BREAKING NEWS: LIBRARIES STAYING OPEN (From Wirral Globe)

BREAKING NEWS: LIBRARIES STAYING OPEN

2:17pm Friday 3rd April 2009

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Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has stepped in at the 11th hour to order a rethink over Wirral library closures - some of which were due to close forever tomorrow.

Mr Burnham has today intervened in the public dispute about proposed library closures in Wirral, calling for a local inquiry to test whether the council's plans are consistent with their statutory duty to provide all residents with a comprehensive public library service.

'Public libraries play a central role at the heart of our communities, providing a rich source of information, wisdom and learning. This is all the more true in difficult economic times. They should never be an optional extra for local authorities.'

Andy Burnham, Culture Secretary

The ruling Labour and Liberal Democrat administration are now facing a demand to resign "having lost all credibility" by leading local Tory Cllr Leah Fraser.

Today's move follows his request to Wirral Council in February to work with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) on the proposed restructuring of library services.

Following their work the MLA wrote to the Secretary of State to express concerns about the situation in the Wirral.

If the proposed changes to the library service are found to fall short of duties to provide a "comprehensive and efficient" public library service, the inquiry will also include practical steps that should be taken by the council to put things right.

The person appointed to carry out the inquiry will be announced shortly. It will be the first of its kind since 1991.

Mr Burnham said: "Public libraries play a central role at the heart of our communities, providing a rich source of information, wisdom and learning. This is all the more true in difficult economic times.

"They should never be an optional extra for local authorities.

"I have a statutory responsibility to ensure everyone has access to a comprehensive and efficient service because ready access to high quality libraries for all is absolutely central to a truly public service.

"My strategic advisors on library matters, the MLA have made it clear to me that there is a significant gap in the available evidence on the likely impact that the Wirral’s plans to close 11 branches will have on the community.

"So I have ordered this inquiry to seek further information to help me draw my own conclusion as to whether the plans in the Wirral are consistent with its statutory duties.

"Ensuring our public library service is fit for the 21st century can sometimes means difficult decisions and I certainly would not stand in the way of any council who wants to modernise; this is at the heart of the review that my department will publish in June.

"I also appreciate that Wirral has historically had an above average number of libraries serving a changing population demographic. But the balance has to be right and modernisation should never compromise core provision of access.

"Whilst views of all interested parties will be invited and heard, this will be no long, drawn-out affair. I want a clear report with a simple and practicable action plan, if required."

The outcome of the inquiry should also offer assistance to other library authorities in understanding the Department and Ministers’ approach to library authorities’ compliance with statutory duties and is expected to form part of the DCMS Library Review, to be published in June.

Wirral West MP Stephen Hesford described the intervention as "astonishing" and said the council must now stop the closure process for good.

He explained that the visit last week to Irby library by the chief executive of the MLA - the body which advises the culture secretary - played a crucial role in the shock decision.

Roy Clare obtained a copy of the detailed dossier Mr Hesford had presented to the local government ombudsman and, having read it, realised that intervention was necessary.

Mr Hesford told the Globe: "It was obvious during Mr Clare's visit that he had become very uneasy about the prospect of closing the 11 libraries.

"He concluded that the Secretary of State should call a full review.

"It is astonishing, especially given that this is only the second time in 45 years that a government minister has intervened in this way.

"I applaud the very important role played by many thousands of committed local people in protesting about the loss of their libraries.

"The council must now stop the process."

Cllr Leah Fraser, prospective Conservative MP for Wallasey, said: "At last, somebody has seen sense and called a halt to these cuts.

"The massive public opposition to the council's 'strategic asset review' has outweighed the arguments put forward by the Labour and Liberal Democrat administration.

"The Secretary of State, by using the powers available to him in the 1964 Public Museums and Libraries Act, has shown that he has as little faith in this council as the rest of us.

"I am absolutely delighted that there will now be a full and independent proper local inquiry into these cuts, proving, if proof were needed, that the council's own so-called 'consultation' was a complete sham and utterly worthless.

"We now await details of the inquiry, the first of its kind in almost 18 years. In the meantime, I pay tribute to the staff of the libraries who have, throughout this whole sorry episode remained professional in the most difficult and distressing of circumstances.

"None of these libraries should be closing. As a council, we have a duty to provide a comprehensive library service.

"As a community, we know the libraries provide so much more than books – they are vital in our attempts to improve literacy, numeracy and IT skills, often in some of the borough’s most deprived communities.

"Two weeks ago, the MP for Wallasey was telling us that 'buildings don't matter' and that the council was 'brave'. Clearly, Andy Burnham disagrees.

"The administration has now lost all credibility and must resign. It is time for a change in the way this council operates."

Donald McGubbin, campaigning on behalf of Irby library, was instrumental in today's striking news as it was he who invited Roy Clare, the chief executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to visit Irby and who then reported to Mr Burnham.

"I am absolutely delighted," he said.

"It is a battle for another day, of course, but at least it is being reconsidered, and by an inspector who will look at it properly from the point of a library service.

"Irby library now has a chance to be looked at fairly."

Wirral South MP Ben Chapman also described the intervention as "remarkable".

He told the Globe: "I was urging the Culture Secretary as recently as yesterday to reconsider his position, and now of course he has.

"Everybody knows how important libraries are to communities, and to consider closing eleven of them in one go is quite a move.

"Eastham, for instance, only recently had £330,000 spent on it and was then included at the very last minute on the closure list.

"This council review was about buildings but the fact is, buildings are one thing, communities are another.

"This whole plan will now be looked at again and it may still be the case that, sadly, some libraries will close. But they'll all be considered fairly and on merit, and that is what is important."

Wirral Conservative group leader Cllr Jeff Green said the decision meant the ruling Labour and Liberal Democrat administration was now "unsustainable".

He told the Globe: "It is absolutely fantastic news, absolutely astonishing. I'm really pleased that this programme has been stopped.

"Surely, though, this also means that the only thing for the Labour and Liberal Democrat administration to do now is to resign, and resign immediately. The game is up.

"They forced this through. They ignored the comments of the public, the staff, ourselves in terms of consultation.

"It was simply a stupid to thing to do and now with this intervention by the Culture Secretary it appears they couldn't even do the basics properly.

"This administration is now unsustainable. It is a laughing stock. Ethically, they must resign.

"No chief officer from the council has bothered to get in touch with me about this today, either," added Cllr Green, whose Tory group is the largest on the council.

The way in which the council's SAR was conducted is already the subject of an inquiry by the Local Government Ombudsman.

"My understanding is that one of the questions the ombudsman was asking was whether the council had consulted properly with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council," he said.

"I personally found nothing that suggested they might have done.

"But it was such a ridiculous proposal in the first place.

"They heard what the people of Wirral said about it and just ignored them anyway.

"And in the name of macho politics they decided that the Wirral public was going to have it whether they liked it or not."

Mike Nickson, user of the threatened Ridgeway Library, told the Globe: "I am elated. I am very, very pleased. This is good, great news. I knew it would be a disaster if this library was to close because it is at the very heart of our community.

"That the council was even thinking of closing it was gobsmacking."

West Wirral Conservative parliamentary candidate Esther McVey said she was delighted that due to the constant pressure of local people on Wirral, Mr Burnham had stepped in to force the council to rethink its closure programme.

"Spearheaded by our campaign through Ed Vaizey, Shadow Libraries Minister and Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Culture Secretary, continual pressure and lobbying was applied on Andy Burnham, Culture Secretary through an Early Day Motion beginning in January 2009, and continual pressure from local residents, prominent local writers, library and community groups led Andy Burnham to a dramatic u-turn in announcing that he will look into the shambles that has been the strategic asset review.

"Today is a victory for common sense for the people of Wirral after months of fighting to have their voices heard."

Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, said: "This is great news for the campaigners, library users and staff in Wirral who have been fighting so hard to save their local library services.

"Following my visit to Wallasey Village library, I again called for the Secretary of State to use the powers available to him under the 1964 Act and order an inquiry into the closures.

"Libraries are so often at the heart of our communities and bring so much enjoyment and pleasure, as I witnessed with Leah Fraser in Wallasey."

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EMAIL YOUR VIEWS NOW TO EDITOR LEIGH MARLES - lmarles@wirral-globe.co.uk

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