Post
by
Roy Clare
CBE
Chief Executive
Officer
Museums Libraries
& Archives Council
Dear
Andrew
Mr Clare seems a little out of touch .
Somerset County Council had not done an equalities impact or
transport study when it decided it was closing 20 out of its
34 libraries It had not even had the figures for its
settlement, which was better than anticipated with an
unexpected 41m capital grant. It announced its public
consultation meetings, the majority of which are in towns
keeping their libraries, on 16th Dec. How could the most
disadvantaged attend a public consultation in towns miles way,
relying on Somerset's expensive, patchy rural transport
system. It held meeting 9 a.m. to 12.00 when those working
could not attend!
Result ,this week a group of
parents and children from around Somerset will notify
Somerset County Council of their intention to commence legal
action into decisions made about the ongoing Library Services
Review.
The group will first seek
clarification about a recent decision made by Councillor
Christine Lawrence and will set out why they
consider that Somerset will face both Judicial Review and a
costly Public Inquiry into whether the County Council are in
breach of their statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and
efficient library service, if the Council act based on the
decision in question. If a satisfactory reply is not
forthcoming from the Council legal action will
start.
For the group Steve Ross, from
Wiveliscombe said "Under the rules for Judicial Review and to
avoid unnecessary legal costs we need to clarify the exact
nature of the issues we want addressed with Somerset County
Council. The information available to the public is unclear.
We will explain our position and wait for their reply. While
we are waiting we will be asking for a legal undertaking that
the current library consultation will be suspended
and that no further decisions on the future of the library
service will be made by the Cabinet or Council until the
legality of the position is clarified".
"It
would be a shocking waste of taxpayers money for the
Council to rely on decisions made and then have to start again
because those decisions were found to be unreasonable by
a Judge. We hope our action will save Somerset time and money
in the long run by providing the Council with an opportunity
to stop and reflect on decisions made as well as to
consider available alternatives".
"The one
thing Somerset really can't afford now is wasteful
mistakes from it's decision makers".
Mr Clare
stated "Where closures are
inappropriate or strategies lack imagination or leadership we
in MLA are on hand to help. " ..."many more are
doing a cracking job for their communities".
So where is Mr
Clare or is this what he calls cracking job?
Fiona
Kirton
Press
Liaison i
Friends
of Glastonbury Library
e:
[log in to unmask]
t:
01749 890784
m:
07875596858
“Today’s economic challenge means people need library
services more than ever, to help them back to work, to access
learning and as a central plank of community cohesion,” said
Mr Vaizey, Culture Minster (July 2010)
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