To inform the Committee of the Cultural Services Inspection by the Audit Commission.

The Committee were informed of the outcome of the Cultural Services Inspection by the Audit Commission.

The Head of Economic and Community Services reported that the outcome of the inspection was that Cultural Services in Herefordshire provided ‘a fair service that has promising prospects for improvement’.  The last time the service was inspected the Audit Commissions rating had been ‘a fair service with uncertain prospects’ though that inspection focused solely on library services.

Cultural Services had been rated at the top end of the ‘fair’ grading but because certain standards were being missed it was not possible for a ‘good’ rating to be awarded.

The key areas which prevented a good rating being achieved were:

·         Not meeting all public library standards, including distance to a library for all residents, spending on book stock and opening hours.

·         Not displaying service standards at all facilities.

·         Non-compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) at Ledbury Library.

·         Lack of benchmarking the cost of services.

Appendix 1 to the report contained a summary of recommendations and proposed improvements.  The Cabinet Member (Economic and Community Services) informed the meeting that he expected to receive an action plan on the proposals during the summer.  The Chairman requested that the action plan be presented to the Committee.

In response to a question the Head of Economic and Community Services confirmed that a lot of the recommendations were around processes.  The Audit Commission were keen for the Council to be able to evidence its performance and achievements.

A Member noted that there were a number of problems based around libraries and asked what precisely these problems were.  The Director of Adult and Community Services reported that some key core standards were being missed.  The key standards being missed were as follows:

1.      Ledbury Library was not compliant with the DDA.  Plans were being developed to rectify this.

2.      The rural nature of the County meant that it was impossible for each resident to live within 2 miles of a library as desired by library standards.

3.      Not enough money spent replenishing and adding to the book stock.  This was something that could easily be addressed but had to be considered with other competing priorities.

The Head of Economic and Community Services confirmed that it was unacceptable for Ledbury Library to not comply with the DDA and that this had to change.  Improvements were also required at Hereford Library.

The Cabinet Member reported that the development of a new Library on the Edgar Street Grid (ESG) site should solve all the problems currently experienced at Hereford Library.  In relation to tourism he reported that tourism spending and the cost of Tourist Information Centres (TIC’s) was being investigated.

The tourism representative added that Visit Britain was conducting a national consultation on the changing needs of visitors.  She added that once the report was complete it would be presented to Visit Herefordshire.

In response to a query it was explained that childcare provision at the Counties leisure centres was considered to be inconsistent by the Audit Commission because it was not available in all of the centres all of the time.  The Head of Economic and Community Services acknowledged the need to meet the demand but explained that it was not economical to have childcare provision on permanent standby.

RESOLVED:

That:  (a)  the Action Plan being prepared based on the outcomes of the Audit Commission inspection of Cultural Services be presented to the Committee;

and;

(b) the report be noted.