Council, wanted the county council to 'react positively to the public out cry and reconsider their position', however, she said she was 'a bit disappointed with the turnout tonight'.

Finally Cllr. Williams, address the meeting as a member of the Council, not in his capacity as Chairman, describing the proposal saying that the '31% reduction is wholly unreasonable' and that he hoped that as the provision of libraries was a statutory requirement that a case might be brought against the county council to the high court on the grounds that the decision was 'irrational', citing the use of the word in the case of the Police and Crime Commissioner's Suspension of the Chief Constable.

The Parish Council resolved to object in the strongest possible terms to the proposals for Nettleham Library and, without prejudice, would form a working party to put forward an expression of interest in a community led library bid for Nettleham; although it was made clear that this was a fall back position.

Save Nettleham Library Group Holds First Meeting

Over seventy people overflowed from the small function room at the White Hart, High Street in Nettleham yesterday evening at the first meeting of the Save Nettleham Library Group.

Organiser, Emily Evision, opened the meeting to discuss the proposed changes to library services in the county being put forward by Lincolnshire County Council who have to save multi-millions of pounds from its budget. Mrs. Evision said:

"It has been fascinating across party lines, the village has come out incredibly strongly protective of its library as a resource.

"Our fear is that we currently have a library that is open four days a week, and we are being offered a library bus, for four hours, every two weeks."

District Councillor Giles McNeill, Conservative (Nettleham Ward), briefly addressed the meeting and afterwards said:

"Local people recognise that we are living in difficult financial times for local authorities. I wanted to show my support to keep Nettleham's library open.

"I think, at this stage, local people are hoping they will be able to convince Lincolnshire County Council not to cut the library service in Nettleham.

"My concern is that the meeting last night did not formally agree to look at other options - such as a community, volunteer-led library - and with a tight window of opportunity to make an expression of interest to the County Council this may prove a disadvantage if we are to keep the library in some form going forward."

Lincolnshire County Council say that the library service needs to change if it is to remain affordable and better meet local needs. They point to successful community-led ventures in Saxilby and Waddingham as a way of improving service and value for money outcomes.

Nettleham Library Threatened with Closure

Lincolnshire County Council, who run local library services, have to make £125 million of savings. Already nearly £90 million has been achieved but a further £35 million has to be found in the next two years. The Library Service, which current has a budget in excess of £6 million is expected contribute by saving around £1.9 million on its current budget. It is proposed that a number of local libraries, including the one in Nettleham, be run by teams of volunteers.

 

Nettleham Parish Council met last night, and briefly addressed the proposed changes to library services within the village. Whilst it was not possible to include a full and substantive discussion on the matter, some consideration took place and representation were received from members of the public.

 

Nettleham Parish Council had been surprised by the county council's plans, only hearing last Friday that changes to the library service were needed, with other residents across the county, when the plans were leaked, prior to Monday, 2nd July, when public consultation was due to begin. The leaking of these plans has caused distress to staff in the libraries, who face an uncertain future, and who found out about the changes through local media's reports of the leak and not in line with the planned consultation timetable.

 

One local resident, Emily Evision, of Sudbrooke Lane, said:

"I had a moment to speak and tried to state the needs of all parts of the community, and how strongly people feel about saving our library. Councillor Jackie Brockway tried to change the [County Council's] decision into an opportunity to get something that works better for us. Giles McNeill offered us his support, and I believe that all of the Parish Councillors were unhappy with the idea of losing the library.

"[The Parish Council] decided to bring the subject up for proper full discussion at the next meeting in July. At that point we can table questions and be a part of the discussion. They also decided to hold a special public meeting on the library closure in early September."

District Councillor Giles McNeill, Conservative (Nettleham Ward) added:

"I want to see our library remain open and if that means looking at a range of different options to do that, then we must.

"Local Council's face a difficult time - on the one hand demand for services continues to increase, whilst on the other the money local authorities receive from central government is reducing. This is putting enormous pressure on politicians to square the circle and do as much as possible with constrained resources.

"I am really proud that local residents are taking the initiative to fight to retain a library in Nettleham.  I have offered my support to the campaign to 'Save Nettleham Library' and am prepared to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and offer a portion of my Councillor Initiative Fund monies to help any local community group look into the question of taking on running Nettleham Library.

"The information age presents great challenges to the traditional model of a library - but potentially it provides great opportunity for local people to recast a local service into more suitable provision, dynamic and reactive to local needs."

Details of the 'Save Nettleham Library' campaign group can be found on facebook. A petition has been started and can be found online here.