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Library cuts halted in Somerset
12.01.12 | Bookseller Staff
A series of funding cuts to libraries in Somerset has been halted, after the High Court found they did not comply with equality laws.
The move saves 11 libraries, ensures four mobile libraries will be reinstated and opening hours at 23 libraries will increase, the BBC reports. About £600,000 will be spent on self-service technology.
Christine Lawrence, Somerset County Council's cabinet member for community services, said the technology would help modernise the service. She added: "However, given the extreme financial pressures all council services are under, we still need to consider the future funding and shape of libraries and this decision sets out the process by which that can happen."
A High Court judicial review in November found the cuts should not go ahead because they were unlawful under the council's obligation to provide a "comprehensive and efficient library service for all those wishing to use it". Judge Martin McKenna said the library closures did not comply with "public sector equality duties" owed to vulnerable social groups.
A council spokesman said the library service would be reviewed, along with all the authority's services, over the next 18 months.
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The judgment handed down by the High Court also applied to Gloucestershire CC which has similarly been obliged to review its proposals. See, for example :
'Nine libraries across Gloucestershire have seen their opening hours return to normal following last month's High Court ruling'
http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/9462428.Library_opening_hours_in...
Somerset and Gloucestershire councils have been forced by means of Judicial Review to comply with the Law, but at residents' expense because DCMS has not fulfilled its statutory obligations and intervened.
An open letter to Ed Vaizey MP from the Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries, dated 20th December and with over 450 signatories from people from all walks of life, http://alangibbons.net/2011/12/open-letter-attracts-456-signatures/ calls his Department to account -- and must soon be given the courtesy of a reply.
A huge vote of thanks is due to campaigners for what they have achieved on behalf of residents of Somerset and Gloucestershire. Yet the ongoing scandal is that there are many other citizens who are subject to similar proposals from their local authorities and may be denied justice merely because they have not the means to do the Secretary of State's job for him.
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