Department for Culture, Media and Sport 2-4 Cockspur Street Tel 02072116299
Ed Vaizey MP London SW1Y SDH. Fae 02072116249
Minister For Culture, Communications and Creative Industries ‘wwn-culture gov.uk
CMS 160888/DC.
department for
culture, media
‘and sport
host government
department
3 December 2010
Dear Councillor
SPENDING DECISIONS AND LIBRARY SERVICES.
The financial deficit presents very difficult challenges for all public bodies and |
recognise the pressures you are under. The reduction in local government resource
over the next spending period presents a real challenge.
Ihave written to you recently about the value of library services. They are places
which can be used by anyone without judgement. They help people to learn new
skills, read, access information, get online or find entertainment.
| want to emphasise the importance | place on compliance with the statutory duty to
provide a ‘comprehensive & efficient’ library service under the Public Libraries &
Museums Act 1964. As you know, the Secretary of State last exercised his statutory
power to intervene in April 2009, by commencing a local inquiry into Wirral
Metropolitan Borough Council's compliance with its duties, The inquiry determined
that the ‘comprehensive and efficient’ service that local authorities are required to
provide is a balance between meeting local needs within available resources in a way
which is appropriate to the needs of the local community
No two authorities are the same and there is no single way of making an assessment
of the needs of a community.
It may be helpful however, if | set out the key considerations that every local authority
should have in mind, as set out in the Charteris review on the Wirral closures. These
are:
Improving
the quality
of life for allDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport
a statement of what the service is trying to achieve;
a description of local needs, including the general and specific needs of adults
and children who live, work and study in the area;
* a detailed description of how the service will be delivered and how the plans
will fully take into account the demography of the area and the different needs
of adults and children in different areas (both in general and specific terms);
+ the resources available for the service, including an annual budget.
| hope that local authorities will develop a creative and bold approach to decision
making around the public library service. Along with the Local Government Group, |
launched the Future Libraries Programme in the summer to provide local authorities
with support in delivering the service more efficiently.
Among the ideas being explored are transferring control of some library services to
communities to run, merging services provided by two different authorities into one
cross-boundary library service and locating library services in retail stores. There are
161 library authorities in England. With fewer than 40 of them taking part in the
programme it is important that the findings from the 10 initial pilot projects are shared
widely so that all authorities can learn from the experiences of those authorities that
are participating. This process is just starting and | hope you will be inspired by some
of the work that is progressing
You can find out more at
http:/www.mla.gov.ukiwhat/programmesithe future _libraries_programme
Ba Vr
ED VAIZEY
Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries