Suffolk Scrutiny Committee says "Thank you" and makes Recommendations on Libraries

Cllr Colin Hart
Chairman of Scrutiny Committee

As I already reported library campaigners including myself attended the Scrutiny Committee meeting of Suffolk County Council on Tuesday. Colin Hart the Chairman has issued a statement saying "thank you" to those who contributed on Tuesday.

"I would like to thank all the witnesses and members of the public who took the time and trouble to come and tell the committee of their concerns over the future of Suffolk's libraries. This was a valuable exercise in scrutinising an issue before decisions are taken and I hope and expect our recommendations will make a positive contribution to the new policy that is being developed."

It is worth remembering that as Colin Hart says this was new ground in that they scrutinised and made recommendations before a decision has been made. Whatever the shortcomings in the scrutiny process this is certainly a step forward.

Judy Terry, although not saying sorry as I suggested in my earlier blogpost has also thanked those that attended on Tuesday:

"I am extremely grateful for the comments from committee members, representatives of various campaign groups and those who have submitted bids. We’re continuing to listen and will base future policy on exhaustive consultation with the people of Suffolk."

 I am hopeful that there is now an opportunity for all sides to sit down and discuss the situation and work together for the good of the counties libraries.

I think the Scrutiny Committee could have gone into more detail especially on the consultation process but there is much to welcome in the recommendations they have released. Having taken, as Suffolk acknowledge, the time and trouble to attend and give evidence I am pleased to see several of the suggestions we made included.

Here are the full recommendations to Cabinet (which meets on 19th July):

• The classification of County Libraries and Community Libraries referred to in the Consultation document is not a reasonable basis for a policy
• The potential community interest company agrees individual budgets for each library;
• The business case considered by Cabinet should clearly demonstrate how the community interest company service would operate across the whole of Suffolk;
• That the Council retain the ability to ensure that the terms offered by the community interest company were sufficient to maintain a sustainable service;
• Any claims on secondary taxation from Parish, Town, District or Borough Councils be carried out on an equitable basis across Suffolk;
• Due consideration be given to innovative ideas that have already come forward and any others that are received  from communities on how their services might be run;
• The policy on mobile libraries be clearly stated in the report to Cabinet;
• The Council provide absolute clarity to communities interested in running their libraries on issues they were likely to raise such as finance, staffing and legal issues;
• The Council must satisfy itself on the financial viability of the plans put forward and that they are sustainable.
• Further expressions of interest are welcome and will be considered.

Campaigners would want to add more to this list but it is a good starting point.

Suffolk CC "Sorry Seems to be the hardest word"

Cllr Judy Terry
Is the Lady for turning?

As Wordblog reported in his excellent blogpost on Tuesday's Suffolk County Council Scrutiny Committee there was a moment when the Chairman Colin Hart said words to the effect of "We are in a bit of a hole, will you help us get out of it".

Wordblog reported:

The suggestion was for all those with an interest in the issue to sit town together and try to find a solution, but it got lost in the surprised and equivocal responses. Quickly, the momentum was lost.

A little later in the meeting, Interim Director of Adult and Community Services Anna McCreadie nearly apologised for the misleading and inaccurate data produced by her department as part of the consultation. But she failed to actually apologise saying she "noted and had heard what people said".

Immediately after the meeting I was asked by the BBC how I thought the meeting had gone and if I thought Suffolk County Council should have apologised. I said that I thought that they should and that it would have made a difference if they had.

Anna McCreadie
Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Much to my wife and family's amusement I quite like Elton John's music and I can't help thinking of an Elton John song that pretty much sums this up to me:

It's sad, so sad
It's a sad, sad situation
And it's getting more and more absurd
It's sad, so sad
Why can't we talk it over
Oh it seems to me
That sorry seems to be the hardest word

I agree with Colin Hart, the County's administration is in a hole. But it is a hole of their own making and before they can expect us to help them out of it then it would be nice to hear the simple word "sorry". Maybe then we could "talk it over" more easily.

Suffolk Libraries Consultation “The only thing that was clear was the lack of clarity,”

Theo Clarke, Chantry and Stoke (Ipswich)  
Library Manager

Suffolk County Council's Scrutiny Committee heard evidence from Theo Clarke, Manager of Chantry and Stoke Libraries in Ipswich about the effect of the library consultation on Suffolk's library staff. He explained that staff had been reduced to tears on occasion.

“We heard one day the libraries were closing, the next they were saved, and then that they were threatened again.
The only thing that was clear was the lack of clarity"

Later a County Council spokesperson told the EADT:

“Our directors have an open door policy, especially when it comes to important matters involving staff. 

“We are therefore very surprised that the manager in question has not used the opportunity to raise any issues until now. We want our staff to be part of the work we’re doing to build a library service fit for the future.’’

However library staff that have spoken to me over the past six months have said much the same as Theo and after his comments all staff I spoke to strongly supported what he said. Many staff are still afraid to speak out in public for fear of the consequences and praised Theo for speaking up for them.

At the start of the meeting it became clear that discussion of flaws in the consultation process would be discouraged which was disappointing to campaigners and members of the public who had come to raise such concerns. However in fact the meeting did end up discussing the consultation.

There were common themes in evidence given by the 5 people (including myself) asked to give evidence and from the public gallery in a meeting very well chaired by Colin Hart the new Scrutiny Chairman. He gave a fair opportunity for public comment and stopped the cabinet members (other than of course the portfolio holder) that for some reason decided to come and sit in the public gallery from speaking too much and dominating a meeting that is supposed to be holding their decisions to account.

I had earlier described how the consultation process felt like a "gun to the head" of local communities with the message that we either ran our library or it had to close and this view was shared by most people who spoke with the notable exception of a representative from Aldeburgh who sounded like he had been dealing with a different County Council. There were also numerous complaints about the reliability of the data and the scope of the consultation.

I described the situation in Stradbroke where we raise £26 000 a year in parish precept yet the library costs £70 000 to run. Cllr Eddy Alcock said the situation was almost the same in Debenham and even Aldeburgh said they would need substantial ongoing public funds to run their library. The idea that libraries could be run at zero cost by big society fairies seems to have been completely abandoned.

I raised the issue of "double taxation" and this seemed to resonate with the Committee. Double taxation is when some people end up paying twice for the same service particularly when others do not - so for example if we in Stradbroke have to raise our parish precept (which is just part of the Council Tax) to pay for our library but maybe in Bury St Edmunds the County continue to pay for the service. Stradbroke residents would then be subject to "double taxation" as we are still paying for a County library service we wouldn't be able to use as well as the local service.

Later in the meeting we heard more from Judy Terry about her plans for a "Community Interest Company" or some form of social enterprise as it is now described. It was clear this would be an arms-length organisation providing central services such as books an IT to all libraries and also distributing a budget to each library.

In response to questions to Judy Terry it was very clear that these plans are very much at an outline stage although she promised full details would be published with the Cabinet Papers on 7 July. Somebody has a lot of work to do before then not least to explain why such an arms length organisation is needed at all and just what the benefit will be to running the service in-house.

Mark Bee promised the details of the CIC would be released within two weeks on 15 May on BBC Radio Suffolk but halfway through June not only have the details not been released but it is clear that plans are not yet ready to be released.

Library Campaigners outside Endeavour House

Colin Hart at one point described the situation the County Council were in as "a bit of a hole" and he himself was under the impression that the so-called County libraries were safe. Judy Terry made it clear that the attempts to group libraries into County and Community had been abandoned. Colin Hart cautioned Judy Terry against relying on the very few comments on the mobile library service by saying that such users thought the service was safe.

I think the Scrutiny Committee did its best within its terms of reference but many campaigners left frustrated and confused as yet again policy seemed to be being made on the hoof. As we left I heard an opposition member of the Committee say "they are making it up as they go along" and this still does seem to be the case.

Stop Suffolk Library Decision says newly launched Save Suffolk Libraries Campaign Network

Ahead of the meeting tomorrow of Suffolk County Council's Scrutiny Committee which will be considering libraries campaigners from across Suffolk have formally launched the "Save Suffolk Libraries Campaign Network".

The newly formed network representing almost half of the threatened Community Libraries across Suffolk immediately issued a Press Release that called upon Suffolk County Council to delay the decision on libraries due to serious shortcomings in the consultation process.

The Press release states:

Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet are scheduled to meet on the 19th of July in order to make a decision about the future of Suffolk’s libraries. We believe that the Cabinet will not be in a position to make a properly considered decision because the information put before them will be incomplete and inaccurate.

Campaigners will be presenting evidence to the Scrutiny Committee tomorrow about the consultation process.
Including the failure by the Council to follow its own guidance on consultations, failure to conduct a proper equalities impact assessment and to consult key stakeholders such as children.

The aims of the new Network are to:

• Network, share information, knowledge, ideas and expertise. 
• Coordinate countywide campaign activities 
• Work collectively on identified themes of common interest

Library campaign groups who would like to join the Network are asked to contact me for further information.

See the Full Press Release