You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Three more local authorities have announced job losses or closures, in the latest set of library cutbacks.
Twelve members of staff in Hounslow have been made redundant, according">http://www.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/west-london-news/local-hounslow-news/... to a report in the Hounslow Chronicle. The job losses follow the closure of an ICT skills centre, said by authorities to be underused, and a restructure of library staff across the borough.
Meanwhile">http://www.mix96.co.uk/news/review.php?article=308718">Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire county council is proposing to cut its council-run libraries from 26 to nine, according to local radio station Mix96. The council, which is looking to make savings of £90m over the next four years, is consulting on a plan to move a number of libraries up to community-run status as part of the new structure for its library service.
“We can’t continue to deliver the same level of service we have done in the past, so we are looking for new and alternative ways to deliver what the community wants," said councillor Patricia Birchley, cabinet member for adults and family wellbeing. She said no decisions had yet been finalised, but added: "I must stress that no change is not an option and what has been suggested may be an ideal way of developing the Big Society in Buckinghamshire.”
Meanwhile">http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/stoke/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9146000/91..., libraries are set to be affected by major spending cuts at Stoke-on-Trent city council, according to the BBC. Two libraries and the mobile service will have their funding pulled as part of a council bid to save £33m in the next year, the BBC said.
The council has published details of widespread proposed cuts to jobs and services and will now go to public consultation on the plan. Chief executive John Van de Laarschot said: "There is no getting away from the fact the politicians are going to have to make difficult decisions to balance the budget."