"All Suffolk Libraries to Stay Open" says County Council

Judy Terry
Cabinet Member for Libraries

The EADT are reporting that all Suffollk libraries will stay open under proposals set to be made by Suffolk County Council

Cabinet member with responsibility for libraries Judy Terry said the county would be looking at three options to run the library service in future:

An in-house business unit similar to the Schools Library Service.
An external, but wholly council-owned, company.
An independent company managed by the county through contractual arrangements.

Mrs Terry said the second and third options would allow communities to have a significant say in how their libraries were run.

Talking about the consultation Ms Terry said:

She insisted that it had always been her intention to avoid library closures if possible, but when a distinction was made between 15 “county libraries” and 29 “community libraries” earlier this year, it was widely seen that the smaller ones were under threat.

Communities felt that they were being warned that if they did not step in to run their library it would be likely to close.

Mrs Terry said the council had been delighted at the response to its consultation earlier in the year, and had taken on board the comments made.

“It was clear how much people value their libraries. We were pleased to get a strong response. There is nothing worse than having a consultation exercise and no one takes part.”

She said a number of things had become clear, but one point stood out: “Most important of all was not closing any of Suffolk’s libraries.

“We feel the proposals being put forward strike the right balance between protecting much-loved council services while finding necessary and unavoidable financial savings.”

If all Suffolk libraries do stay open that is, clearly, good news and a significant victory for library campaigners. Labour Councillor Bryony Rudkin recognises this when she says:

“You have to say, though, that campaigners have fought very well to save their libraries.”

Concerns, however, remain about how any proposed external company might operate and how such an arrangement will cut costs and benefit the service. It is interesting to see (for the first time) an in-house offering on the table and I hope the Council will carefully consider this and it is not just there to be rejected later on.

But the biggest concern must be the budget for whatever the governance structure you can't run any service well without enough money and the level of cuts proposed still seems to be the 30% that we started originally with. The only change here is at first this was at least 30% possibly more but now looks to be no more than 30%. This is still a huge cut, especially for a service that is already one of the worst funded in the country.

People of Suffolk don't want Library divestment say Save Suffolk Libraries

The Save Suffolk Libraries Campaign Network have sent 9 Recommendations to Suffolk County Council's Cabinet ahead of their crunch meeting on libraries scheduled for 19th July. Copied to all County Councillors the full recommendations can be seen below.

Next Thursday at 2pm members of the campaign network will be present at the full County Council meeting for a debate resulting from the petitions with more than 34 000 signatures that have been handed in and will be asking the Council to support their recommendations to the Cabinet.

It has emerged recently that of the approximately 4000 consultation responses some 3099 wanted the Council to continue to run libraries. Later this week the consultation responses will be published in full.

It has also emerged that Suffolk already has one of the lowest levels of library funding in the country. Plans by the County Council to reduce the funding by a further 30% look worrying.

You can read or download the full recommendations document below:

Save Suffolk Libraries Recommendations to Cabinet

Andrea Hill has left the Building....Suffolk taxpayers pay Quarter of a Million pounds

Andrea Hill, former Suffolk CEO

It has finally been confirmed that CEO of Suffolk County Council Andrea Hill has agreed to leave the Council in return for a year's salary. UPDATE: It now appears that the 250K legal fees mentioned earlier have in fact been saved by this deal being made so the cost is around a quarter of a million not a half a million as I first reported.

In a statement Suffolk County Council said:

Bullying and harassment allegations were robustly investigated by an independent firm of solicitors. Although it remains a concern that such a perception existed, the Committee is satisfied that there was no evidence to support those claims or that she was responsible for the death of David White (former Head of Legal Services). The Committee wants to reassure staff that all allegations are treated extremely seriously.

The Committee also received a report into Mrs Hill’s expense claims during her tenure as Chief Executive. It has concluded that whilst there were undoubtedly claims which, in the current climate, might not represent best use of public money, the Committee accepted that there was no dishonesty in the claims made.

Following a lengthy discussion last Friday, and negotiations between representatives of both parties over the weekend, the county council can now confirm that Mrs Hill will be leaving her post with immediate effect. Consideration will now be given to appointing a Chief Executive. Until a decision is made regarding an appointment, Lucy Robinson will continue to cover the role. 

There has been significant media attention attached to Mrs Hill which has become a distraction and both parties accept that with new political leadership of Suffolk County Council in place, it is better to allow the organisation to move forward with new managerial leadership.

Many including myself will want to reflect on the wisdom of Ms Hill's appointment and salary by the Conservative administration. Has this really represented good value for money for Suffolk taxpayers. The word on the streets in Suffolk is a resounding NO!

The statetement concludes:

The county council would like to thank Mrs Hill for all she has done over the past three years and wish her well for her future.

The total value of compensation to be paid to Mrs Hill is £218,592. This figure includes her contractual notice period.

Endeavour House...Andrea Hill's former office

Many in Suffolk wish her well...somewhere else...we are now left counting the cost...

Andrea Hill leaves Suffolk County Council

It is widely reported on Twitter that Andrea Hill is to leave Suffolk County Council. It is understood she will receive a year's salary (some 218K) as a pay off under a so-called "compromise agreement". These kind of agreements (which Andrea Hill her self was a keen user of) mean the employee receives money in return for waiving their right to sue so it will at least limit the financial cost. The Councillors making the decision no doubt had the Sharon Shoesmith case in mind, with the potential cost of millions when deciding her future.

Suffolk Wordblog is covering the Andrea Hill news live on his Blog

More later....