Issue - meetings

Following the receipt of a Notice of Call-in within the required deadline, from Councillor Caserta calling in the decision of the Cabinet set out in Minute CA.04 of the meeting held on 28 June 2017, a meeting of the Committee has been convened in order to consider the matter in accordance with the reasons set out on the Notice of Call-In.

In considering the matter, the options available to the Scrutiny Committee are as follows:

1. The Scrutiny Committee decides not to offer any comments on the Notice. In this situation the decision of the Cabinet will stand.
2. The Scrutiny Committee decides to offer comments or objections, which will be referred back to the Cabinet at the meeting arranged for 26 July 2017.
3. The Scrutiny Committee may refer the Notice, without comment, to the Council. The matter will then be considered by the Council on 17 September 2017 (a standard item appears on all Council summons to consider referrals from Scrutiny Committees). Any comments or objections from Council will be referred back to the Cabinet at the earliest opportunity, in accordance with the Council Constitution.

The Cabinet will be required to consider any objections and comments but will not be bound by them unless..."it is contrary to the Policy Framework or contrary to or not wholly consistent with the Budget" (Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules - Paragraph 16(g) of the Council Constitution).”

A copy of the original paperwork considered by Cabinet, along with the decision Minute and Call –in notice are attached.

The Scrutiny Committee considered a called-in decision of the Cabinet meeting held on 28 June 2017 in accordance with the Council Constitution.

The Cabinet had made the following decision:

That approval be given to Option 2, as presented in the report submitted, to retain Bury, Ramsbottom, Prestwich and Radcliffe Libraries and a smaller Service Wide Team.

A Call – In Notice had been submitted by Councillor Caserta, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, setting out the reasons for the Call In of the decision. The reasons are set out below:

Insufficient consideration given to:

·         The discrimination against young people many from disadvantaged backgrounds who rely on the libraries as a place to do their homework after school. This especially applies to Tottington Library.

·         It will discriminate against people with mobility problems who are unable to travel long distances.

·         Insufficient notice of closure for applicant community groups to take-over operation of the buildings.

Councillor Caserta invited Councillor Briggs, Cabinet Member – Children and Families to respond to the reasons highlighted:

In response to the first reason Councillor Briggs explained that a 2011 survey by the National Literacy Trust found that children who use a library are twice as likely to be above average readers and organisations such as the Reading Agency and the Society of Chief Librarians confirm this is still the case.  However use of libraries for school homework has markedly declined in the last 5-10 years; the formal homework clubs that many libraries established in the 90’s have largely disappeared.  There is evidence that children who continue to use libraries for homework would have been coming to the library in any case.   The pattern seen in Bury’s libraries is typical of that experienced by most library authorities.

Our libraries continue to provide children and older students with good resources including: study space; reference books; online reference materials; free access to the internet; free and/or low cost print-outs plus staff assistance.   However all Bury’s libraries, including Tottington, report a similar pattern of use:

·         Formal homework clubs withdrawn due to lack of use and dedicated staff

·         Typically no more than 3 or 4 children coming in each day in larger libraries, less or none in smaller libraries to do homework

·         The internet is the primary source of information

·         Books are  seldom used other than for mainly history related projects e.g. The Romans

Some 10 plus years ago a partnership with Tottington High School established a Homework Centre at Tottington Library; this was well used for a couple of years but was closed 6 years ago due to lack of use.  Similarly an attempt at creating a ‘teen room’ was short lived.

In response to the second reason stated for the Call in Councillor Briggs explained that the Mott McDonald report was discussed at some length in the report to cabinet of January 2017 and the full report included as an appendix.  The report showed that for option 7 (which equates to option 2 of the Library Review i.e. Bury, Prestwich,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66

The Cabinet Member (Children and Families) submitted a report presenting:

·         The summarised outcomes of the public consultation on the Library Review relating to the 2 proposed options:

Option 1 - Retain Bury, Ramsbottom and Prestwich Libraries plus a service-wide team.

Option 2 - Retain Bury, Ramsbottom, Prestwich and Radcliffe Libraries plus a smaller service-wide team.

·         An overview of additional work carried out since the last report to Cabinet, and;

·         A recommendation for option choice and next steps. 

The Chair invited questions from members of the public present.

-    Can an assurance be given that the Council will support the Friends of Tottington Library to keep their local library open?

The Council will listen to proposals of the Friends of Tottington Library and will support them where it is cost neutral to the Council.

-    Tottington Library has the highest number of young readers in the Borough and the Council’s proposal to close the library will discriminate against them. How has the Council included young readers in its consultation?

The Council undertook its consultation across all areas including children at school. The libraries at Tottington and Unsworth were well used by younger readers with the support of family members and the Library Service would continue to work with families in the future.

-    Can the Council reconsider the proposal to close Bury libraries? There will be an impact on the lives of residents if their library is closed. There will also be implications for older people commuting and disabled people who will not be able to travel into Bury or find a disabled parking space close to the library. Safety is an issue for these people. Unemployed people also rely on libraries and may not be able to afford the cost of travel to get access.

The Council is not in a financial position to be able to keep all the libraries in the Borough open and must take decisions to provide a sustainable, high quality library service for Bury residents.

-    Why has Option 3 not been mentioned in the report regarding a possible reduction in the size a libraries? The more libraries there are the more efficient the access to facilities will be for residents. Community groups and clubs could be lost if the closures happen. The volunteers mentioned in the report are not coming forward as expected.

Option 3 was considered in the previous stage of the review process but

was it not financially viable. Also, the arrangements for the libraries involved would not have provided a level of service and quality appropriate for the whole of the Borough. Work with the community will still continue including luncheon clubs and work to reduce social isolation. Unfortunately the Council still has to make further financial savings on services and cannot afford to maintain the service in its current form.

-      What sort of resources will be made available for library volunteers to promote a community library service? Can the Council commit resources to maintain a community asset?

The Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34