To seek the committee’s views on the model for future operation of customer services and libraries across the county considering the budget pressures of the local authority.

The Committee’s views were sought on the model for future operation of customer services and libraries across the county considering the budget pressures on the local authority.

The Assistant Director communities gave a presentation.  The presentation slides had been circulated with the agenda papers.

Clare Llewellyn West, Chair of Joint Action for Herefordshire Libraries (JAHL), also gave a presentation.  A document produced by JAHL had been circulated to the Committee as a supplement.  She made the following principal points:

·        Libraries supported the four main objectives of the Council.  Their positive effect included savings in mental health provision, avoiding damage to literacy of children and young adults; increased footfall for local retailers, benefits to small businesses in terms of research via the library and internet access.  National and international research showed that a healthy library service contributed to prosperity and quality of life.

·        Libraries were excellent value for money and also the Council’s presence in each community, providing the access point to most Council services and being a key factor in the county’s economy.

·        To meet the required savings the choice was to cut expenditure or increase income. There was little left to cut without fatally damaging the service.

·        Income could be increased indirectly by continuing to develop libraries as multi service hubs. Libraries were safe and welcoming places, and provided access to Council & government services which were increasingly online.  More directly there were opportunities for hiring out space/meeting areas, running events, and merchandising.

·        The Group did not believe that there could be a cost free library service, but did believe it represented a genuine investment in the future of the county.

·        The Group’s work had led it to the following conclusions:

o  volunteer libraries can work – but only when the community has the capacity to take on the role, and the volunteers are fully trained and continuously supported by professionals. Increasing the number of libraries run by volunteers, may reduce the number of library assistants but the size of the core library team would need to increase.

o  investment in the fabric of the library, as achieved in Ledbury, leads to an increase in library use.

o  partnerships work when there is a synergy between the traditional role of the library and the partner services.

o  library culture can have a positive and beneficial effect on other services, the move of the Ross jobcentre to the library being an example.

o  exploring new opportunities and investing in both premises and, most importantly, in professional staff would bring real benefits and enable the Library Service to have a key role in the future prosperity and well-being of Herefordshire.  A new library in Hereford would need to be supported by a county network to serve the dispersed and often geographically disadvantaged population.

·        The council’s role was to make savings whilst mitigating the impact on the community. An intelligent and strategic approach to libraries and customer services as an investment, fulfilled that role.

In summary, JAHL asked the Committee to recommend that savings were made by continuing to combine council services using libraries as multi service hubs and by identifying more opportunities to generate income.

In discussion the following principal points were made:

·        The council was part way through a 10 year savings programme.  It was important to secure a long term, deliverable solution for customer services and the library service that was viable and sustainable and would amongst other things provide certainty for staff and volunteers

·        Multi-functional hubs in communities would have a significant role to play in delivering a range of services.

·        Library services would have to be provided by communities themselves, noting, as an example, the way in which provision had been grown locally following the withdrawal of the mobile library service.

·        A significant amount of the customer services queries related to council tax and benefits.  The providers of these services should be made responsible for answering questions from the public  This might provide an incentive to them to ensure that the service was delivered in a better way by improving the quality of the information provided to the public in the first place including clearer and easier to use forms.

·        A note of caution was expressed that whilst there was an attraction in the argument that providers should be made to deal with the queries their service generated, many people who sought assistance through customer services had multiple issues to be addressed.  It was better for the individual to have their issues addressed in the round and staff could assist in identifying needs a person may have.

·        Some Members considered Option 3 to be the best option, providing an element of savings, whilst retaining support for community and voluntary links and being deliverable.

·        Other members considered that option 3 would remove substantial parts of the library service and, whilst seeking to ensure compliance with the council’s legal responsibilities, sought to centralise the service as much as possible in Hereford.  Option 4, providing an enhanced service was the preferable option.  Studies had shown that learning to read for pleasure at an early age was important in helping children escape from poverty.  Libraries played an important role in society.

·        It was noted that it was not straightforward to make comparisons based on the statistics in the report because like was not being compared with like.  Belmont and Hereford libraries, for example, were solely libraries, without a customer services presence.  Footfall in Ledbury included attendance at a range of events held in the library accounting for the fact that fewer visits resulted in a book being borrowed.

·        It was questioned whether the library service could continue to be free to all.

·        It was asked whether the council could allow discounts to people who paid bills by direct debit.

·        There were opportunities to generate income from libraries.  Examples given included leasing out space to a coffee shop.

·        The role of the local councillor as a source of information to residents should not be overlooked.

·        The loss of customer services centres could have many expensive consequences.

·        Account should be taken of the social role Libraries fulfilled.

·        There was support for expanding the service.

·        There was much more scope to explore funding that could be provided by Parish and Town Councils to support services.  Good communication was essential. It was important that discussions took place at an early stage.  However, it was also observed that a number of Parish and Town councils had already taken on responsibilities from the Council and there was a limit to their resources.

·        The retention of professionally qualified library staff to support volunteer staff was essential.

·        Provision continued to need to be made for face to face contact for those who would not or could not access services online.  Improving the quality of the provision of services online might over time provide an incentive to more people to make the transition to that method of accessing services.

·        Consideration should be given to how the delivery of other services such as some adult wellbeing services might be delivered.

·        Innovation should be constantly sought and encouraged.

·        The running costs of some buildings appeared high.  It was asked whether there was scope for invest to save work to reduce energy costs.

·        It would have been helpful to the Committee to have been presented with the results of the libraries and customer services research consultation. It was premature to recommend an option without access to this information. In response the assistant director commented that the information was to be released shortly.  There were some1,500 comments to assess.  However, the main headline findings had been outlined in her presentation.

·        A concern was expressed that limiting the focus on savings to within the economy, communities and corporate directorate prevented the development of a more strategic approach to facilitating change in service delivery and in the community.  Customer Services staff had an important role to play in providing access to information informing people of the choices available to them and encouraging people to make the changes that the Council wanted them to make.

·        The leader of council commented that directorates were working collaboratively.

·        The evidence showed that different age groups used the county’s libraries in different ways and the council needed to have regard to this.

·        The proposed reductions in service sat awkwardly with the bid for Hereford to be the City of Culture 2021.

·        In response to questions the Assistant Director commented as follows:

·        Hereford library was scheduled to reopen in January 2017, in line with the plan set out in the report to Cabinet in May 2016.

·        The planned savings would be phased over 2 years.  Some actions could be implemented right away.  The timing would also be influenced by the mitigation in the needs and impact assessment.  Scheduling the change in services would allow time to discuss with Parish and Town Councils whether they would be interested in providing support for services.

·        She confirmed that even though there had been a national decline in library use research showed that social economic groups on lower incomes continued to use libraries.  This together with geographical factors was taken into account in the impact assessment.

·        She confirmed that staffing costs in Leominster appeared higher because of the proportion of supervisor costs.  She would seek clarification of when rating valuations were last reviewed, noting concerns about the business rates paid by some libraries.

·        It was proposed that cabinet should be recommended to support option 3 – retained libraries and central service with an emphasis on making best use of them as contact points for council services, extending service options and exploring new ways of working, and the report to cabinet should include a delivery plan.

·        An amendment was proposed, but not seconded, that Cabinet should be recommended to consider savings programme option 3 in preference to all others and also that Cabinet reflect most on the impacts of all planned and future changes as affect defined areas of deprivation in the County.

·        Improvements to the council website and software would help to improve the delivery of services online.

·        A member cautioned against making assumptions about affluence in parts of the county and developing a disproportionate settlement, noting that there were pockets of deprivation in all areas and a wish for face to face contact.

RESOLVED:  That Cabinet be recommended to support option 3 – retained libraries and central service with an emphasis on making best use of them and community libraries as contact points for council services, extending service options and exploring new ways of working, and the report to cabinet should include a delivery plan.