Council ‘could be in breach of legal duty’ if it shuts libraries

Martin Shipton

A Labour-controlled council planning to close 10 libraries could be in breach of its legal duty if it goes ahead and does so, according to one of its own councillors.

Caerphilly council is in turmoil after its cabinet rejected a recommendation made by a cross-party scrutiny committee that local groups should be given more time to come up with proposals to keep the libraries open.

A motion of no confidence in council leader Sean Morgan is due to be moved by the Plaid Cymru opposition group at a full council meeting on July 1.

Nation.Cymru has been sent email correspondence in which rebel Labour councillor Brenda Miles, a Nelson ward colleague of Cllr Morgan, lambasts the cabinet over its handling of the issue.

‘Misrepresented’

In an email to Cllr Morgan, which was copied to all councillors, Cllr Miles wrote: “I’ve just listened to the cabinet meeting regarding the library closures. I was disappointed that the amended recommendation from scrutiny was disregarded by the cabinet, and also misrepresented.

“I believe I made it clear at joint scrutiny that the planned closure of libraries on August 31 was harsh and unnecessarily disruptive for groups who use the buildings. The peak holiday period over the summer is the most difficult time for groups to work on a plan to save their libraries. I posed the question, why close them all at the same time?

“At cabinet the timeline of closures was not even mentioned and the amendment was incorrectly attributed entirely to looking at alternative delivery models.

“Cabinet’s decision was taken against the wishes of the majority of councillors who met [at the joint scrutiny meeting] on Monday.

“I am at a loss to understand what cabinet found objectionable to the recommendation which would have given local groups more time to work on a plan to save their library. If cabinet believes the August 31 deadline is achievable, given all the support that is promised, what would have been the cost of removing that deadline? Nothing.

“On the other hand, the extra money it might have taken for the council to keep the libraries running for a while longer, beyond August 31, until we know what exactly can be delivered at each of the 10 library locations, is nothing for a multi-million pound organisation that has massive reserves and contingency budgets and can always seem to find money when it needs to.

“I am saddened and disgusted by the cabinet’s lack of care for what the majority of councillors wanted.”

Legal implications

Days later, Cllr Miles wrote to Robert Tranter, the council’s legal director and monitoring officer, asking for the cabinet’s decision to keep the August 31 closure date to be called in because it had been made without properly considering the legal implications.

Cllr Miles stated: “During the debate two factually incorrect statements were made, potentially misleading cabinet members towards believing that they were (1) making cuts to a non-statutory service and (2) that the model of library provision recommended mirrored that of the Vale of Glamorgan council.

“Cabinet members were made aware in the report that Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) is required by statute to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient library service’ … But it was verbally stated that ‘while we strive to ensure our statutory core business … receive the funding they demand and deserve … we must look to make savings in non-statutory areas … we make cuts to the non-statutory services so we can protect the education budget.”

Cllr Miles added: “Cabinet should be aware of the fact that Jack Sargeant, Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership, said in his introduction to [a document providing advice to councils]: ‘There is a stronger focus on targets that relate to the core aspects of the library service, namely resources, staff, place, and availability which are integral to the statutory requirements of a comprehensive and efficient service.

“Section 3.1 Fulfilling the Statutory Duty states that: ‘The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 … makes it a duty of the relevant Welsh Ministers to secure the proper discharge by local authorities of the functions in relation to libraries conferred upon them as library authorities under this Act. The performance indicators listed here will assist the Welsh Government in assessing whether local authorities in Wales are fulfilling their duties under the 1964 Act.’

Cllr Miles argued: “The reference to cutting non-statutory services appeared to steer the cabinet towards accepting that the cuts to library services were non-statutory. In addition, the report did not advise cabinet that [the council’s] failure to achieve the targets on staffing levels, stock acquisition, opening hours and staff qualifications, as set out in the report, are targets which the Minister considers integral to the statutory requirements. Not meeting them may leave CCBC exposed for failing in its statutory duty to deliver a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service.”

Cllr Miles went on to argue that it was wrong to suggest there were similarities between the slimmed-down library service proposed for Caerphilly with existing provision in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Mr Tranter responded: “Thank you for your call-in request of the cabinet decision in respect of future library provision within the county borough. However as the cabinet report has already been the subject of pre-decision scrutiny, then the decision cannot be called in.”

‘Disgrace’

Cllr Lindsay Whittle, who leads the council’s Plaid Cymru group, said: “Sean Morgan needs to go – and go now – because he has failed the people of Caerphilly who he’s supposed to represent. Labour is removing opportunities from young people by closing local libraries and that is a disgrace.”

Cllr Morgan told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Yet again, Cllr Whittle is trying to score political points while ignoring a £29m black hole in funding for this council.

“It’s very easy for opposition parties to promise to spend money that isn’t there and to ignore the fact a council is legally bound to deliver a balanced budget each year.

“I look forward to opposing Cllr Whittle’s motion of no confidence at full council.”