b
ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY SAFETY SCRUTINY SUB-COMMITTEE SECOND DESPATCH
Date and Time: Monday 2 July 2012 7.00 pm
Venue : Room 8, Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, SW2 1RW
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COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Councillors BRATHWAITE (Chair), DAVIES (Vice-Chair), KAZANTZIS, C. WHELAN and MORGAN
SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS: Councillors BRADLEY, BRAITHWAITE, COSGRAVE, HOLLAND, J.WHELAN and LING
AGENDA
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA MAY BE CHANGED AT THE MEETING
Page Nos. 4. Cooperative Libraries 1 - 228
(Report no. 45/12-13)
Contact for details: Adrian Smith, 020 7926 0182, [email protected]
Special Circumstances Justifying Urgent Consideration
The Chair is of the opinion that although the main report and appendices had not been available for at least five clear days before the meeting, nonetheless it should be considered now as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances that the report was being prepared for Cabinet and could therefore not be published on this agenda in advance.
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b Cabinet 9 July 2012
Cooperative Libraries
All Wards
Cabinet Portfolio: Report authorised by:
Cabinet Member Culture and Olympics: Executive Director Adults and Community Councillor Sally Prentice Services: Jo Cleary Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources Executive Director Corporate Resources: Councillor: Paul McGlone Mike Suarez
Executive Summary
This report follows the end of public consultation on the recommendations from the Cabinet meeting, 21 st November 2011. The report sets out the strategic vision for library services in Lambeth and its transformation into a cooperative, modern, sustainable and professionally led service.
Our shared strategic vision for the remodelling of the library service is of ‘a service for everyone. Where communities come together in safe, flexible spaces with friendly, professional staff to learn, enjoy, discover and be the best that they can be.’ This will be delivered through the following framework, where:
• Lambeth will continue to be home to ten libraries, with some libraries offering a greater range of services through the community hubs programme. • The new Clapham Library is the first new library to open in Lambeth for 40 years and will showcase the future of our modern library service. • Subject to market conditions, a £6m capital investment programme over the next 4 years will tackle 40 years of underinvestment in library buildings. • A 7-day library service offer will continue in Brixton and Streatham with an extension from 6 day a week offer in Clapham to a 7-day a week service. These libraries receive 50% of all visits from library users across the borough. • A transparent approach will be used for allocating £4.3m library service revenue budget, with funding decisions based on need. • The introduction of new technologies across the whole service will improve the customer offer, whilst securing efficiencies and savings. • A revenue commitment will be maintained to both Upper Norwood Joint Library and Durning library, whilst exploring increased community-led approaches in these areas. • Continued investment and further development of Tate South Lambeth, Carnegie, Minet and West Norwood (Nettlefold) libraries to develop the range of services on offer as part of the community hubs network with library services located in them. Page 2
• An options appraisal of the Waterloo library site is undertaken prior to determining the best site for library service in Waterloo, with a view to disposing of the current site, as set out in a previous report to Cabinet. The local community will be consulted on the different options. • An options appraisal on the possibility of Streatham library being relocated to the Gracefield Gardens Customer Centre will be reported to Cabinet in September 2012 following consultation with the local community. The report will also develop options for the design of a new service model across the service, including an opportunity for staff to consider a mutual model with increased entrepreneurial skills. Summary of financial implication
The library services revenue savings plan is £750,000 over the next two years. The operational budget of the libraries service being allocated is £4.037m in 2012-13 and £3.637m in 2013-14, which is in line with Service and Financial Planning. If successfully delivered over the next four years the plan will generate £11.5m of capital receipts for reinvestment, whilst at the same time secure, or invest up to £18m of assets into the community hub programme. The success of the programme will be determined by market conditions for the sale of assets.
Recommendations Cabinet is asked to consider the following recommendations: (1) Note that the new Clapham Library is the first new library to open in Lambeth for over 40 years and to thank everyone who has been involved in the Future Clapham programme. (2) Agree the resource allocation for the operational budget and the settlement for individual library services. (3) Agree to carry out an options appraisal on the possibility of Streatham library being relocated to the Gracefield Gardens Customer Centre with a further report to Cabinet in September 2012. The local community will be consulted before any decisions are taken. (4) Agree to reopen the West Norwood Library in the Nettlefold Centre and to develop the building as a multi-purpose cultural and creative centre. (5) Agree to undertake an options appraisal of the Waterloo library site prior to identifying the best option of disposal. This will also include the identification of a suitable and alternative building for library services in the Waterloo area and further consultation with the local community. (6) Agree to continue to revenue support the Upper Norwood Joint Library at £170,000 per annum. (7) Agree to develop the range of services on offer at the Minet, Carnegie and Tate South Lambeth Libraries in partnership with the local community, and to explore increased community led approaches to the management of UNJL and the Durning Library.
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Consultation
Name of consultee Department or Organisation Date sent Date Comments response appear in report received para: Internal Jo Cleary Executive Director Adults’ and 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the Community Services report Adrian Smith Divisional Director Culture and 13/6/12 16/6/12 Throughout the Communities report Maria Millwood Divisional Director Resources 13/6/12 18/6/12 Throughout the ACS report Peter Hesketh Assistant Director Resources 13/6/12 15/6/12 Para 6 ACS Guy Ware Divisional Director Corporate 13/6/12 16/6/12 Para 8 Resources Sophia Looney Divisional Director Policy, 13/6/12 Equalities and Performance Uzo Nwanze Head of Asset Strategy 13/6/12 25/6/12 Throughout the report Alison Young Divisional Director Planning, 13/6/12 Regeneration and Enterprise Paul Cooper Assistant Director Housing 18/6/12 21/6/12 Para 5.8 Regeneration. Julian Ellerby Divisional Director of Campaigns 13/6/12 18/6/12 Throughout the and Communications report Sandra Morrison Divisional Director Children and 13/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the Young Peoples Service report Ann Corbett Head of Community Safety 13/6/12 15/6/12 Para 11 Praveen Manghani Head of Library Services 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the report Valerie Dinsmore Head of Policy, Research and 13/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the Customer Relations report Chris Sipidias Head of Community Hubs- 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the Culture and Communities report Charlotte Evans Head of Active Communities – 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the Culture and Communities report Gareth Edmundson Cooperative Services Manager, 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the Culture and Communities report Mike Dickens Legal and Democratic Services 13/6/12 18/6/12 Para 9 Mark Nicolson Head of Improvement, Risk & 13/6/12 18/6/12 7.5 to 7.10 Insurance Councillor Campbell Cabinet Member Equalities and 15/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the Communities report Councillor McGlone Cabinet Member Finance 15/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the report Councillor Prentice Cabinet Member Culture and 15/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the Olympics report
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Report history
Decision type: Key decision: reason EITHER: Key decision [state the date it was first EITHER a) expenditure or savings o f £500,000 or more entered into the Forward Plan e.g. January X 2009] OR Non-key decision (delete as applicable) OR/AND: b) proposal affects significantly two or more wards X
Authorised by Cabinet Date report drafted: Date report sent: Report deadline member: See above 16.6.12 27.06.12 18.06.12 Report no.: Report author and contact for queries: 65/12-13 John Kerridge, Assistant Director Culture and Communities 020 7926 2744 [email protected]
Background documents
Cooperative Libraries Report Cabinet Meeting: 21 st November 2011
Appendices
1. Resource allocation 2. Transformation Route Map 3. Consultation and Equalities Impact Assessment Report 4. Proposed programme of codesign meetings with local communities
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Cooperative Library Services
1. Context
1.1 In November and December 2011 Cabinet received reports on cooperative libraries and community hubs and agreed a set of proposals for public consultation. This report follows the end of public consultation on cooperative libraries and community hubs which ran between 27 th January and 27 th April 2012. 2. Proposals and Reasons
2.1 It has been recognised that the Lambeth Library Service has been underinvested in for over 40 years. This has impacted on the ability to provide a modern library service and has led to low morale within the service. The latest residents’ survey data shows that usage of Lambeth’s libraries is low compared to other boroughs with only 37% of Lambeth’s citizens using the service compared to an inner London average of 61%. Only 48% of the borough’s residents rate the service as good, which is 18% below the inner London average. 2.2 This situation is not sustainable and this report sets out the vision, policy framework and investment plan for the modernisation of the service to ensure it is fit for purpose for future generations. This report sets a new direction to create a new legacy of which we can be proud.
3. Consultation and Community Engagement
3.1 A full consultation report is attached at appendix 1 of this report. The public consultation on cooperative libraries and community hubs was instigated on the 27 th January 2012 and was concluded on 27 th April 2012. A variety of methods were utilised to reach out to Lambeth’s diverse communities, which included:
• 26 public meetings to discuss proposals for cooperative libraries and community hubs;
• 5 public meetings specifically on community hubs, 2 of which were borough wide meetings organised by Lambeth Voluntary Action Council.
• 600 one to one interviews with users
• 200 one to one interviews with non users of the service
• Over 700 paper questionnaires completed, including art/drawing based contributions from children.
3.2 An analysis of the equalities profile of those engaged is provided within the consultation report. Regular staff meetings have taken place and the consultation findings have been shared with the Trade Unions representing the staff group. There has also been ongoing dialogue with the network of volunteer-led Friends of Lambeth Libraries. The key messages obtained through the public consultation period, which have been considered and influenced this report and its recommendations, are as follows:
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• The provision of safe space, i.e. • Interest in the mixed service use study space and places to enjoy. of buildings.
• There is locality based interest in • Mixed response regards borough neighbourhoods regarding wide ‘community-led’ library increased influence over service services. design but not at the expense of professionally-led services.
• Support for core library service • “Need” identified as a fair offer, books and information, etc. principle for resource allocation.
• Support for the modernisation of • Need to develop additional the library service i.e. wifi, capacity for new community computers, e-books, etc. groups to have access to economical rental space.
A Cooperative Model and Sustainable Service
3.3 Lambeth’s library services will be remodelled around the vision of ‘a service for everyone. Where communities come together in safe, flexible spaces with friendly, professional staff to learn, enjoy, discover and be the best that they can be.’
3.4 Buildings will remain an integral part of the service offer, but a new service model will increasingly work beyond its traditional buildings to connect and engage with communities on their terms. The service will also operate within a transparent and sustainable budget, which provides opportunities for the community to ask questions, influence service design, get more involved and be at the heart of the cooperative agenda.
Revenue Budget
3.5 During the 2011 budget planning process savings of £750,000 over the following two years were approved. The operational budget for the service is £4.037m in 2012-13 reducing to £3.637m in 2013-14. The first step in remodelling the service is to create transparent information concerning the service budgets and how they are allocated. Following feedback from the public consultation exercise and taking into account the concerns of local residents about the potential impact on community libraries, a ‘needs based’ methodology of resource allocation is recommended. This methodology is set out in more detail at appendix 1, which also includes a proposed settlement for each library. Following feedback from communities during the consultation, this will increase the levels of resource flowing to the localised library services and place increased savings pressures on borough-wide library costs.
3.6 As a result of listening to community views, the required efficiency drive will also be applied across the whole service, including the Brixton, Clapham and Streatham libraries. This approach, whilst challenging, will protect as best as possible the customer facing services and whilst there will be funding reductions, no current library will face closure. It will also provide a seven-day a week library
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offer in the Brixton, Clapham and Streatham libraries. As a consequence of the proposed funding methodology the majority of the savings will be obtained through:
• A wide-ranging efficiency drive across ‘borough-wide’ library services. • Service modernisation, including the introduction of new technologies across the whole service. • A new service delivery model.
Service Model
3.7 The combination of service cost, user satisfaction, financial envelope, and the direction of travel set out within this report means the existing model of service delivery is unsustainable and will cease. The future model of service will need to be financially sustainable, fit for purpose and deliver a service around the needs of the communities it serves. It is proposed to explore a number of options with the findings being reported back to Cabinet in September 2012.
3.8 The new service model with communities at its core will need to be driven by staff with professional entrepreneurial skills. These entrepreneurial skills will secure new sources of income, including complimentary services that can sit alongside the library offer. The service will also require increased leadership capacity to deliver the prerequisites of a successful codesigned service, which is set out in paragraph 7.1 of this report. Those managing the service will need to be excellent influencers, able to motivate, inspire others, whilst managing and seeking to balance the demands of communities. All public servants employed in the service will be passionate ambassadors for the service and provide exceptional customer service. This approach will build on the work undertaken to date with the staff team over the past year, where project task groups have been established to address specific themes relating to service improvement.
Outreach, Reader and Literacy Development
3.9 Outreach, reader and literacy development will remain a core service within a future, modern, efficient and professionally led library service. This service is central to future plans for tackling inequalities within local neighbourhoods. The service activity will be remodelled to ensure a broader range of outlets and platforms are utilised to ensure the service increasingly reaches out to residents facing inequalities in meeting their personal aspirations. This remodelling will include greater synergy with the arts and event activities across cultural services, as well as exploring increased opportunities around events like the Readers and Writers Festival and Black History Month. A route map setting out the timeline for the transformation of the service is attached at appendix (2)
4. Library Buildings
4.1 The network of Lambeth buildings has been underinvested in for 40 years and requires significant capital investment to enable a modern and professional library service to be delivered from them.
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New Clapham Library
4.2 The new Clapham Library development will be the first public library to be opened in Lambeth for over 40 years. It will provide a state of the art service in an inspirational modern environment. This will include access to new technologies, such as self service and provide the benchmark for the service.
4.3 The report recommends an extension from a 6 day a week offer to a 7-day a week service offer. The revenue allocation to this service reflects its initial year of operations, which will be reviewed and modified through the department’s service and financial planning process.
Brixton Library
4.4 The report recommends the maintenance of a 7 day a week service offer in Brixton. There is a need to modernise the service through the introduction of new technologies to improve the offer and generate efficiency savings. The building requires capital investment to update its general condition and remodel its internal layout to create additional and accessible space for broader community activities.
Streatham Library
4.5 The report recommends the maintenance of a 7 day a week service offer in Streatham. The Streatham library building has deteriorated to a point where a financial appraisal needs to be undertaken around its future use. The existing site is in disrepair and does not offer an adequate customer experience. The Council has two options. Relocate the service to the Gracefield Gardens Customer Centre, or refurbish the existing building at a cost of approximately £2m, which will bring the building up to an acceptable minimum level of operational standard with no significant improvements. The key drivers for the future of the service in Streatham must be the customer experience and value for money to the tax payer. It is proposed that an options appraisal is undertaken, as well as consultation with the local community, Streatham Ward Councillors and Tate Trustees prior to a report be brought back to Cabinet in September 2012.
Waterloo Library
4.6 The existing service is located in a temporary building that is not fit for purpose and does not offer a positive or inspiring customer experience. This report recommends an options appraisal should be undertaken to explore the best method of redeveloping or disposing of the site with a report back to the Cabinet in September 2012. The site has generated interest and proposals from private developers, the public sector and non-profit organisations. The local community will be consulted on the different options, with each one setting out how we will improve the provision of library services in the local area.
4.7 Each proposal contains both strengths and weaknesses. An options appraisal will explore these and provide the Council with an objective assessment of the available options based on the following framework:
- Maximise capital receipt for reinvestment.
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- Suitable and sustainable alternative localities for the library service in Waterloo being identified and recommended, including Waterloo Action Centre. - Where possible there is further development of the overall cultural and community offer within Waterloo.
Durning Library
4.8 The building will require investment prior in increased community-led involvement in the design and delivery of the service. There are concerns about the roots of a nearby tree and the potential effect on the foundations. This report sets aside funding to undertake a building survey and options appraisal report, which will be undertaken in partnership with the local friends group to determine the best options available for moving forwards. The current site also has a flat attached to it, which is occupied by a tenant. This matter will need to be considered as part of the future use of the building.
Upper Norwood Joint Library (UNJL)
4.9 The recommendation of this report is to maintain a revenue commitment to the UNJL at a reduced rate (previously £211,000) of £170,000. Negotiations continue to be held with the London Borough of Croydon, who jointly fund the service, but have indicated that they are considering a range of options, including withdrawing financial support for the service. The direction of travel recommended in this report, which has been developed following the public consultation period and within the framework of the Cooperative Council, is to explore options for the UNJL to become a cooperative independent entity with the building transferred to the cooperative body. The rationale behind this approach is also to protect its 112 year history of independence and service to its local community.
4.10 This approach will continue to be proposed in the ongoing negotiations with the London Borough of Croydon. This report also sets aside funding to support local residents to develop their cooperative entity governance and status. The learning opportunities from localised management of library services will be shared with other communities wishing to develop this approach in the future.
5. Hubs
5.1 The remaining buildings offer themselves for broader and mixed usage as community hubs. During the public consultation period several opportunities were also identified which, if they came to fruition, could attract external investment, diversify the service offer, bring new sources of revenue and improve the physical building, whilst still continuing to offer a library service.
5.2 The Community Hubs agenda is expanded upon and developed within a separate report to Cabinet, which sits alongside proposals for addressing the legacy of 40 years underinvestment in the buildings.
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The Nettlefold
5.3 The Nettlefold has received initial enquires from two different commercial interests, a retail development opportunity and a national cinema company. This report recommends the second option be explored and reported back to Cabinet in September 2012 for the following reasons:
• The proposal of a cinema, library, community space, visitor centre for Norwood Cemetery is in keeping with the original design concept providing a community facility that would enrich the cultural life of the local area. • Following the end of public consultation the option of a ‘creative hub’ was positively supported. • Design and refit options could include the phased reopening of the building with the library being a priority. • The proposed development of a creative hub aligns with regeneration plans for the area.
5.4 This option will not generate a capital receipt for reinvestment and capital investment will be required for the non-commercial aspects of the site, such as the library, community space and visitor centre. The priority for the reopening of the building remains public safety and the development of a sustainable plan for the future, including its ongoing maintenance that has sadly been neglected for 40 years. This provides an exciting opportunity which could only enhance the cultural offer in West Norwood, but also revitalise the town centre in the evenings.
5.6 The future of the Nettlefold also needs to be seen within the context of local investment, which the Council is facilitating and securing, including Norwood Hall. In seeking to balance the concerns of local residents about the building being closed, officers have held discussions with the organisers of the Norwood Feast, who would like to use the reception area of the building for their future activity. Subject to the public safety concerns being addressed by the organisers of the Norwood Feast, this suggestion will be supported. It is also proposed that this building should be designated as a community hub.
5.7 The matrix below provides an overview of the direction of travel for the remaining libraries service buildings following feedback from the public consultation period and officer assessment:
Library Current position Outlined proposal
Minet Library Currently a library • Lambeth Council continue to services building. revenue fund library and archive services. • Contribute towards feasibility study. • To become a community hub that will continue to offer a library service to the local community. • Community-led consortia wishing to explore an integrated cooperative management and maintenance approach across:
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- Minet Library - Longfield Hall - Myatts Field Park - The Remakery • Potential community asset transfer of buildings to cooperative entity. Carnegie Library Currently a library • Lambeth Council continue to services building. revenue fund library services. • Develop into a community hub that will continue to offer a library service to the local community in partnership with local community, school and library service offer. • Contribute towards design costs. • Modernise and remodel internal building to provide space for community activities and small enterprises. • Potential asset transfer to cooperative entity. Tate South Currently a library • Lambeth Council continue to Lambeth Library services building. revenue fund library services. • Potential to become a community hub that will continue to offer a library service in partnership the local community. • Contribute towards design costs. • Modernise and remodel internal building to create additional space for community activities or small enterprise. • Explore partnership arrangement with the London Community Foundation or Lost Theatre.
5.8 There is a Section 106 commitment for a library building as part of a package of social infrastructure investment to support the regeneration of the Clapham Park estate. Discussions are currently progressing between partners regarding the business plan for the estate and the delivery of the programme against the original masterplan and Section 106 outcomes. The remodeling of the Lambeth library service will take this into account through the proposed investment in new technology across the service.
6. Investment
6.1 As reported to Cabinet in December 2011 the Council had made a transitional fund of £450,000 available to kick-start the community hubs programme. Set out below is the estimated expenditure for the cooperative libraries element of the work with the balance presented within the community hubs report:
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Library Investment Est. cost £ Nettlefold Contribution towards 2,500 design costs. Minet Contribution towards 35,000 feasibility and business costs. Carnegie Design and governance 5,000 development. Upper Norwood Joint Library Governance 2,500 development Durning Survey, condition and 5,000 options appraisal. Streatham Business case and 5,000 options appraisal. Waterloo Options appraisal. 5,000 Tate South Lambeth Survey, condition and 5,000 options appraisal. Total 65,000
6.2 The Minet Community Hub proposal has been proposed by a community-led consortium and includes a proposal to integrate the management of three Council owned assets (The Minet Library, Myatts Field Park and Longfield Hall) under a social enterprise model.
6.3 Each of these sites has individual complexities in terms of their legal and funding arrangements. The rationale for the funding is to put in place expertise to develop the business model, which take these complexities into account and assess the sustainability of a social enterprise model. As this agenda develops further into its delivery stages it is anticipated that officers will be exploring funding opportunities through the Cooperative Council Innovation Fund.
Capital
6.4 An estimated £6m capital programme is required to deliver the recommendations of this report. Once secured the programme of investment and renewal will be implemented as follows:
Investment Plan Investment activity Est Fit for purpose • Health and safety improvements libraries • Disability access £3m • Reopening of the Nettlefold Transforming, • Installation of new technologies, including modernising and self service facilities updating existing • Building alterations in existing libraries to £3m libraries so that they create additional rental space and offer a range of transform into community hub. services as • 15% contingency for unexpected costs. community hubs.
6.5 These funds will also contribute towards the Programme Management within the Culture and Communities Division over the next 2 years. Programme management will also be locked into strategic asset management and community
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investment governance of the Council with a capital delivery plan being produced and submitted through these governance procedures.
6.6 The council reviews the capitalisation of costs to ensure they meet strict criteria. Accordingly, proposals will be reviewed by the Capital & Taxes team within Corporate Finance to ensure the criteria are met before costs are charged to the Capital Investment Programme.
Community Asset Plan
6.7 A Community Asset Plan will be presented as part of the community hubs report to Cabinet in July 2012 that will seek to secure £6m of investment, subject to market conditions.
Revenue Settlement
6.8 It is proposed that Brixton, Streatham and the new, state of the art Library in Clapham provide a 7 day a week library offer. The current reference library provision will continue to operate from Brixton Library as part of this offer.
2012/13 2013/14 £000 £000 Brixton 580 525 Streatham 420 400 Clapham 500 475 Total 1,500 1,400
6.9 The settlement for each library location is as follows:
TOTAL Consultation Consultation BUDGET proposed proposed Library Allocation Allocation 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 Needs 2012/13 2013/14 £000 £000 £000 score £000 £000
Waterloo 150 112 90 42 141 123 South Lambeth 230 166 134 44 227 198 Durning 240 211 170 41.25 221 194 Minet (lending) 188 95 76 46 188 170 Carnegie 213 93 75 26.5 128 110 West Norwood 450 255 205 31.25 320 275 1,471 932 750 1,225 1,070
7. Codesign and Coproduction with Communities
7.1 The report starts to create the conditions and opportunities for communities, users, non-users and staff to modernise the service together and through a process of codesign and coproduction.
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7.2 This approach will require flexibility that enables communities to grow and take on responsibilities based on their capacity, ambitions and desires. It is likely that a patchwork of community-led arrangements will evolve across the borough, which will require the Council to mould itself around by providing tailor made support. The public consultation period has also identified a number of prerequisites required for successful codesign and coproduction:
• People having the skills and behaviours to create and facilitate engagement, mutual interest, cooperation and wiliness to embrace opportunities. • The provision of transparent information on budgets, assets and associated running costs. • Recognising professional employees at the point of delivery are best placed to shape services alongside residents and communities. • Knowledgeable and confident staff with the skills and behaviours to grasp and nurture opportunities, share resources and power within a community hub environment. • An exceptional customer focus, valuing and appreciating the views, ideas and talents of people in our community. • Localised autonomy of budgets, decision-making and asset management. • Council staff being responsible and accountable within their core duties for creating the conditions that enable residents and communities to be more than passive recipients of services.
7.3 The next stage is to enter into a process of service codesign with communities, where information and options will be shared openly and joint solutions developed. This will involve bringing stakeholders together to explore and tighten up on the proposal presented to the Council during the public consultation period.
7.4 A series of codesign meetings will take place between July and August 2012 (appendix 4). The codesign period will also involve the use of social media via the implementation of a tailor made application that will be accessible through computers and mobile devices. This will present people with the opportunity to participate in the design of their local library.
Buildings & Contents Insurance
7.5 During the consultation period the issue of communities having access to library buildings when they are closed was raised. In relation to community groups using council premises and insurance there are two main insurance aspects.
7.6 The Council insures the buildings and contents for which it owns (or leases) and for which the council has an insurable interest. In the event of the building being damaged by an insured event i.e. fire, our insurance policy would respond. As part of any insurance policy conditions the insured is required to ‘take reasonable precautions’ to protect the property. In much the same way that if a private individual left a window open at home and were subsequently broken into insurers could decline the claim on the basis that the individual failed to take ‘reasonable precautions’ to protect their property, the same is true should a community group fail to secure / lock up a library after they had finished using it and a break in subsequently occurred.
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7.7 Community groups would be able to have access to library buildings outside of core hours without this affecting the council’s insurance cover providing that some form of hire agreement was in place outlining the terms of the hire including procedures for locking windows and doors and setting intruder alarms. An alternative option could be to have a designated caretaker who has responsibility for securing the building at the end of any hire.
7.8 The second of these options could have a financial implication but would reduce the risk of any oversight invalidating insurance cover. Any equipment, personal possessions, furniture etc which is brought onto the premises and is owned by the community group or an individual, would not be insured under the council’s cover and the owner of that equipment would need to ensure that they had their own insurance cover in place to protect their possessions.
Liability insurance
7.9 The main type of liability insurance is public liability which provides indemnity for claims made by a third party against the council (or an officer) for injury or damage that has been caused to them whilst using our premises, land, and equipment or as a result of a service being provided. Lambeth’s existing public liability insurance would provide indemnity for any visitor on library premises (even if during an evening/weekend hire) where the injury was caused as a result of the council’s negligence as property owner, i.e. a trip on a faulty floor surface.
7.10 There is a risk however that somebody could be injured during a hire on a piece of equipment brought in by the community group. In this scenario the council’s insurance cover would not address any claim as the equipment is not owned, maintained or the responsibility of the Council. To plug this gap in liability and provide cover, the Council’s liability insurance cover would need to be extended. This is currently being explored with the council’s insurers. It is important to note however that a proposed ‘hirers liability’ would only extend cover for claims that arise during the period of the hire.
7.11 It is for this reason that it is recommended that community groups have their own annual liability insurance that would provide them with a much wider level of insurance protection in relation to claims that may arise outside of any particular hire. Another point to note is that if any claims arise under a ‘hirer’s liability’ the extension would count against the Councils claims, which could have a significant impact in the event of injury claims. These issues will be further explored with communities as this agenda develops further into its delivery phase.
8. Finance Comments
8.1 This report has a variety of recommendations that have complex financial implications. A number of the recommendations are subject to further work, to finalise the financial implications to the authority, and reporting. All proposals must have sufficient resources identified before the authority is committed to any expenditure or loss of income. Similarly, full appraisals need to have taken place before there is a loss of assets or loss of potential capital receipts.
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8.2 The resource allocation for the library service sets the resources available for each library after taking into account Service and Financial Planning savings. The library services revenue savings plan is £750,000 over the next two years. The operational budget of the libraries service is £4.037m in 2012-13 and decreasing to £3.637m in 2013-14.
9. Comments from Director of Governance and Democracy
9.1 Under section 7 of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 there is a duty placed on library authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all its residents and those that work within its area. In giving its judgment in a recent case involving a challenge brought against the London Borough of Brent regarding its proposals to close some of its libraries, the High Court ruled that the availability of resources is relevant to what constitutes a comprehensive and efficient service. “The library service and section 7 duty are not exempt from resource issues and were not entitled in law to escape the budget reductions faced by the council”.
9.2 Details of the consultation and community engagement undertaken are set out in paragraph 3 above and in Appendix 1. The following principles of consultation were set out in a recent High Court case. First, a consultation had to be at a time when proposals were still at a formative stage. Second, the proposer had to give sufficient reasons for any proposal to permit of intelligent consideration and response. Third, adequate time had to be given for consideration and response, and finally, the product of consultation had to be conscientiously taken into account in finalising any statutory proposals. The process of consultation had to be effective and looked at as a whole and it had to be fair. That required that consultation took while the proposals were still at a formative state. Those consulted had to be provided with information that was accurate and sufficient to enable them to make a meaningful response. They had to be given adequate time in which to do so and there had to be adequate time for their responses to be considered. The consulting party had to consider responses with a receptive mind and a conscientious manner when reaching its decision.
9.3 10.8 Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 sets out the public sector equality duty, i.e. that all public bodies are under an obligation to have ‘due regard’ to eliminating unlawful discrimination, advancing equality and fostering good relations in the contexts of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy, and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
9.4 Section 149 (1) (b) of the Act states that: a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Part of the duty to have “due regard” where there is disproportionate impact will be to take steps to mitigate the impact and the Council must demonstrate that this has been done, and/or justify the decision, on the basis that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Accordingly, there is an expectation that a decision maker will explore other means which have less of a disproportionate impact. Details of the Equality Impact Assessment undertaken are set out in paragraph 11 below.
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9.5 In November 2011, the High Court upheld challenges to decisions made by Gloucestershire and Somerset Councils in relation to their library services. The Court held that the decisions of the defendant local authorities to make changes to their library services had been unlawful on account of their failure to comply with the public sector equality duties under the Equality Act 2010. In the Court’s judgment, carrying out an EIA was not an invariable necessity for conforming with the public sector equality duty but nor was evidence that an EIA had been produced, evidence that 'due regard' had been given to the statutory equality needs. The substance of the analysis was key. The question was whether there had been a conscious directing of the mind by the decision makers to their obligations under the legislation and in particular to the need to exercise the duty to have due regard in substance and with vigour and based on sufficient information, appropriately analysed.
9.6 On the evidence, no such due regard had been had in substance. In order to discharge their respective duties, the authorities ought to have undertaken a sufficiently thorough information gathering exercise and then properly analysed that information. Both the authorities had failed to comply with that obligation. Accordingly, the decisions were unlawful for failure to comply with the public sector equality dutiesSection 1 of the Localism Act 2011 introduced a new “general power of competence” for local authorities, defined as “the power to do anything those individuals generally may do” and which expressly includes the power to do something for the benefit of the authority, its area or persons resident or present in its area. Further legal advice will be provided in the development of the various options for models of service delivery particularly around the most appropriate type of legal entity to be set up as the service delivery vehicle for a staff mutual.
10. Results of consultation
10.1 The report acknowledges the mixed response from residents to the level of their desirability to be engaged in borough wide ‘community-led’ library services, whilst responding positively to those neighbourhoods seeking a greater influence over the design and delivery of local library services. A full consultation report is attached at appendix 1.
11. Organisational implications
Risk management: A risk register for the programme is managed and reviewed by the Transformational Programme Team and reported to the Community Investment Board
Equalities impact assessment: Full equalities impact assessment reports are attached at appendix 3 of this report. The Equalities Impact Assessment has identified the following primary concerns in regards to the library service:
a) Disabled access in the library buildings, which will addressed as part of the £6m capital investment programme.
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b) Community languages need to be increasingly reflected in the books available through the library service. This issue will be addressed through the remodelling of the service and increased coproduction with communities.
The findings of these assessments have been considered and mitigating actions are set out within the body of the report.
Community safety implications: Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998: The Act imposes a general duty on local authorities as follows: "Without prejudice to any other obligations imposed upon it, it shall be the duty of each authority to exercise its various functions with due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of those functions, on and the need to do all it reasonably can to prevent crime, disorder and substance misuse in its area". Compliance with the requirements of s17 may therefore include a two fold consideration i.e. having due regard to the likely effect of a decision on crime and disorder and doing all it "reasonably" can to prevent crime and disorder.
Successive surveys have shown that the level of crime in the Borough is the number one concern of residents. It is essential therefore that opportunity for crime and anti social behaviour is prevented and that the public realm environment promotes safety and security and deters criminal and anti-social behaviour opportunities . Libraries are a prominent means of distributing crime prevention advice and details to residents, and are a key community resource for residents to gain advice around reducing the risk of crime. The adoption of a cooperative approach to libraries will increase the accessibility and awareness of this information to the community, and as such should secure beneficial consequences for crime and disorder.
Environmental implications: Many of the hubs are also key civic buildings within the locality. Investment in them will provide improvements to the local environment. All procurement of capital improvements will be undertaken under the corporate procurement procedures to ensure sustainable impacts.
Staffing and accommodation implications: The report sets out a route map for the transformation of the service, which will have implications upon the current resource staff group given the financial envelope will be reducing over the next two years.
The report proposes a £6m capital investment programme across the portfolio of library buildings, including the disposal of the current Waterloo site, options appraisals into the future of Streatham library, survey, condition and options appraisal for Durning library. The report also recommends capital investment into the Nettlefold Centre to reopen it with library services within it.
Any other implications:
There are none
12. Timetable for implementation
July 2012: Council to enter into codesign discussions with communities. September 2012: Further report to Cabinet ______
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Appendix 3
Resource Allocation
The Libraries Budget
The overall revenue budget for the financial years 2012/13 and 2013/2014 is as follows:
2012/13 2013/14 Library Budget 4,487 4,037 Opening £750K agreed Savings -400 -350
Nettlefold Hall Agreed -50 -50 Savings* Budget Available 4,037 3,637
*The savings relating to the Nettlefold Hall were agreed by Council in February 2011. The budget for the Nettlefold Hall was £150K per annum and the savings and efficiencies were planned over 3 years 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14.
Borough Wide Services
There are a number costs and services that deliver and support a borough- wide library service. For example, the Lambeth Archives is the borough's record office and local history library, it is open to the public, free of charge and also offers a considerable collection online.
However, other costs, such as the revenue grant to Upper Norwood Joint Library are also funded and included as a borough wide service. This is simply to ensure that budgets are clearly and transparently allocated.
During the formal consultation period, a number of respondents challenged the existing cost structure to provide Lambeth’s borough wide services. There were two broad challenges: • that the majority of the £750K savings target should not fall exclusively on the customer facing library service. • that further analysis should be conducted on the borough-wide services and costs to achieve efficiencies
In response to these challenges, officers have conducted further analysis of the borough-wide services and costs and have been able to identify further efficiencies. Officers have concluded from this analysis that there are borough wide services where further efficiencies are achievable and other services where savings are minimal or funding is already ringfenced and excluded from further saving, for example, the Upper Norwood Joint Library.
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Table 1 below details the borough wide costs where minimal savings were identified. This table includes proposed funding for Upper Norwood Joint Library.
Table 1: Borough wide costs
Borough wide costs Explanation 2012/2013 2013/2014 Opening 4,037 3,637 This represents Lambeth’s share of funding for Upper Norwood Joint Library. The Upper Norwood Joint Library is the only remaining independent, joint-funded UNJL 170 170 public library in the country. This is the cost of running the borough wide archives service currently this is operated at Minet Library. As the archives take up approximately 2/3 of the space available at the building, this figure includes two thirds of the building Archives service 144 144 costs This is the projected revenue cost of maintaining critical modernisations to the existing library service. For example, the library service will have to maintain new services such as WiFi internet access and self service technology book lending technology in each library service Modernisation 90 90 location. As the current West Norwood Library and Nettlefold Hall are linked, this is the Nettlefold Hall cost of making sure that existing Rates and maintenance costs of the Nettlefold hall upkeep 82 82 are covered. 486 486
Table 2 below highlights the areas of the borough-wide services where further savings and efficiencies have been identified. In total it is proposed that 290K of efficiency savings can be made from the remaining borough wide services.
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These services are detailed below:
Table 2: Borough Wide Costs with proposed efficiencies
Borough wide 2012/13 2013/14 services Explanation Talis 65 65 This is the cost of the Library Management System, the electronic system to manage the lending of our book stock and other materials Staffing 334 334 This is the current cost of central staffing to ensure that a comprehensive library service operates across Lambeth and that all borough wide services and library services in each locality function properly. Outreach 186 186 This is the cost of providing the Libraries Service Outreach service. This includes things like delivering books to more vulnerable citizens as part of the Home Visit Service. Reader 137 137 This is the cost of providing the Reader Development Development service, including the events and festivals that support this programme. This includes things like Bookstart for children and the summer reading challenge. Stock Support 172 172 This is the cost of making sure that we Services manage the book stock across the library service Balance of Stock 77 77 This is the cost of making sure that services fund like inter-library loans continue. Sub Total 971 971 290K efficiency 145 290 Savings identified in borough wide services over 2 years to ensure that customer facing service is protected Total following savings & efficiencies 826 681
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Resources available to 9 Library Locations
The savings and efficiencies proposed to the borough-wide service will maximise the resources available to provide a customer facing library service in each locality. The resource allocation to the customer facing library service is set out below:
2012/13 2013/14 Library Budget 4,487 4,037 Opening £750K agreed Savings -400 -350
Nettlefold Hall Agreed -50 -50 Savings Budget Available 4,037 3,637 Less total borough wide costs 1312 1167 Total remaining for 9 locations 2,725 2,470
Brixton Clapham & Streatham
It is proposed that Brixton, Streatham and the new, state of the art Library in Clapham retain a 7 day a week library offer. The current reference library provision will continue to operate from Brixton Library as part of this offer.
2012/13 2013/14 £000 £000 Brixton 580 525 Streatham 420 400 Clapham 500 475 Total 1,500 1,400
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Resource Allocation to Community Hubs with a Library Service
The table below shows the resource allocation available to the remaining 6 library services:
2012/13 2013/14 To be allocated across 9 locations 2,725 2,470
7 day week offer at Brixton Clapham & Streatham 1500 1400
Allocation for remaining 6 Community Hubs 1,225 1,070
Need
A series of nationally recognised indicators (such as deprivation, levels of attainment, unemployment) have been used to assess the level of need for each ward in Lambeth. For each measure, a score was given out of 10 to each ward. For example, if a ward had the highest level of deprivation in the borough compared to all the other wards it would be given a score of 10, the ward with the lowest deprivation compared to all the wards would be given a score of 1. After all these measures were analysed and added together for each needs measure, an overall score was given to each ward – the higher the overall need, the higher the score.
As many libraries are on ward boundaries, adjustments were then made according to the catchment area of each library to provide a need score for each individual library. By doing this, it is intended to give a need score to a library that broadly represents the communities that they serve. The needs scores for each library are set out in the table below. The higher the number, the higher the comparative need.
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Need score by Library
Library Need score
Waterloo 42 TSL 44 Durning 41.25 Minet 46 Carnegie 26.5 West Norwood 31.25
Final Allocation
As part of formal consultation process, using a measure of existing usage was proposed to reach a final budget allocation for each library service. However, responses from consultation highlighted a number of challenges and conflicts with measuring usage as a key indicator to allocate resources. Challenges included:
• All libraries are different and visitors use them differently. For example, a visitor getting a book from Brixton on their way to work as opposed to a user that may prefer to stay for a longer period and read a book. Therefore, using visitor numbers to determine budget will favour a library with a higher number of visitors. • All footprints and opening hours for libraries are different. Those libraries with a smaller footprint are therefore at a disadvantage to libraries with a larger footprint. • There are many legitimate usage measures ranging from computer usage, to number of events and activities. Equalising all of these usage measures in a fair way presents a considerable challenge
Following this feedback, the final allocation of resources to each library will be structured on applying the needs analysis to the existing budgest for the current libraries. It is proposed that removing usage as a measure and retaining need is simpler and fairer and also recognises the existing buildings and budgets to operate the current service. In addition, the data and statistics used for compiling needs analysis have been widely used, recognised and trusted methods of allocating resources. In short, by using a needs analysis will guarantee that future investment will more appropriately reflect the needs of each locality they serve.
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The final allocations for each library location are as follows:
Consultation Consultation Library TOTAL BUDGET 2011/12 proposed proposed Needs Allocation Allocation £000 2012/13 £000 2013/14 £000 score 2012/13 £000 2013/14 £000 0 0 Waterloo 150.0 112 90 42 141 123 South Lambeth 230.0 166 134 44 227 198 Durning 240.0 211 170 41.25 221 194 Minet (lending) 188.0 95 76 46 188 170 Carnegie 213.0 93 75 26.5 128 110 West Norwood 450.0 255 205 31.25 320 275 1,471.0 932 750 1,225 1,070
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This page is intentionally left blank Transformational Delivery Route Map
Theme Outcome Lead July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 Community Capital Chris Engagement with stakeholders to Capital investment programme Hubs programme Sipidias firm up proposals. developed. delivery plans in Work with VAMS’s to instigate Asset plan instigated place across all asset plan Firm up process for sale of hub sites Instigate investment via Waterloo Library transformational fund
Options appraisals instigated at Waterloo. Efficiency and Borough wide Praveen Prepare the modernising and Instigate procurement plan for Modernisation savings plan in Manghani efficiency plan modernising and efficiency place and Options appraisals instigated at investment. achieving Streatham Complete options appraisal for Cabinet Report Page 27 targets Streatham
Delivery Ensure the Gareth Instigate exploration of options set Make proposals for cabinet to Model/Skills, service has the Edmundson out within the Cabinet report. consider on the future models of Behaviour and capacity and delivery. Capacity model to deliver Explore the skills and behaviours a cooperative required to deliver increased Make proposal for the future skills service entrepreneurial leadership in the and behaviours to deliver service increased entrepreneurial leadership in the service
Community Capacity Charlotte Engagement with community-led Procurement plan instigated. Capacity building support Evans groups to design specification. Building commissioned Assess market for provision.
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b
Cooperative Libraries Consultation, including consultation on community hubs (January - April 2012)
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Section 1
Libraries consultation
Feedback from the consultation The consultation focused on the recommendations from Lambeth’s Cabinet meeting in November 2011. In addition, during the consultation, people took the opportunity to talk about other issues related to libraries. We gathered the feedback, and include information from it in this report. The full feedback from the consultation is available in the various documents listed at the end of the consultation report.
We have tried as much as possible to structure the report using the Cabinet recommendations. Some information is relevant to more than one section. However, to make the report easier to follow, we have tried to put that information in one section only.
Section 2 In this section, we have set out how we consulted and details of responses received, including equalities data.
Section 3 Coproduction of libraries services Cabinet recommendation - Give greater control to communities around each existing library to co-produce their future library service. This includes decisions on which location is the most appropriate place from which to run an accessible and effective service given the resources available. There is no presumption that any area with a library service will lose it.
In this section, we have included feedback on the sort of involvement that people wanted to have. We also included feedback on the use of volunteers, and the role of staff.
Section 4 Transfer of library management and/or buildings Cabinet recommendation - Considers transferring library management and/or buildings to community-led organisations in each locality if consultation with local people shows that is the preferred option and if there is local capacity to take on such a commitment.
In this section, we have included feedback on the role of the community in managing libraries. We also included comments on the buildings themselves.
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Section 5 Opportunities for inward investment Cabinet recommendation - Explores opportunities for partnerships that secure inward investment in local library services, including franchises.
In this section, we have included information on the broad range of ideas that people had for bringing more funding into libraries. This section also includes a selection of ideas on income generation, and on selling some services to other organisations. Views on charging are also included in this section.
Section 6 Modernises and invests in new technology Cabinet recommendation - Modernises and invests in new technology, including the introduction of Wi-Fi, self-service technology, an enhanced e-book offer and improved online library services.
This section includes comments on modernisation and people’s views on various forms of new technology.
Section 7 Outreach model Cabinet recommendation - Introduces a new outreach model to help the most vulnerable in Lambeth’s communities to access library services.
This section includes information on the home visiting service, and other comments on what people who cannot get to a library would want from a library service.
Section 8 Upper Norwood Joint Library Cabinet recommendation - Seeks to maintain a library service offer to address the need around the current Upper Norwood Joint Library.
This section includes feedback on the proposals about Upper Norwood Joint Library, which is an independent library joint funded by Lambeth.
Section 9 Library opening hours Cabinet recommendation - Endorses the Commission proposal that Streatham and Brixton will open seven days a week and instruct officers to explore how increases can be made to the opening hours currently planned for the new library in Clapham.
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This section focuses on opening hours across all libraries in the borough, as well as views on seven day opening in some libraries.
Section 10 Library Access Package Cabinet recommendation - Explores creation of a Lambeth Library Access Package to be hosted in new or alternative outlets across the Borough.
In this section, as well as information on different outlets, we have included information on people’s comments on the individual libraries that they use, and their views on locality issues.
Section 11 Customer focus Cabinet recommendation - Remodels staffing structures and reduce management levels, shifting to a more modern, customer service focused model that helps build the community’s capacity to participate in cooperative services and offers an access point to wider council services.
In this section, we have included information on the community hub proposal, as it links to libraries, in particular focused on the sort of services people feel could work or not work with libraries.
Section 12 Library efficiencies Cabinet recommendation - Achieves further back office efficiencies, better and shared procurement.
In this section of the consultation report, we have included feedback on how people felt that Lambeth libraries could become more efficient, and potentially save money by procuring services in different ways. We have included information in this section on central recharges. We have also included information on the need for capital investment.
Section 13 Resource allocation In this section we have included people’s detailed comments on the proposals for how resources are allocated.
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Section 14 Community hubs Alongside the libraries consultation, we were also consulting with the wider community about the development of community hubs. We have included feedback from that consultation here.
Section 15 Consultation feedback In this section, we have listed all the feedback received. All the information is available on the Lambeth website at www.lambeth.gov.uk/CooperativeLibraries
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Section 2
1. Introduction and background 1.1 The council is proposing a new approach to how it provides library services in Lambeth. To change the way services are provided, the council needs to change the way they are funded too. Lambeth’s new cooperative approach will be based on three broad commissioning principles – money, people and services. In addition, Lambeth Libraries service has to save £750,000 from its existing budget by 2014. 1.2 In Lambeth Adults’ and Community Services, we consulted with library users, non library users, and other stakeholders, including particular groups within the community. We wanted to hear how library services could be improved and gain reflections on a new resource allocation proposal. 1.3 The consultation was carried out between 27 January and 27 April 2012. 1.4 This report provides details of how we have consulted and the feedback we received. 1.5 In addition, we had previously carried out consultation as part of the initial discussions on the development of libraries. This took place between 14 June and 16 September 2011. We have included some feedback from that consultation within this report. 1.6 Between January and April 2012, consultation also took place on community hubs. Feedback from that consultation is also included in this report. All the feedback from this consultation and the previous consultation is available on the Lambeth website at www.lambeth.gov.uk/CooperativeLibraries .
2. Summary of consultation methods 2.1 Consultation methods We used a number of different methods to obtain comments and feedback on the proposals. These included a hard copy questionnaire and online questionnaire, public meetings, focus groups and interviews (telephone and face to face). People could also give their comments by email and on the phone. Full details are set out in the following sections.
2.2 Public consultation and library meetings These included: • four public consultation meetings • twenty library meetings (one morning and one evening meeting in or near each individual library)
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2.3 Staff meetings All library staff were invited to attend library meetings to discuss the proposals. These meetings followed on from two all staff meetings held during the earlier consultation phase.
2.4 Details of public consultation meetings Number of attendees: Date: Wednesday 22 February 2012 10 Time: 6.00pm to 9.00pm Venue: Waterloo Action Centre (Mezzanine Room) Date: Thursday 1 March 2012 7 Time: 6.00pm to 9.00pm Venue: Assembly Hall, Lambeth Town Hall Date: Thursday 8 March 2012 21 Time: 6.00pm to 9.00pm Venue: Elmgreen School, West Norwood Date: Monday 12 March 2012 3 Time: 2.00pm to 4.00pm Venue: English Martyrs Church, Streatham
2.5 Details of library meetings Number of attendees: Brixton Library, Brixton, SW2 1JQ 13 Date: Friday 30 March 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Brixton Library, Brixton, SW2 1JQ 15 Date: Wednesday 11 April 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm Carnegie Library, 188 Herne Hill Road, SE24 0AG 16 Date: Wednesday 28 March 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Carnegie Library, 188 Herne Hill Road, SE24 0AG 19 Date: Wednesday 28 March 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm Clapham Library, Clapham Common, SW4 0QW 5 Date: Monday 19 March 2012
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Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm
Clapham Library, Clapham Common, SW4 0QW 5 Date: Thursday 5 April 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Durning Library, 167 Kennington Lane, SE11 4HF 10 Date: Tuesday 20 March 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm Durning Library, 167 Kennington Lane, SE11 4HF 16 Date: Monday 26 March 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, SE5 9QY 8 Date: Thursday 22 March 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, SE5 9QY 12 Date: Monday 26 March 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm South Lambeth Library, 180 South Lambeth Road, SW8 1QP 23 Date: Wednesday 4 April 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm South Lambeth Library, 180 South Lambeth Road, SW8 1QP 38 Date: Thursday 12 April 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Streatham Library, 63 Streatham High Road, SW16 1PN 4 Date: Thursday 20 March 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Streatham Library, 63 Streatham High Road, SW16 1PN 9 Date: Wednesday 28 March 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm Waterloo Library, 114-118 Lower Marsh, SE1 7AE 7 Date: Thursday 27 March 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm Waterloo Library, 114-118 Lower Marsh, SE1 7AE 7 Date: Wednesday 11 April 2012 Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm West Norwood Library , 14 – 16 Knights Hill, West Norwood, SE27 0HY 15 Date: Wednesday 21 March 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm West Norwood Library , 14 – 16 Knights Hill, West Norwood, SE27 0HY 18 Date: Thursday 29 March 2012
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Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm Upper Norwood Joint Library, 41 Westow Hill, London SE19 1TJ 20 Date: Tuesday 17 April 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm Upper Norwood Joint Library, Central Hill Day Centre, 1 Lunham Road, 15 SE19 1AA Date: Thursday 26 April 2012 Time: 7.00pm to 9.00pm
2.6 Consultation questionnaire • Questionnaire for library users : We produced a hard copy questionnaire which could be completed and sent back in a pre-paid envelope or using the ACS Consultation Freepost address. • People could also fill in the questionnaire online if they preferred. The questionnaire could also be accessed via the council’s website (www.lambeth.gov.uk/CooperativeLibraries). The website included all the relevant consultation documents. • We also made available a short questionnaire.
Written feedback – questionnaires and written responses Number of responses: Paper and online questionnaire 729
Short questionnaire 103 Postal feedback 7 Email feedback - this included submissions from individuals as well as 60 organisations, including Friends of Libraries, Unison, and other community groups. Total: 899
• We consulted children and young people on the types of services they would like to see provided by Lambeth Libraries. This was via age appropriate methods including drawing exercises for very young children, questionnaires for school age children and interviews with young people.
Feedback from children and young peo ple: Number of responses: 9-12 year old questionnaire 163 13-15 year old questionnaire 6 2-11 year old children’s drawings “Draw me a library” 87
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Interviews with young people 16 Total: 272
2.7 Focus groups and one to one interviews: We also gave opportunities to provide feedback via face to face and telephone interviews. The groups targeted included: Verbal feedback – interviews and groups Number of responses:
Quantitative Surveys
1. Library users 635 Method : We carried out face to face interviews inside Lambeth libraries.
Number of interviews carried out in each library: Brixton = 116 Carnegie = 50 Clapham = 90 Durning = 52 Minet = 55 South Lambeth = 57 Streatham = 107 Waterloo = 64 West Norwood = 44 Total: 635 2. Non library users 200 Method: We carried out telephone interviews with people who do not use libraries. These residents were identified as being non-library users from Waves 7, 8 and 9 of Lambeth Residents Survey. Sub -total: 835
Qualitative feedback:
3. Parents of under 5 ye ar olds 24 Method : Face to face interviews 4. Portuguese residents 12 Method : Telephone interviews and face to face interviews 5. Disabled residents 9 Method : Focus group and telephone interviews 6. New residents 5 Method : Telephone interviews
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Sub -to tal: 44
Total: 879
Overall Total 2,366
2.8 Feedback channels In addition to meetings and the questionnaire, we provided a range of ways for people to give us their feedback and comments: o by sending an email to [email protected] o by sending a text to us using 07772 103 628 o by calling Freephone 0800 013 1497 to give comments over the telephone or request assistance to complete the questionnaire o by sending a letter using the ACS consultation Freepost address provided
2.9 We also received a petition on libraries signed by 250 people.
2.10 The Friends of Durning Library carried out their own survey using a questionnaire, which was completed by 580 people (367 online and 213 on paper).
2.11 During the earlier discussion phase of the consultation, we carried out 640 face to face interviews in libraries, and held public meetings and meetings with staff. 1,079 people completed questionnaires. We also held focus groups, including with residents who speak English as a second language, older people, parents of under 5s, residents on lower income, residents who attend a literacy group to improve their reading and writing, and Portuguese residents.
3. Publicity and distribution We used a variety of ways to make sure that people knew about the consultation and how to take part.
3.1 Library users Via email: We sent over 10,000 emails to current library users. The email directed people to the council’s website, where they could access full information on the consultation. People could also request a paper copy of the questionnaire in the post. We also told people what other ways they could get involved, by attending a public consultation or library meeting.
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Via letter We sent a letter to 4,000 library users providing details of how they could take part in the consultation, and dates of meetings.
3.2 Lambeth residents: we posted information about the consultation on the council’s website, including access to all relevant consultation documents. We also published posters on the London Underground. Information was also on Twitter. Information about the consultation was included in “Lambeth Life” and “Up Your Street”.
3.3 Lambeth organisations, businesses and groups: We distributed information about the consultation to Lambeth’s voluntary and community sector organisations, partners, local businesses, and groups using the council’s GIFTs database.
3.4 Children and young people : we sent consultation documents to schools and youth groups. The drawing materials and questionnaires for younger age groups (“Draw me a Library” questionnaire and questionnaire for 9-12 years) went to primary schools, and the older questionnaire (13-16 years) went to secondary schools and youth groups and centres.
4. Summary of consultation documents Consultation documents included: • Consultation questionnaire – paper and online versions • Short questionnaire – paper version • 2-11 year old children’s “Draw me a Library” drawing activity – paper version • 9-12 year old questionnaire – paper version • 13-15 year old questionnaire – paper version
5. Support to take part in the consultation 5.1 Telephone calls We advertised a Freephone telephone number (0800 013 1497) to offer further information and advice on the proposals, and take down feedback over the telephone. On request, we conducted 22 telephone interviews, one of which was conducted in Cantonese and another with the use of a Portuguese interpreter. This is in addition to the 200 interviews with non- users.
5.2 Help with transport: We organised taxis to and from venues for three participants to help them to take part in focus groups and public meetings.
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6. Equalities data We asked people for equalities data on the completed questionnaires, and include the details in the tables below.
Paper and online questionnaire Are you: A Lambeth resident 77.6% 491
A representative of a Lambeth organisation 1.1% 7
Other 21.3% 135
Gender Male 37.0% 234
Female 60.5% 383
Prefer not to say 2.5% 16
Age Between 16 and 17 years 1.4% 9
Between 18 and 24 years 4.7% 30
Between 25 and 34 years 16.6% 105
Between 35 and 44 years 26.7% 169
Between 45 and 54 years 19.2% 122
Between 55 and 64 years 13.4% 85
Between 65 and 74 years 7.6% 48
Between 75 and 84 years 4.9% 31
85 years and over 1.1% 7
Prefer not to say 4.4% 28
Faith No religion 28.4% 160
Atheist 13.5% 76
Christian 29.8% 168
Buddhist 1.6% 9
Hindu 1.2% 7
Jewish 1.4% 8
Muslim 1.8% 10
Pagan 0.4% 2
Rastafarian 0.7% 4
Sikh 0.0% 0
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Prefer not to say 18.1% 102
Other 3.0% 17
Ethnic White British, Irish, or Other White background 66.7% 377 group Mixed (White and Black Caribbean, White and Black 5.3% 30 African, White and Asian, or any other mixed background)
Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or 3.4% 19 any Other Asian background)
Black or Black British (Caribbean, African or any Other 6.5% 37 Black background)
Chinese 1.4% 8
Prefer not to say 14.9% 84
Any Other ethnic group 1.8% 10
Household Owner occupied - owned outright 21.7% 124 or current Owner occupied - buying on a mortgage 30.4% 174 accommodati Rent from housing association 6.1% 35 on situation Rent from private landlord 16.4% 94
Rent from the council 4.0% 23
Residential care/sheltered or Extra Care housing 0.2% 1
Homeless (including temporary accommodation) 0.3% 2
Prefer not to say 15.9% 91
Other 4.9% 28
Disability A physical impairment or disability 7.3% 38
Sight or hearing loss 4.8% 25
A mental health problem or illness 3.4% 18
A learning disability or difficulty 0.8% 4
A long standing illness 5.4% 28
None of the above 64.2% 335
Prefer not to say 18.4% 96
Other 1.5% 8
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Current I go to school/college/university 4.2% 24
situation Employed full time 29.6% 169
Employed part time 13.0% 74
Self employed full time 8.2% 47
Self employed part time 7.0% 40
Apprenticeship/training to work 0.4% 2
I am not in education, employment or training 2.3% 13
Unemployed/available for work 4.7% 27
Retired 13.3% 76
Permanently disabled/long term condition 2.3% 13
Carer - unpaid (for someone who has a long term 1.1% 6 condition or disability)
Prefer not to say 13.9% 79
Sexual Heterosexual 61.0% 335
orientation Gay or Lesbian 4.9% 27
Bisexual 1.8% 10
Other 1.3% 7
Prefer not to say 31.0% 170 Base: 729 Short questionnaire Are you: A Lambeth resident 89
A representative of a Lambeth organisation 0
Other 14
Gender Male 34.0% 35
Female 63.1% 65
Prefer not to say 2.9% 3
Age Between 16 and 17 years 3.0% 3
Between 18 and 24 years 3.0% 3
Between 25 and 34 years 5.9% 6
Between 35 and 44 years 21.8% 22
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Between 45 and 54 years 18.8% 19
Between 55 and 64 years 19.8% 20
Between 65 and 74 years 17.8% 18
Between 75 and 84 years 3.0% 3
85 years and over 4.0% 4
Prefer not to say 3.0% 3
Disability Disability 4.9% 5
Both (a disability and an infirmity) 0.0% 0
Illness or infirmity 5.8% 6
None of the above 79.6% 82
Prefer not to say 9.7% 10
Ethnic White British, Irish, or Other White background 69.0% 69
group Mixed (White and Black Caribbean, White and Black 6.0% 6 African, White and Asian, or any other mixed background)
Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or 2.0% 2 any Other Asian background)
Black or Black British (Caribbean, African or any Other 14.0% 14 Black background)
Chinese 0.0% 0
Any Other ethnic group 9.0% 9 Base: 103
9-12 year old questionnaire Gender Male 42.7% 67
Female 57.3% 90
Age 9 years old 19.9% 31
10 years old 50.6% 79
11 years old 28.2% 44
12 years old 1.3% 2
Ethnic White British, Irish, or Other White background 19.6% 29
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group Mixed (White and Black Caribbean, White and Black 16.9% 25 African, White and Asian, or any other mixed background)
Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or 7.4% 11 any Other Asian background)
Black or Black British (Caribbean, African or any Other 50.0% 74 Black background)
Chinese 1.4% 2
Any Other ethnic group 4.7% 7 Base: 163
13-15 year old questionnaire Gender Male 16.7% 1
Female 83.3% 5
Prefer not to say 0.0% 0
Age 13 years old 66.7% 4
14 years old 16.7% 1
15 years old 0.0% 0
16 years old 16.7% 1
Prefer not to say 0.0% 0
Ethnic White British, Irish, or Other White background 16.7% 1
group Mixed (White and Black Caribbean, White and Black 0.0% 0 African, White and Asian, or any other mixed background)
Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or 0.0% 0 any Other Asian background)
Black or Black British (Caribbean, African or any Other 83.3% 5 Black background)
Chinese 0.0% 0
Prefer not to say 0.0% 0
Any Other ethnic group 0.0 % 0 Base: 6
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Interviews with library users Gender Male 41.0% 260
Female 58.2% 370
Prefer not to say 0.8% 5
Age Between 16 and 17 years 4.7% 31
Between 18 and 24 years 12.3% 76
Between 25 and 34 years 21.9% 134
Between 35 and 44 years 24.7% 159
Between 45 and 54 years 17.0% 108
Between 55 and 64 years 7.5% 52
Between 65 and 74 years 6.2% 38
Between 75 and 84 years 2.9% 20
85 years and over 0.7% 4
Prefer not to say 2.0% 13
Faith No religion 23.0% 146
Atheist 5.4% 34
Christian (including Church of England, Catholic, 54.8% 348 Protestant and other Christian denominations)
Buddhist 2.3% 15
Hindu 1.3% 8
Jewish 1.2% 8
Muslim 5.1% 32
Pagan 0.2% 1
Rastafarian 0.8% 3
Sikh 0.2% 1
Prefer not to say 0.8% 3
Other 4.9% 31
Ethnic White British, Irish, or Other White background 48.2% 306
group Mixed (White and Black Caribbean, White and Black 8.4% 53 African, White and Asian, or any other mixed background)
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Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or 5.4% 34 any Other Asian background)
Black or Black British (Caribbean, African or any Other 29.3% 184 Black background)
Chinese 2.0% 13
Prefer not to say 4.4% 28
Any Other ethnic group 2.3% 14
Household Owner occupied - owned outright 16.9% 107 or current Owner occupied - buying on a mortgage 12.4% 79 accommodati Rent from housing association 13.4% 85 on situation Rent from private landlord 27.6% 175
Rent from the council 18.4% 117
Residential care/sheltered or Extra Care housing 0.0% 0
Homeless (including temporary accommodation) 0.5% 3
Prefer not to say 3.1% 20
Other 7.6% 48
Disability A physical impairment or disability 2.6% 15
Sight or hearing loss 3.5% 22
A mental health problem or illness 1.6% 10
A learning disability or difficulty 2.1% 13
A long standing illness 4.2% 27
None of the above 83.0% 527
Prefer not to say 5.0% 32
Other 1.2% 8
Current I go to school/college/university 18.2% 114 situation Employed full time 27.4% 174
Employed part time 13.2% 83
Self employed full time 5.3% 34
Self employed part time 3.6% 23
Apprenticeship/training to work 1.8% 11
I am not in education, employment or training 2.8% 18
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Unemployed/available for work 11.7% 74
Retired 10.1% 64
Permanently disabled/long term condition 1.2% 8
Carer - unpaid (for someone who has a long term 0.2% 1 condition or disability)
Prefer not to say 4.6% 29
Sexual Heterosexual 82.7% 525
orientation Gay or Lesbian 1.8% 11
Bisexual 1.5% 10
Other 1.2% 8
Prefer not to say 12.8% 81 Base: 635
Telephone interviews with non library users Gender Male 47.0% 94
Female 53.0% 106
Prefer not to say 0.0% 0
Age Between 16 and 17 years 0.0% 0
Between 18 and 24 years 4.1% 8
Between 25 and 34 years 18.8% 37
Between 35 and 44 years 21.8% 44
Between 45 and 54 years 20.3% 41
Between 55 and 64 years 14.2% 28
Between 65 and 74 years 6.6% 13
Between 75 and 84 years 9.1% 18
85 years and over 0.5% 1
Prefer not to say 4.6% 9
Disability Disability 19.0% 38
Both (a disability and an infirmity) 9.0% 18
Illness or infirmity 23.0% 46
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Prefer not to say 49.0% 98
Ethnic White British, Irish, or Other White background 61.5% 123
group Mixed (White and Black Caribbean, White and Black 5.6% 11 African, White and Asian, or any other mixed background)
Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or 4.1% 8 any Other Asian background)
Black or Black British (Caribbean, African or any Other 14.4% 29 Black background)
Chinese 1.0% 2
Prefer not to say 7.7% 16
Any Other ethnic group 5.6% 11 Base: 200
7. Comments on the consultation 7.1 During the consultation, some people commented on the process itself. Comments included feedback on the complexity of the documentation, with some saying that there was too much detail included. Others felt that some information was still not available, even though the documents were detailed. Some people said that the meetings had not been well publicised. Others said that they didn’t feel that the council would listen to the feedback from the consultation. Some said that they welcomed an opportunity to give their views.
Consensus among users is that the document is too wordy, too boring, too voluminous, and users are not taking it seriously. The document needs to be toned down for users to understand it. (library staff meeting)
We have some concerns about the current consultation process. A great deal of effort has obviously been devoted to the preparation of the consultation document and arranging the associated public meetings. Our members have, however, said that they find the associated consultation document too detailed and complex and that they are baffled by the questionnaire. We hope that enough questionnaires will have been returned to ensure that, despite the relatively poor attendance at some of the public meetings, there will have been a sufficient overall response to provide a reasonable basis for the next stages. (email)
I have collected your consultation about ‘co-operative libraries’ and found a welter of information which may well be relevant to managing a library service but not to a consultation
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of this kind. If you wanted to put people off replying, so that you could claim there was not much interest, this would be a good way to go about it. (email)
A great deal of further information is needed to deal with reality rather than aspiration (we appreciate the irony, as many at consultation meetings have said there was ‘too much information’! (email)
I did not find the questionnaire clear. You must make it comprehensive. Put yourself in the shoes of the person reading it. The booklet is much too long. You had to dodge between the questionnaire and the booklet. (library meeting)
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Section 3
Coproduction of libraries services
Cabinet recommendation - Give greater control to communities around each existing library to co-produce their future library service. This includes decisions on which location is the most appropriate place from which to run an accessible and effective service given the resources available. There is no presumption that any area with a library service will lose it.
In this section, we have included feedback on the sort of involvement that people wanted to have in a co-produced model of library service.
How did people respond to the proposals to run libraries cooperatively? When asked the level to which people agreed or disagreed with the proposal to manage libraries within the borough cooperatively, we found that there was no significant difference between numbers who generally supported (31%) or opposed the proposals (36%).
It is important to note that we also found that a similar number of people said that they were undecided, answering “Neither agree nor disagree” or “Not sure/ Don’t know” (33%). These results were reported from the Cooperative Libraries questionnaire, which 729 residents completed.
Decisions about budgets and how money should be spent This question included in the face to face interviews with library users asked how much local people, organisations and groups should be involved in deciding how budgets for libraries should be spent. The vast majority of people said “I think local people and organisations should work with the council to agree how money should be spent” (71.1%). 18.4% wanted the council to make these decisions.
How much do you think local people, organisations and groups should be involved in deciding how budgets for libraries should be spent? 18.4% I'd like the council to decide how the budgets for libraries should be spent 71.1% I think local people and organisations should work with the council to agree how money should be spent 4.8% I'd like the budgets to be transferred to local residents so they can spend the budgets 5.7% Don't know Total: 635
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Getting involved – library users and non users We included a question in the face to face interviews with library users and in our telephone interviews of non-library users about what sort of involvement people wanted to have. We have included a comparison of the results in the table below.
How people wanted to be involved
Library users Non users Having a say by taking part in consultation 57.4% 42.2% Being an active member of a committee or group to 24.7% 29.2% manage some functions Devoting one day a week to carry out administrative 25.8% 21.4% functions Getting involved in organising events or activities 36.3% 29.2% Dedicating 20 hours per week or more 8.1% 5.2% No involvement at all 44.6% 45.3% Don't know 12.5% 0.0% Total for library users: 635 Total for non library users: 200
• You can see that over half (57%) of library users said that they would like to have a say by taking part in consultations, which was, as might be expected, a significantly higher proportion than non users (42%). • 45% of both groups said that they would prefer to have “no involvement at all.” • Overall, approximately one third of library users (36%) said that they would like to get involved in organising events or activities, slightly higher than that of non-users (29%). • Around one in four library users said that they would devote one day a week to carry out administrative functions (26%, compared to 21% of non-users). • On whether people would like to be an active member of group or committee, a slightly higher proportion of non-users selected this option (29% compared to 25%), although not a significant difference. • Less than one in ten of both groups (8% of library users compared to 5% of non users) would be prepared to devote 20 hours a week or more.
Why people did not want to get involved in their library? We asked those people who didn’t want any involvement about the reasons for that. The details are in the table below.
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Library users Non users No - just no real interest in getting involved in these types 10.3% 24.7% of activities Not time 63.8% 61.0% Expect council to run, and shouldn't have to get involved 12.5% 5.2% Don't have the skills or knowledge 8.6% 6.5% Don't know 4.7% 2.6% Total for library users: 635 Total for non library users: 200
Of the 45% who said that they did not want any involvement, the main reason given was not having enough time for both groups (64% of library users, compared to 61% of non users). A higher proportion of library users said that they “expected the council to run libraries and shouldn’t have to get involved (13% compared to 5% of non users). The main difference between two groups was that one in four (25%) of non users responded that they had “just no real interest in getting involved in these types of activities.” This figure was just 10% for library users.
Short questionnaire In the short questionnaire, we asked people how they felt they and the community should be involved in the running of the library service. 13% said that they should be very involved, for example taking some management responsibility for the service. 41% said that they should be quite involved, for example actively supporting the library. 38% said that they should be occasionally involved, for example meeting with the council to give their views. 8% said that they should have no involvement, with the council having full control.
Comments generally supportive of a cooperative model In their feedback, there were some people who agreed with the proposal to move the management of libraries to a more cooperative model, as a way of making sure that local services better reflect what people want in their area.
The libraries need to remain but update their model in terms of management and commissioning to greater reflect the general needs of residents. (Telephone interview with a non-user)
If management salary costs can be reduced while maintaining services and frontline staff (and their salaries), by increasing community involvement in the running of the libraries, that seems like a potentially good approach. (Questionnaire)
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We really do need a Cooperative Council. We don’t seem to be getting a degree of assistance. (Carnegie Library meeting)
I’m likely to be involved in helping to make decisions around my local library because at the moment I’ve taken a career break. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Can I unpick that? I’m slightly cynical. It’s been great in the park (referring to Myatt’s Field Park). When one talks about co-running, where does the power lie? It’s how that’s inextricably linked. Lambeth does run the park. It was due to fund raising from a lot of the community. That’s why we have a café and a community worker. So the community has control. (Minet Library meeting)
If volunteers get involved you will get people who are passionate about their libraries so will be more engaged. It is a great way to encourage the community to stand up for what they want and stop blaming the council for things. (Questionnaire)
Once the decision has been made to slice up the budget, work with us. Lambeth Council is to provide basic services and the Friends and others to provide other services. (Durning library meeting)
It’s a great idea to get people involved. People outside of the service will always have a different view. Sometimes good ideas come from outside. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Local residents have a better idea than the Council of what needs to happen in each library and how each should be run. There should be a governing body of residents having a direct input in the running of libraries. (Short questionnaire)
It’d be good to have a list of people available at short notice on a database, voluntarily of course. We want to keep the libraries open at any cost. (Brixton Library meeting)
My involvement in making decisions around my local library depends how much my opinions are taken into consideration and if they think my opinions are good. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
People sometimes think that if you want to join something, it’s a hassle i.e. you have to give your immigration status etc. If they want to be involved it shouldn’t be a hassle, it shouldn’t be difficult. If you’ve got any spare hours, the opportunity to be involved at short notice should be flexible. You should be able to pop in and ask, “Can I stay and help?” for example if you’ve
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dropped your children off and you have some free time. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Having seen the service shrink and deteriorate over the past 30 years and the building suffer from neglect and misuse, I am convinced that a strong say by the local people can only improve things. There is already active involvement from Friends and other volunteers; this should be built upon. Decisions made by remote officials and imposed arbitrarily are never as effective as those made by users and community representatives who know the area and needs. (Short questionnaire)
I think if the Council wants people to give their feedback then they have to show people how they’ll take what people say into account now. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
The Durning is extremely fortunate to possess a large, capable, articulate and constructive Friends group, who are ready and willing to work with the Council to find solutions to the issues the library faces. They would be receptive to calls for volunteering, fundraising and Cooperative Council solutions. Local businesses are even seriously working up plans to offer to buy the building from the Council as a community hub. (Email)
I think it is brilliant and I would be very interested in volunteering. (Questionnaire)
Comments generally opposing a cooperative model Some people were unclear what the proposals meant and wanted more details. Others suggested that it could lead to deterioration in service quality with possible library closures. Some felt that it was the role of the council to run services, and expressed concern that libraries could end up being run by “well-meaning” voluntary groups or by private companies. A number of people felt that the council was in by far the best position to run libraries, rather than working to a cooperative model.
I pay my council tax for service like libraries, and expect to get them - not have to deliver them myself. Community groups already do really important work in our borough, and don't need their resources to be diverted to deliver what should be public services. (Email)
The provision of libraries through democratically and centrally managed services is the correct model because it allows for the difficult and unpopular decisions to be taken which will benefit the least vocal elements of society. (Questionnaire)
The library is a great resource for the community. I feel that the community can support but cannot take on management responsibilities. These are serious responsibilities which require salaried and qualified staff. (Short questionnaire)
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I don’t think moving to a cooperative library service in the current financial climate is the right move as I think it will lead to fragmented unstructured purchase of service by well meaning yet unskilled voluntary groups and therefore higher costs and it will lead to performance based library closures. (Questionnaire)
I like the idea that the community can become more involved with their local library, but I want the council to maintain overall control and to make the really important decisions. I think that this document though unclear might imply too much devolution. (Questionnaire)
Once you take away a central leadership it becomes less efficient. It’s like taking away national negotiating rights for unions. There is a similarity there. So, you should have it be a charity in one area and council in another - which will cause problems. (Minet Library meeting)
I think it’s fair that the community expresses its views to enhance the service and suggest possible improvements over the time, but should not take over as qualified and professional staff need to maintain and deliver certain standards. (Short questionnaire)
Even as few as 30 citizens from some locality, sitting in some sort of committee or working group, and ‘sharing control’ with Councillors is probably going to be unwieldy, inconclusive and, thereby, a waste of every participant’s time. And if things go wrong—as is likely to be the case when groups have over 12—let alone 30!— who is going to be held accountable? (At least, we can kick councillors out of office through the ballot-box; we cannot kick out citizens from their 30-strong local residents’ community-groups, if 16 of those citizens vote in favour of everybody being allowed the ‘freedom’ to have their music or musack turned on as loud as possible, making the lives of the remaining 14 residents a noisy hell on earth.) To avoid such unworkable set-ups, we have smaller working groups: these smaller working groups have been around for years and their members comprise people who are called . . . councillors! (Email)
A local authority is better placed to run a comprehensive and efficient library service, particularly to a borough with high socio- economic deprivation, low literacy levels and a large proportion of the population for whom English is not their first language. (Email)
I’m very worried about coproduction. We already have community involvement. We are family people, we have our own lives. I did not think people should have to run or manage our library – we pay for it through council tax, and we shouldn’t have to run it as well. (West Norwood library)
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I feel that the council and the local councillors are elected to represent the residents and a key part of this role involves oversight of key services like libraries. Brixton library is a thriving community resource and should be a direct recipient of council tax funds. There should be opportunities for local people to be directly involved, but should not be relied upon for the day to day running of the service. Libraries are a vital public service and not a charity project. (Short questionnaire)
Library Services should be provided by the Council for its residents. The outsourcing (privatisation) of planning and delivery of services takes away the ability of services to be planned for all the borough’s citizens. The franchise model sets library against library and against central services (including outreach services to the most vulnerable). This is incredibly unhealthy and inefficient, losing any economies of scale and embedding a system of competition between localities. This always leads to the disenfranchising of minority and ‘hard to reach’ groups. The localities with the wealthiest residents will inevitably get the most as the service will depend on the largess of local people. (Email)
How would local people decide on cutting expenditure work out in practice, what checks and balances and audits. Effective complaints procedures would have to be there to ensure that monies are spent fairly in a way that doesn't open to abuse. (Face to face interview)
Trying to do more with less money? Relying on committed communities can they rise to the challenge? You probably need more incentives. (Questionnaire)
Uncertainty and unclarity about who will be taking responsibility for library services; what capacity and accountability for people/organisations will have (no examples are given in the consultation) and what will happen if their capacity /their budget proves inadequate. I am very fearful that "coproduction" will lead over the years to a decline in services, low maintenance of buildings (a big concern) and ultimately library closures, and no one to take responsibility - the proposals do not clarify or spell out any of this. (Questionnaire)
Need for clarity about what coproduction means There was some lack of understanding about coproduction and what this would mean for people in real terms. Some people felt that co-production and cooperative were simply new words, about things that already happened.
The precise nature of 'community involvement' is not ideal. But, it is one element in the 'co- operative council - a concept which appears to have been accepted by the council itself without any indication that it’s understood or wanted by the community at large. (Questionnaire)
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Half-community, half-council - this is not well-defined, the incentives are not well set out, could create more bureaucracy and more costs. (Questionnaire)
Members of the public need a clear understanding of what the council can actually do. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
This is full of new jargon that doesn’t bear analysis. The council’s problem is how to relate with citizens. In the 1990s – the jargon was partnership – the council set up area forums / partnership boards. After a short time in terms of support, the staff were taken away. The council can’t work with citizens and I can’t see how it will work in future. (Durning library meeting)
Changing names and terminology from ‘partnership’ to ‘co-production’ from ‘library’ or ‘community centre’ to ‘community hub’ doesn’t improve services. Already libraries act as information, cultural and learning centres for their local communities: (Email)
Co-production should not mean replacing professionals with their service users in designing or delivering services; it should be recognising the contribution our service users already make and allowing them to work more closely with us. (Email)
Use of volunteers Some people said that whilst volunteers could provide additional activities to complement core services (as already happens), asking them to provide much more than this may be unrealistic and would be unlikely to work. Reasons given included: • Responsibility – some felt that people welcomed the opportunity to be more involved. However the proposals would be asking volunteers to take on a lot of responsibility, when some had already devoted a lot of their time to their library already. • People do not have the time - while there were many skilled and capable residents in the borough, many would not have the time, and even if they did, it may not be over a sustained period of time. • People may not be able to commit over a long period of time - it should be remembered that volunteers are giving their time and this could lead to piecemeal and inconsistent decision making. • People may not have the skills and experience - running a library well requires experience which some volunteers would not have. A high level of support may be required from the council for this to have any chance of working.
You are saying to put in more, but we are doing this already. Of course we will do it, because we love this place. (South Lambeth library meeting)
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But volunteers can’t always provide good service. The system could collapse. I understand that the government is taking your money. There are some good volunteers but you are asking a lot of them. (Brixton library meeting)
It is frustrating and unfair on local people who run the risk of losing their library service unless they run it themselves. I can appreciate why it is necessary but disagree wholeheartedly with the underlying national politics. (Questionnaire )
Sceptical of use of volunteers and community involvement - I think you are asking too much of people living in a relatively deprived area. Taking away more local jobs and then ask people to do the work without pay. When people are struggling to make ends meet themselves they are less likely to have any spare time to give to their community. (Questionnaire)
It can reap the rewards but needs a lot of investment if people don’t stay – you can get very little back. (Streatham library meeting)
The problem with volunteers and ensuring that they get the training. Make sure you’ve got a compact between the libraries and the volunteers, so they can be de-volunteered if they don’t stick to it. (Durning Library meeting)
I was thinking of a body of people to monitor stock – community monitoring. I almost feel that as I pay my council tax that it is for the council to make sure that this is delivered and for volunteers to do bits. (West Norwood Library meeting)
I have college 5 days a week; probably I would not have the time [to volunteer]. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
I think there is a huge risk that you will not find adequate numbers of suitable people to get involved and I think you need to start planning for mitigating this risk now. The Big Society sounds like a great idea, but in practice I am very, very sceptical about its success.... (Questionnaire)
It’s very unlikely that I would become involved in helping to make decisions around my local library because at the moment my hands are tied. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Involvement depends if I could fit it in around my work and childcare. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
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This illustrates, I think, one of the difficulties in co-managing libraries with volunteers - namely that while many in Lambeth may have the aptitude, a much smaller percentage have the time. (Email)
People have their lives. they work all day, then they come home, do the washing, bath the kids, and then I think I’ll just go down to the library and spend a couple of hours at a community steering group of some sort? I cannot see that. (Focus group, disabled resident)
Ongoing commitment Some people felt that volunteers would be less likely to provide consistent support over a sustained period of time, and some groups within the population are likely to be under- represented. It was pointed out that Lambeth has a relatively transient population, and that it may be difficult to recruit in more deprived areas. Volunteers give their time for free and some aspects of running a library are unlikely to be popular.
In addition the groups you seek to engage may not be consistently able to fulfil that role and the volunteers’ ability to carry out their responsibilities may wax and wane. Running libraries effectively is not an unsophisticated or part time affair and I think there serious risks to the standards and accountability of provision. (Email)
Who is the community and who has the time or will be made to volunteer? (library staff meeting)
Also the nature of the population in London appears to me to by quite transient therefore you will get some very good voluntary staff in some of the areas for a while but people move on and you need full time skilled staff to make library services work. On page 26 (of the Information Booklet) it mentions that staff will be potentially managed by the Cooperative Library rather than the council, I think this is a mistake. (Questionnaire)
People suggested that managing a library requires skill and experience which may not be available in volunteers willing to commit their time. It was pointed out that well ordered systems could become quickly muddled where there is a lack of knowledge and awareness.
Librarianship is a matter of knowing where to find information, not just stamping the date at the issue counter. Qualified librarians generally know their resources far better than most volunteers are likely to do, and are familiar with such services as inter-library loans. (Email)
However, it is imperative that staff know how to use basic IT equipment. (Questionnaire)
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Having worked in a library and worked with many library assistants, many don’t know their a b c. The key element to running a library well is having books on the shelves in order. When you have people who don’t have a very good command of A to Z, this can muck that up in 2 minutes flat. I am begging you, please get that right when that happens. (Streatham Library meeting)
Yes, but with cataloguing you need some skill to do that. But you could use volunteers for other things, as (cataloguing) can’t be done by anyone. It would have to be tried and tested volunteers. You would get volunteers for that. (Durning Library meeting)
They have also repeatedly expressed doubt that many volunteers are available. And although there is willingness to 'help', there is little evidence that volunteers have either time or skills to play a large part in either managing or staffing a library service - even if they were willing to replace paid posts. And they are not. (Email)
Need for qualified librarians and paid staff People told us about the need to ensure that paid staff, including qualified librarians, continued to be involved in libraries, highlighting the skills they bring, as well as the need for co-ordination.
I think you should not do this - you need very experienced people in your libraries - not community folks who do not have a lot of library experience- when I go to Brixton library I feel confident with the people who work there that they know what they are doing. (Questionnaire)
Properly qualified librarians are invaluable in terms of running a good library service. If you want to improve engagement with users it's important that there is some level of consistency in staff members - the personal interaction is crucial to the whole 'library experience'. For young readers for example the enthusiasm and knowledge of librarians is really instrumental in developing an interest in books. (Questionnaire)
Nervous. Senior Librarians are highly trained and their knowledge should not be underappreciated. (Questionnaire)
I am not confident that this proposal is based on a clear appreciation of the staffing situation now and I do not think that the new proposals in general are adequate. The service needs to be funded better so that there are enough staff to run the libraries on a day to day basis. Unfortunately your proposals don't address this at all. (Questionnaire)
It is naive to suggest that libraries can be run by unpaid volunteers at the expense of making experienced librarians redundant. If the council are so desperate to find savings, how about
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having volunteers administrators, volunteer HR managers, volunteer accountants, volunteer computer maintenance engineers and a volunteer unpaid Chief Executive. (Questionnaire)
I don't think it's a good idea to reduce experienced, qualified staff in favour of volunteers. (Questionnaire)
Using volunteers, as far as I know, is it going to be a continuing rule that qualified librarians have to be here to supervise all the time? Would that be a policy? (South Lambeth Library meeting)
If community involvement can be achieved, then great. Reduced staffing levels often result in increased theft and antisocial behaviour and consequently increased cost negating the anticipated savings. (Questionnaire)
I am all for the appropriate involvement of volunteers, for example in organizing outreach, reading groups and other events, as well as advising the professionals about local needs; but the main operation of the service works best in the hands of professionals. (Email, resident)
I want a service with professional library staff, books, and computers - not one that relies on volunteers and will lead to increased inequality with areas with better off residents getting a better service. (Email, resident)
The continued provision of professional fully trained and supported Libraries staff are absolutely central to this work. Volunteers are great, and part of my project work is to build up a bank of VI people who, once they have been through the Library project will become volunteer support trainers in their own right as part of a larger Co Produced project. However, this is all based on having support from Libraries run in the Public sector with professional staff to support the work we are doing. Our work builds on and enhances the work already done in Libraries. (Email)
We think it is the job of the Council with their skilled and experienced officers to run our libraries on the basis of the library service offer spelled out in the consultation document. It is important that any people employed in running the libraries have the protection of the terms and conditions negotiated by the unions rather than being employed by some private or third sector organisation. (Email)
Trained, professional and para-professional staff … are particularly important for people who require additional assistance to access library services – these include older people, young people, speakers of other languages, people with disabilities and people with low literacy. (Email)
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Something that really worries me… Qualified trained librarians they can do more than assistance. They are, above all, really trained people. Reference librarians are much more useful than computers. Someone who will guide peoples’ reading. This is something an information person simply can’t do. (Minet Library meeting)
A professional librarian is someone with a BSc in Library science and who is in charge of important services in the library. They are on a par with architects, solicitors. One may be in overall charge upstairs, one downstairs and some maybe help with the photocopier etc. I hugely champion the role of the professional librarian (Brixton Library meeting)
Involving the whole community People expressed concerns around the possibility of interest groups over-represented, and therefore not reflecting the interests of the wider community.
There is a problem with groups of enthusiastic people who haven’t been trained … They need to be trained properly …they might like advice from community groups, but that person should have named responsibility. (Streatham library meeting)
Our problem is getting the volunteers and younger people. It’s because they’re busy working. We’ve tried. Even the older members are run off their feet. (Durning Library meeting)
Who are the key representatives? Do they really represent the community? Challenge to get more engagement with the community. (staff library meeting)
Volunteering, what do you do at Loughborough Junction where would you find the people to volunteer? Then you’d have to close it. I’d like to call a halt to closing anymore libraries. (Carnegie Library meeting)
The training proposals for volunteers should be developed and made transparent from the outset to foster some degree of confidence that these proposals are workable. What are staff/union views on these proposals? Was/is there no opportunity for a pilot scheme to be run in two contrasting areas at different ends of the socio-economic scale? (Questionnaire)
How will the community groups and organisations be monitored to ensure that they are adhering to Lambeth’s equal opportunities policy? (staff library meeting)
Who do I trust to run activities from the libraries? You may have special interest group and they may end up picking staff to suit their own agenda. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
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A stable, motivated and rewarded workforce of professionals is essential for to help everyone access education and information in a Library. This workforce can ensure everyone can benefit from Library Services regardless of: class, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, asylum status or employment status. (Email)
Most vocal, loud, pushy, educated people with agendas etc etc might end up having more influence. Will there be people speaking up for less visible groups? Will it cost a lot of money to get people involved, find out their views? (Questionnaire)
What involvement will staff have in the development of new buildings and planned bids? (staff library meeting)
Involving community groups - the usual suspects will come out of the woodwork and make noise, then slide away leaving a mess for the council to clear up at a high cost. (Questionnaire)
I’m slightly worried that if you hand it to people already set up. I’m concerned for the people who need it. Lambeth has an amazing diversity of books. I worry that people who need it won’t volunteer. It’ll end up being a few things that were on Radio 4 this week and The Times and Guardian reading lists - that’s great if you’re a middle class White mum. (West Norwood Library meeting)
Opportunities provided by volunteering A number of residents felt that providing more opportunities to volunteer in libraries could be a great way to provide work experience and help people to gain new skills. For example, getting young people, and unemployed residents involved. It was also suggested that it could provide opportunities for residents wanting to gain experience working with particular groups within the community, for example, working with minority groups speaking English as a second language, or people with a low level of literacy. One young person thought that it could be a good way to get people out of their homes and meeting new people in their local area.
More volunteers? Offer volunteering as work experience. e.g. to college leavers and unemployed people? (Questionnaire)
Timebank for exchanging people’s time and resources without need for money. (staff library meeting)
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It’s useful to recruit young teenage as new volunteers as it will allow their peers to sign up more and the library services will allow them to gain skills. (Public meeting in Waterloo)
The library could offer work experience for young people. (9-12 year old quest ionnaire)
Also volunteers are not right - there are too many charities in Lambeth that really need volunteers - you are depleting their volunteer pool - it’s morally wrong. I volunteer at the Baytree Centre and there are not enough people as it is. Surely libraries should be educational institutes, they could work with a community group to give work experience at a low-wage to interested people e.g. Uni students, women's groups, minorities and young offenders. (Questionnaire)
Libraries have had volunteer-run activities for years, e.g. pensioners’ club, chess club, reading groups run by volunteers, could take over the reading groups run in libraries … currently the library service doesn’t have the capacity. (staff library meeting)
You can’t push people into work but you can do voluntary work. I can see the possibility to turn this into an opportunity. (Carnegie Library meeting)
I know a couple of people who don’t really know other people so they stay at home. I’d like to get them into the libraries. Most of them know how to use computers so they could help fix computers at the library. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
What volunteers could do While some people felt that paid professionals should take on management and administrative roles, there were a large number of suggestions around the sorts of roles and responsibilities that volunteers could take on. These included: • running special interest groups such as local history groups or reading groups • running arts and crafts classes • running an IT group – teaching basic IT skills • reading to younger children and encouraging them to read • helping young children who speak English as a second language • running a mobile library service in local area • running a coffee shop or café
I’d like to manage the library, maybe scanning, and other little jobs like that which makes a difference. I don’t mind doing little stuff. I like being the boss. (Interview with young person, aged 15)
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I’d be interested in running arts and crafts classes (once a month) to be realistic. Maybe I’d do administration too. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I would rather have lots of groups like this – I mean existing groups like history groups. If you use those groups – to ask those groups what groups and services they would like to see. (Streatham library meeting)
Some volunteers want to come and do some readings to kids for free using their skills. (Public meeting in Waterloo)
I wouldn’t mind helping out in a girl’s group [for a library] or being a trip coordinator. (Interview with young person, aged 14)
There was a mention of a coffee shop. I think that’s where volunteers could be used. …. I think a library like this a coffee shop would fit. I appreciate that some libraries are small. (Brixton library meeting)
I wouldn’t mind helping out younger children, perhaps 3-4 year olds, getting them to read books, finding books for them and reading to them. (Interview with young person, aged 14)
As a volunteer to assist children with reading, I would love to have a parent/child involvement in basic reading activities. (Short questionnaire)
I want to work with younger children. I’m studying childcare at the moment and I want to do it in the future. If I volunteered it will help me in the future. When I go to college, I want to get a job on a Saturday and I’d like to volunteer. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
Whilst the kids are at school the parents can do a course at the library. There are potential people in the community who could be teaching each other. This could be a circle going round and round; a social cycle. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I don’t mind the idea of helping with an IT club. (Interview)
In West Norwood library in the basement there could be a visitor centre. How long they can take this idea which will be vital might not yield a lot of money. It might be easy to get volunteers in some boroughs than other boroughs. (Carnegie Library meeting)
Support needs and training Some people wanted to get involved, but said that they might need support. One lady giving her views was very keen to get involved, but did not have the confidence to take part in
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meetings, preferring a one to one format instead. People felt that there would need training and ongoing support for even some of the more basic tasks involved in running a library. Some commented from their own experience of working with volunteers in other environments, that a high level of support is often required, which could be costly but also frustrating if once trained, volunteers then lost interest. It was also felt that some way for volunteers to link up with one another would also be worthwhile, including peer support.
I’m too shy to attend meetings on making decisions around libraries but one-to-one meetings make me very comfortable. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I could attend the occasional meeting if there was a crèche. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I’d take an active role in organising meetings and events in decision-making if there was a Bengali interpreter available. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
It would be good to make links with people who come to the library. Is there a way for us to speak to each other? Chat amongst ourselves about what we want from libraries? (Brixton library meeting)
I recognise the need to reduce some staff and would like to see opening hours extended by supplementing staff with volunteers - but I have concerns about this unless there is strong supervision, management and training of volunteers. I would like to see formal training of volunteers in place to ensure they are knowledgeable etc. (Questionnaire)
Training the volunteers to work in the library e.g. customer services levels and expectations. What keeps volunteers committed when the going gets tough? (staff library meeting)
Volunteers – yes I think there might be a role, but there would have to be some training… it can be quite demanding of staff. (Streatham library meeting)
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Section 4
Transfer of library management and/or buildings
Cabinet recommendation - Considers transferring library management and/or buildings to community-led organisations in each locality if consultation with local people shows that is the preferred option and if there is local capacity to take on such a commitment.
In this section, we have included feedback on the role of the community in managing libraries. People also talked about the involvement of other organisations, and gave their views on that as well. We have also included people’s comments on the buildings themselves.
Responses in the questionnaire We asked people for their response to the proposal to transfer the management of library services and/or some library buildings to community-led organisations in the borough. Only one in four (26%) expressed support for this proposal, almost half (45%) saying that they were not satisfied. A large proportion of respondents did not express an opinion.
Community versus private sector Some people said that they were concerned that this proposal would lead to private sector organisations taking over the running of libraries.
The community will not run the libraries or make the decisions – Evidence from other projects of this type would indicate that control of the service will initially be handed to well meaning people prior to a process of tendering, when a private company will come in to run libraries for a profit. The experience of the Council’s approach is completely negative for service users and for those that have gone down this path already it is unravelling daily. (Email)
I am not against partnerships that bring in more investment . I am against contracting as, long term, I believe it will result in more paperwork, less choice, escalating costs/capitalist greed and ultimately the loss of neutral independence and possible closure of the libraries. (Questionnaire)
Fundamentally no objection, as long as there is a strong weighting on not-for profit organisations running franchises, rather than bog-standard private sector companies. I think when selecting an organisation to run a franchise the default assumption should be that the organisation chosen is a not for profit organisation (third sector/social enterprise), preferably with a good corporate special responsibility agenda (e.g. offering work experience to local people etc). Only where no such organisation can be found should a for profit allowed to
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tender, and those should also have to demonstrate good corporate social responsibility measures (e.g. environmentally friendly services, etc) (Questionnaire)
Neither do I want Lambeth's library service privatised. Privatisation has a long track record of leading to increased costs, poor service and taking money and control from the public and putting it into private hands. This is not the right way to deliver public services, and will see valuable services withdrawn if they're not considered profitable. (Email)
If Lambeth looks to externalise the running or ownership of libraries it will have to tender a contract for their running. This will be opening the door for privatisation. Even if the contract is somehow awarded to a Community Interest Company, Cooperative or Trust; although these models of governance seem appealing in comparison to selling Lambeth’s libraries to Tesco’s, it still amounts to sugar coated privatisation. (Email)
Individual budgets also open the door for privatisation which will mean a library service will no longer be run for the education, health and pleasure of Lambeth residents instead it will be run for special interests of certain groups, the remuneration of board members or private profit. (Email)
Will such a model work? Some queried this as a proposed model. Others felt that the proposals did have some potential, but that Lambeth would need to put in place measures to safeguard the service.
ABSOLUTELY NO WAY! It does not work with libraries as case studies clearly show! Statutory duty! "Social Franchising" indeed! How much that a consultancy service charge you for that?
This is all a bit vague in the proposals I think, so I'm not particularly sure of what it is. However, I would again say that certain parties may be unintentionally excluding from the social franchising and so you need to ensure that the make-up of the 'contractors' is wide- reaching.
Scary. What would be the parameters used to select the contracted organisations? (Questionnaire)
I am not entirely convinced about the value or efficiently of social franchising in the library context. I am very familiar with long-established examples in healthcare, where not for profit NEOs contract to provide services the NHS could find too challenging. However, these services are not necessarily cheaper to run and do not rely on volunteer (i.e. unpaid) labour.
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It is all too easy to talk of 'partnerships' and 'franchising ' in relation to the library service but a branch library is not the same as a 'MacDonald’s' or a 'KFC' outlet. The concept of partnerships and franchising is primarily cantered on the profit motive and so long as we intend to maintain a free library service I personally do not think that such proposals will work or will attract the right type of 'franchises'. Of course if the eventual aim is to start charging of the loan of library books in the same way that DVDs are charged it might just be a possibility. (Questionnaire)
I think that opportunities for bringing revenue into libraries should be explored. I feel it is important however that libraries do not become franchises of the revenue providers involved. It seems reasonable to explore who might best be able to provide services to the required standard at the best rate. (Questionnaire)
Examples from other library services People mentioned examples that they were aware of, and that Lambeth needed to learn from these.
Looking at examples authorities who have attempted the experiment of community libraries and new forms of governance the picture is not positive. Hounslow created a trust for its library service which ended in collapse, with the contract retendered to a private sector management company, whose previous expertise was in construction. (Email)
Different models of management People suggested a range of different models that could be considered.
The only way I see this happening is through like a library trust that helps to make things better. A board of trustees who will oversee whenever the Council wants to make a decision i.e. twelve people who represent the community. They will validate decisions and distinguish who carries responsibility. There’d be some people who are paid to do their jobs and the trust will say i.e. I agree with x and the trustees will vote. I don’t agree that the community should be responsible. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
In one year’s time, what this Cooperative vision may look like is a Carnegie Management Committee established (made up of local Councillors, the Friends of Carnegie Library, other community groups, Lambeth Library and Active Communities staff) (Email).
There are two or three successful charities around here – Longfield Hall, Myatts Field and Friends of the Park. We were very instrumental in saving the library before. We should be more optimistic about this, and that it won’t go into chaos. We can work in partnership with
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Lambeth, and find ways to make things happen. There is a positive future here. (Minet Library meeting)
Increasing community involvement in decision-making can be a good thing, if done properly and for the right reasons. In this instance it does not strike me that the co-operative model is being used for the right reasons and in a considered way. A model for a cost-effective and highly efficient library can already be found in Upper Norwood Joint Library; why has Lambeth not considered this is a viable option? Is it to justify cutting frontline staff and closing "small" libraries to make spending cuts, whilst highly-salaried officials remain in posts which are becoming more and more redundant? (Questionnaire)
Redevelopment of library buildings There were many comments about the state of Lambeth library buildings. People talked about the need to spend money on them, and said that they had been neglected for years. A number of comments were made about the need for library buildings to be more inviting to residents and passers-by. These comments on the buildings were felt to be particularly important, given any proposals to transfer management of the building. There were some suggestions around how libraries should be made more attractive, through to redeveloping the library.
I think the building is so off putting – it looks like culture. It needs to be brightened up so people do realise that there are computers and other things to use in there. From the outside, it looks dull, high brow to the “not for me” kind of person. (Streatham library meeting)
Demolish and rebuild it [the library] into a mansion, a new classy mansion, with an Xbox room, books, comics, real-life books. Floor by floor… you could have games on level 1. On level 2 computers. Level 3 is the library. Level 4 is an advice centre. That should be for life skills, sexual advice or for if you have troubles at home. (Interview with young person, aged 13)
Accessibility of buildings Accessibility was considered to be particularly important, especially by parents of young children and disabled residents.
If the accessibility of the building wasn’t there I wouldn’t use the library, I’d stay at home. Accessibility is very important to me. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I need a buggy ramp and there should also be ramps for disabled people or people who use a stick. In terms of choosing which library to use I’d choose the most easily accessible library. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
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It’s important to accommodate buggies and wheelchairs and also lifts to go up and down. And baby changing toilets, separate toilets for nursing and breastfeeding. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
At times I go with a buggy. The entrance is round the back. At the front of the building it doesn’t indicate that the ramp is at the other side of the building. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
At Clapham library (coz it's the nearest library to me) there should be a lift (because I'm a wheelchair user as are many others) and it should be open every morning. (Email)
Buildings have been neglected Many people commented on the poor maintenance of library buildings in the past, and expressed concern around how repairs would be funded in the current climate of cuts and austerity. People were also concerned that repairs may prove too expensive for the council, and that some buildings could be sold to developers, ending up as flats. Some felt that the council should spend money on the repairs to preserve the borough’s heritage. Others commented on possible ways to raise the funds.
The buildings have been terribly neglected and it’s very expensive to refurbish them now. (Durning Library meeting)
I am writing to le you know I think it is very concerning that the West Norwood library has not been re-opened. It was a major community resource and incredibly well used. (Email)
The repair and maintenance of the library buildings themselves is of crucial importance. The era of cuts will pass and it is essential that we preserve these heritage resources to go on doing their work well into the future. (Questionnaire)
There is also the problem of property, especially where it has been poorly maintained. There is no information on how money to deal with this is to be raised. (Email)
Most of the library buildings have habitually been neglected, so there is a considerable backlog of repairs for any new management to deal with. This is more onerous because most are also local landmarks or listed buildings. (Email)
I attend three libraries – they are all in Victorian buildings. They need money spent on them. I’d rather Lambeth spent money on libraries rather than two totem poles. (Durning library meeting)
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How restoration of buildings would be funded In the last six or seven years we have been considering raising money for the restoration of the building. But we can’t do that until we have a guarantee about the future of the building. Might there be someone who would be willing to buy the building? (Durning Library meeting)
What I’m not going to say is we rush into the affordable housing (development). Though I would be in favour of it. (Waterloo library meeting)
One point which emerged at the Durning library meeting is that local people had tremendous support towards the building which has been a library building since its start. There was concern that Lambeth may try to treat it as an asset to be sold to developers whilst housing the library elsewhere in an inferior building which lacks character and visitors. OK, so it needs £1.5 million to repair. No one would deny that is a lot of money but why hasn't there been a rolling programme that repairs have not just been left to accumulate? (Questionnaire)
Historic buildings Many people were keen that the libraries should remain in public ownership and that otherwise the heritage of some of these buildings could be lost for future generations.
Architecture - it’s a lovely building. It’s not being used. (Carnegie library meeting)
Waterloo is not a salubrious building but many others are beautiful. They’re old buildings and they need maintenance but they’re part of the history yet it’s being allowed to be taken out of the public ownership. It will be a loss of history. (Clapham Library Meeting)
West Norwood Library and the Nettlefold Halls is a fantastic building of high architectural quality which it is not possible to achieve again in these austere times. Demolishing this treasure would be vandalism of the highest order and future generations will not thank us. … All it requires is a creative flair and some imagination (and a bit of money, most of which the council has already invested. (Questionnaire)
All too frequently councils make the mistake of abandoning historic buildings because they are ‘expensive’ or ‘difficult’ to maintain – underestimating the value which people place on the heritage of their area. (email)
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Section 5
Opportunities for inward investment
Cabinet recommendation - Explores opportunities for partnerships that secure inward investment in local library services, including franchises .
In this section, we have included information on the broad range of ideas that people had for bringing more funding into libraries. This section also includes a selection of ideas on more local opportunities for income generation, including charging for services, and on selling some services to other organisations.
Getting sponsorship from big corporations Some people talked about getting larger organisations to sponsor libraries, either through direct funding, or through changing business arrangements.
Lambeth council could partner with a grocery delivery service (such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Ocado or others) to deliver library books and, if the person at home wanted to have foodstuffs delivered, that service could be part of it. (Email)
Rent out some space to companies (i.e. Waterstones, WH Smith, Starbucks) or even Asda. Get sponsorship from major companies and place adverts around the library (like what is common on public transport) Move post offices from private shops into the library (i.e. post office in Streatham WH Smith should move into Streatham Library). (Questionnaire)
Get Corporate Finance into the libraries; they do finance a lot of things. Museums, they pump money into it. (Waterloo Library meeting)
Not about budget allocation but I think that sponsorship could be raised by partnerships with some of the big corporates via their Social Responsibility policy. For example, we have Shell & ITV in the borough - they could sponsor various bits that are needed to fill project specific requirements. (Questionnaire)
Consider sponsorship from Wikipedia. Where do you go to get your books for your studies? (South Lambeth Lambeth meeting)
Fundraising, sponsorship from rich people in the community. (Email)
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All corporations have to follow ‘social responsibility’. They’re trying to do more of that. They (the corporations) have a lot of money, so they need to feed more into the community. Trample on their feet and ask for it. (Waterloo Library meeting)
You could invite a big business, such as Marks and Spencer’s to 'sponsor' a section of the library which would have their logo on - good advertising for them - or what about one of the big banks who are still reaping huge profits - they certainly need to improve their images, so could put something into sections for children and young people, have their names advertised and they would hope to attract some of these young people to bank with them in the future. (Questionnaire)
Look for sponsorship from the multi billion pound making businesses in the city. Seek sponsorship from local (or national) companies. I believe Tesco used to do a scheme for reading books in schools. (Questionnaire)
Get some corporate sponsorship to pay for literacy training - maybe ask for money from the fund for the Evening Standard. I'm sure you could find some angle in Lambeth to tie up literacy and crime-reduction and get funding this way. (Email)
Local business sponsorship e.g. 'supporting children's learning or reading in the community. (Email)
Get other types of support from companies Some people suggested asking companies to provide support other than funding, including services or training.
Develop its information service with charities / other providers to share costs. Seek corporate sponsorship for activities / courses / information sources. Get corporate to run free learning sessions / computer classes. Get an IT company to donate computers - give companies the opportunity to fund their local community service. I work for a large charity and we have managed to balance the corporate needs with the overall aim of the free services. This is better than just closing them as they will never be reopened again. (Questionnaire)
Perhaps donations from major businesses or sponsorship, support volunteers critics of new publications might get us some free books. (Email)
Charitable status for libraries There were suggestions that libraries could apply for charitable status and then be able to bid for other sources of funding.
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If possible, libraries could be given charitable status and also receive lottery money, if this is not already the case. (Questionnaire)
Put the libraries into a special charitable status to enable them to attract funding. (Questionnaire)
National trust volunteers are a good model. Heritage Lottery Fund underpins Windmill. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
Section 106 funding and links to developments Many people felt that libraries should bid for additional Section 106 funding.
Lambeth Council is appalling at using S106. There is still a lot left that is not being used. (Durning library meeting)
The sausage machine is developers, churning out 20 to 30 million pounds. Get Section 106 money. You could ask for that. The Council needs to be saying ‘we’ll have a flagship library in Central London – the best.’ Build a five storey leisure centre. (Waterloo Library meeting)
An idea has been floated around of building affordable housing (in Waterloo). Get them to pay for the costs (of library) as a way to get affordable housing built. So it’s possible to get housing and a library. (Waterloo library meeting)
Selling buildings There was some discussion on selling buildings that were not in use, and using the proceeds for libraries. Others said that this was short term thinking, and that we should use the buildings to generate income.
The council has miscellaneous buildings. If some sites were sold, for example, Waterloo which is very expensive, it could create capital to spend on the others. (Durning Library meeting)
The need to save money requires us to consider losing libraries or ‘selling off the family silver’,,, Once gone, we will have lost them forever. Rather we consider making money from the one asset we have – our buildings. We can’t afford to maintain them, let alone develop or improve them, but they could earn us money of we can rent them out at a full commercial rents. (library staff meeting)
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As stated above, local businesses have expressed a willingness to explore buying the building as a community asset. This option should be seriously explored, as it could allow external sources of funding to be accessed. (email)
Social enterprise models Some discussions took place on whether libraries should be social enterprises, and then get access to alternate funding sources. It was also suggested that libraries should work with social enterprises, including Brixton Pound.
I think that the best option for libraries is to make a social enterprise model and open their services up with cinemas etc. to greater reflect the needs of the community and have the potential for greater funding. (Telephone interview with a non-user)
Contracting allows for distribution of responsibility and reduced accountability in case of failure. Especially when the public good and public purse are involved, contracting allows a pass-the-bucket mentality where all parties are mostly interested in covering their own back and avoid responsibility and accountability. (Questionnaire)
Use of Brixton Pound in libraries? (library staff meeting)
Selling services that could be done by the library service to other parts of the council People had told us during the consultation of the wide range of activity that the library staff already did for other council services, and for other organisations. Some said that libraries should start to charge for this.
The libraries could "sell" their services to other parts of the Council, by doing some of their information providing and even providing access points. Just as you say the Council claims part of the library budget as a "corporate recharge", the libraries should be encouraged to charge the Council back for things it can provide that would otherwise be done by other Council facilities. It might be much easier for residents to access many services, at least as an important point of contact, from their local library than to go to a centralised, difficult to get to, Council bureau. In other words, libraries should be put much closer to the heart of how the Council informs and communicates with its residents, rather than be treated as an expendable, esoteric, dowdy, under-funded, out of date, unglamorous, leisure activity centre that no one with a pulse would ever want to be seen in. (Questionnaire)
Given that we are talking about educational importance of the library, is there any opportunity of getting funding from the education budget? We have school grant maintained independent schools. Have they been approached? Libraries are for education. It really is an educational function. (West Norwood Library meeting)
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Housing – Choice Based Lettings – should we be making a recharge to provide other departments an outlet for their services. (library staff meeting)
I don't know how much the council pays the post office for collecting centrals but this is a service that could well be undertaken within each library presumably with significant savings to the council's overall budget. (Questionnaire)
Generating money in libraries There were many ideas from people on how libraries could increase their income through a range of activities, fundraisers, and donations.
We need to make money. Why not have classes. A library could tap these resources; there are many unemployed people with talent to offer. Literacy issues being as they are, I think teaching English to those who to learn is very important. But where are the classes? We have these spaces; we could use them to teach English. (Minet Library meeting)
Finance and cuts, is there a possibility for opening the libraries for activities to go on. There are a lot of people who are committed to this library. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
There is a place where you can pay what you like, what you can. If Doris Lessing gave a talk, I’d be happy to pay a few pounds. (Brixton library meeting)
Fundraising activities i.e. BBQs, fairs, coffee morning. (Questionnaire)
The library could have a fundraiser, they could have food in different varieties to get people in. (Interview with young person, aged 15)
Sell cotton bags, stationery, bookmarks, USB drives, headphones. (library staff meeting)
Have an annual competition of 1. "Library of the Year", 2. Innovation of the Year, 3. Fundraiser of the Year etc. Along the lines of "Oscars" for libraries, staff, community involvement etc. Award with cash prize to the winning libraries to invest in better services. (Questionnaire)
Sell more local history publications, maps and postcards. (library staff meeting)
Charging for some resources There were many comments around how money could be generated in libraries from things like charging for membership, charging more for fines, and for various items such as DVDs
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In a cooperative the mention of money is a pariah but I do think a small charge - £10 p.a. It goes against the grain, to me certainly, but it would help and I don’t think that’s excessive. (Questionnaire)
Controversial - but start charging users. I wouldn't mind paying a small annual/monthly charge as I borrow lots of books and buying books is expensive. The charge could be made voluntary. Fundraising activities i.e. BBQs, fairs, coffee morning. (Questionnaire)
Computer headphones are five quid; the library can sell these for a pound. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
Charge our readers the full cost for lost books to help us replace them. (library staff meeting)
I don’t have any problems making the libraries more efficient but there should be more investment from people who can afford it. Not all services need to be free. Work with children’s centres to identify people who need means tested support as they do for prescriptions. Find out which parents get support, which are the families in need that maybe do not speak the language. Services which can be charged are the read along, sing along and DVDs. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I’m a senior citizen and I have very little money but I think free fines could be altered. Maybe there should just be reduced fines for older people. That will make people hurry and get the books back quicker. (Brixton library meeting)
Children’s Film Days. I’d pay £1 for that. (Interview, parent of under 5s)
I care for children in a kind of playgroup/library. In Clapham I think its 50p. They get fruit. You go with a child. You put in the money. They sing, they tell them a story. They show book, read a story and the children are like that, think a little bit and children can go get fruit and after everyone plays there are lots of kids. And the decoration is book, so a child remembers when he was very young and happy and thinks of books. (Focus group, ESOL resident)
Have different reservation charges – increases to cover the true cost of borrowing from the British Library. (library staff meeting)
ESOL student 1: I think that movies. Why don’t you try to have some connection with people? In the shops you can get a card and get movies. So do the same system but charge a bit less. ESOL student 2: Charge £1 or £2. ESOL student 1: Yes, kind of with a card. Do the same
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system, but less. Have a connection with shop to get some money. (Focus group, ESOL residents)
Donations Some suggestions were made about asking people to make donations, as happens in some museums.
Donation boxes at museums do work. It is optional to put money in. (Brixton library meeting)
Increase the number of books donated to the library. I could encourage people in my own community to donate books. You can end with books for such a long times, they’re just there so you can donate them. (Focus group Portuguese resident)
You could raise fines slightly but have amnesty days for people who can’t afford it. There used to be amnesty days at Uni, and you could put money in a charity box instead and that meant you put a fraction of what you owed in the box. It cut out the fine. I’ve always been late and accepted the fines. But when I was a student I had to wait for amnesty days. (Interview with Parent of Under 5)
Renting out space for community groups and other services Using the library space as an income generation tool was suggested by a number of people . It was seen as important however that this was at a market rate, if the organisation that wanted the space was able to pay for it.
Take Streatham, we have five large rooms upstairs for workrooms and staff areas and downstairs we potentially have four rooms plus toilets and a garden to rent out. (library staff meeting)
There has to be a more enterprising approach. To be renting out spaces to local businesses, a platform for them. Some element of money to sustain the overall running of the building. Envisage this is where I come if I want to know things, information about the area and self help. For example I’m petrified of teenage children. They love rap, that’s to do with language that could be sponsored. Networking and link up with other organisations. (Carnegie Library meeting)
Expensive buildings + space to rent at proper rental rates. How much does IE make on the average day and how much rent do they pay? (library staff meeting)
What about amateur dramatics, even renting out to musicians. This should provide a space for people to use at relatively low cost – artists are experiencing enormous difficulties finding
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studio space at a reasonable cost, with the result that many are being forced out of Lambeth to cheaper areas. (Telephone interview)
Also how about the provision of childcare facilities on a limited basis in children's libraries? (Questionnaire)
Libraries are already used regularly by groups already – police, NHS etc. what incentive does the library receive for hosting these meetings/events? (staff library meeting)
Lambeth has a severe shortage of nursery places. There are companies who rent space from which they provide a nursery. Carnegie Library for example is in an area where there are many families needing a nursery. It has the space and it has a garden. (library staff meeting)
Incentivise libraries to raise income Some people suggested that there should be a reward for libraries that managed to generate additional income, as a means of encouraging people to increase the funding.
It is clear from the table on page 8 of the consultation document that some libraries generate a bit of income presumably from the hiring of DVDs, sales of books, photocopying services etc. I think that this income generation should be incentivised by the council awarding each library additional budget equivalent to the amount of income generated? (Questionnaire)
Look to company sponsorship for goods and services of books, computers etc. Sell local lottery tickets to fund library and services. Develop cafe in library. Develop bookshop in library selling new and second-hand, etc. Develop library loyalty card to be used in participating local shops and entertainment venues; the more library users the more money generated! (Email)
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Section 6
Modernisation and investment in new technology
Cabinet recommendation - Modernises and invests in new technology, including the introduction of Wi-Fi, self-service technology, an enhanced e-book offer and improved online library services.
Importance of new technology In the Cooperative Libraries questionnaire, we asked people about the proposal to modernise and invest in new technology, including the introduction of Wi-Fi, self-service technology, an enhanced e-book service, and improved online services. 59.3% of respondents said they were satisfied with the proposal, with 15% saying that they were dissatisfied.
In our face to face interviews with 635 library users, we asked people what the main reason was for using that particular library. Around half (53.9%) said that it was its computer and internet facilities. A quarter (25%) said that computer and internet facilities were ‘not at all important’. While many do use the library for these facilities, from these interviews it would appear not to be such a determining factor in what library people use. Other factors, such as opening hours and the location of the library were far more important.
Non-users of libraries Having use of the internet at home was identified as the main reason by the majority of non- library users (81%) we spoke to as a key reason for them not using their local library.
A preference to buy or download books/CDs/audio books/ DVDs was chosen as second out of the ten options provided, with 69% saying this was a reason for not using the library. When we asked them what would encourage them to use their library more, having Wi-fi in all libraries was identified by 50%. Having more e-books was picked by 40% of non-users.
Access to technology in libraries A number of people commented that improving technology would be beneficial to library users and this would in turn lead to an increase in the number of people using libraries. They talked about those people who do not have access to computers, and the increasing need that people have to carry out activities online.
So many people can’t access a computer. A lot of stuff is now online. If you have a parking ticket you go online to pay it. If the community need that then increase the computers and hold a surgery. (West Norwood library meeting)
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Providing eBooks and MP3 audios for download will be increasingly important. Wi-Fi will help continue to draw people into the library to use the service. The cost of using SMS vs. email for overdue book alerts should be assessed. It is probably more cost-effective to send an email. It would be great to get an app for the catalogue search that people can download to their phones. (Questionnaire)
E-book lending will be more valuable. Wi-Fi will encourage more people to come in the library and use the internet facility. (Face to face interview)
I agree that technology and books can run together. Considering the literacy issues in this area there should be more connection between libraries and education. We are missing a vital link. It is incumbent on the council to bring it to life. (Minet Library meeting)
Against technology in libraries Some people commented that they did not want to see more technology brought into libraries because it detracted from the main purpose of providing books and a haven for peace and quiet.
I recognise the need for investment in new technology but I think that too much emphasis is being placed on it. The technological gimmicks (online resources, Wi-Fi etc) will not address the needs of local communities. People who can afford iPads, Kindles etc already buy their books online; Wi-Fi is only useful if you already own a laptop. People want books, magazines, public computers, staff and buildings open near them. (Questionnaire)
No, no, no, not because of Ludditism but have you got a bus recently, technology is noisy and the beauty of places like libraries are they are restful and quiet. (Questionnaire)
You are proposing a new world. I am old and will never master new technology. I can only wish you good luck for the future but personally I am scared. (Questionnaire)
I personally prefer books. Books are much quicker to use than EBooks and if you are studying, you can not use EBooks in the same way, as you might do e.g. having several text books open, or being able to open directly where you want to. (Focus group, disabled resident)
There is nothing really there for me. I have an internet connection at home. Most people do have internet at home now … and if not there was an internet café just next door. (interview, Portuguese resident)
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Using computers in the library People told us about their current experience of using computers in the library. Some found it easy to book a computer and to access what thy needed; others felt that it was too difficult to book, and that there needed to be more computers available.
When I used the computers it was very easy to book. I bring my laptop to the library and I use Wi-Fi. (Telephone interview, Portuguese resident)
Access to computers is also crucial for job applications, bidding for housing, keeping in touch. Not everybody has one. (Short questionnaire)
I go to Brixton library. I have problems with internet and in Brixton you can go with your computer and you have internet. I use the library for internet. So if I need something. I go to the library to ask for someone. (Focus group, English for Speakers of other Languages - ESOL student)
Not really [use computers in the library] because the last time I did really and I really needed to get an address. Just needed 5 minutes. Quick information. Imagine someone wants a book and then wants to check something. But she can’t because she has to book one day before. Before in Brixton, it was every 15 minutes. And the other one who was waiting would take the place. It was really good. It’s finished. This system was really good. You can wait and move along. So it was not so bad the system. (Focus group, ESOL student)
For computers and technology – the service was not so good. There would very often be broken computers. I was there very often there for the computers - for printing etc. I do have a computer at home but it does not suit me as well as the computers in the library. It can be difficult to get computers when you needed it. I am saying this in relation to around two years ago, as I am unable to use them now in the library. Often there were problems with the printer. The staff were always were very helpful and were able to do it on another one, if needs be. To use a computer, I had to book a few days in advance in general, but I was not able to book at the last minute. People often did not turn up - you would need to wait. (Telephone interview, resident with disability)
When I used to use the computers you go there to book a slot and they say come back in four days or something. It really isn’t worth the amount of effort it takes to book a computer. You need to put in a PIN number – it’s made very difficult. (Interview)
I use computers for research. There’s too much information to read through all the books; computers are more specific. You can type in the words you want and you can search more specifically. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
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If you don’t book in there is a no chance of getting a computer so I do think they need more computers. (Focus group, people with low level of literacy)
Using Wi-Fi and Laptops 46.2% of library users taking part in our face to face interviews said that out of all of the possible improvements to their library, having Wi-Fi in all Lambeth libraries would be in their top three. This option was picked by more people than any of the other eight options listed.
As above, having Wi-Fi in all libraries was identified by 50% of non library users as something that would encourage them to use their library more.
People welcomed widening the Wi-Fi offer across all libraries and felt that this should have happened long before now. Others cautioned that Wi-Fi users needed to be aware of security risks and others felt that libraries should not focus so much on Wi-Fi that it changes the nature of the service provided.
By showing users and non-users the library service as responsive to new technology, we can reassert ourselves as a recognised authority in information management. We should install Wi-Fi in all nine of the borough’s libraries as well as embracing the possibilities of Web 2.0 technology. (Email)
Has anyone mentioned wireless? If you’re studying these days I’d go to a Wi-Fi library. Especially for anyone using their own laptop, it’s such an integral part - it would put me off going to the library if there wasn’t Wi-Fi. (Interview, parent of Under 5)
It’s hard to believe that it’s taken over 12 months to install Wi-Fi in Lambeth, which still hasn’t been done. At the previous consultation, we were told Wi-Fi will be in every library. (South Lambeth library meeting)
Again it's something that libraries need to look at providing. But you do need to be careful that people don't just use it as an internet cafe replacement. A lot of people use the libraries computers for just looking at FaceBook etc. which is absolutely a service that needs to be provided but some sort of fair-usage policy needs to be firmly in place. (Questionnaire)
These proposals appear to be progressive, enhancing the range of library services. However, I think that the Wi-Fi reception should be restricted to a certain area, as accessing /downloading data and related enquiries are likely to cause disturbance to other library users. (Questionnaire)
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Wi-Fi needs VERY strict security, although it could be useful ... users should be warned of the risks of data theft. (Questionnaire)
I can get Wi-Fi at McDonald's. I can download e-books from bit-torrent. I just want to borrow books. (Questionnaire)
The British library is completely overrun by people with laptops. How will you ensure that books don’t come second? (South Lambeth meeting)
How will libraries cope with the increased demand on space, when wi-fi is introduced to libraries? (library staff meeting)
Using eBooks and eReaders Results from the face to face interviews with library users showed that having more eBooks was not high on people’s list of things to get right. Only 14% identified this as one of their top three options. However, amongst non-library users, having more eBooks was identified by 40% of them as something that would encourage them to use their local library.
A number of people commented that introducing eBooks and eReaders would be important to the future of libraries. Others though felt that this was not an area that libraries should be involved in.
I’d like to rent E-books; it’d be cheaper than buying them. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
With E-Books I’d like to have more choice by renting from the library. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Lambeth could do well to offer online (for the usual library membership) its stock of books, pamphlets and archive. And, if with a competitive fee compared to Amazon or other digitally downloadable format - so be it. Marvellous! (Questionnaire)
I do think it's so important to involve technology, especially eBooks. It's the future of libraries. (Questionnaire)
The proposals are good but could be bolder. E-books should be a core part of the service - all new books purchased should be available in e-book and book format. (Questionnaire)
I was wondering if they could do something with kindles because they are so much in the public eye at the moment. We could have some sort of kindle lending. If people did have
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access it would probably be cheaper than buying them. I don’t know maybe even have a kindle lending thing like you lend DVD’s. I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s feasible but you know what I mean. We might have to accept that kindles are here to stay even if we don’t particularly like them. (Focus group, Ruskin Readers’ group)
I’m a dinosaur; I don’t want to read a book on a screen. I want to curl up with a book. (Clapham Library meeting)
Small children need real books to hold. After ages 8, 9, 10, eBooks are fine. (Minet Library Meeting)
Stocking eBooks smacks of exclusivity, as the readers are expensive for the poorest members of the borough, but the downloads themselves are cheap, making it a service for the better off which, moreover, they are highly unlikely to use. (Questionnaire )
Ebooks, for example - how will you introduce that based on the budget that is given in the proposal? It is not even working. (Public meeting in Waterloo)
If you can’t afford to keep libraries open why are you investing in such technologies? 10 kids reading books is better than 1 kid reading an eBook. (Questionnaire )
Improving the technology offer Some people had suggestions on how we could further improve the technology offer in Lambeth’s libraries.
Sell USB sticks in the libraries - Wandsworth do! (Questionnaire)
Automated telephone system for users who when they give their card number, it tells them how many books they have. (library staff meeting)
This might be a good opportunity to consider Smartphone technology e.g. whether Talis is available for the purposes of issue and renewal - however, I realise this might be ambitious. (Questionnaire)
24/7 (both physical and virtual) access beneficial for virtual enquiries; borrowing facilities accessible by swipe card such as those used at banks or college/university libraries. (library staff meeting)
There is on the internet a website called 'UK Public Libraries'. It lists all the public libraries in the UK and the stock held in those libraries. I feel that it would be beneficial if Lambeth
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libraries could liaise with the website owners and determine whether a facility could be introduced to enable the user to interrogate the national catalogue as a whole when researching for a particular title rather than the stock held in just one borough or county. (Questionnaire)
There need to be at least a few decent computers for public use in each library, with a fast internet connection. As well as Wi-Fi there must be desk space and OUTLETS to plug laptops in - I can't stress this enough! It's a very frustrating feeling spending 10 minutes searching all over a library for somewhere to plug your laptop in because you WANT to stay and work there, and eventually having to leave because there aren't enough outlets or they're nowhere near the workspace. (Questionnaire)
IT courses and training Some people wanted to see more provision of IT courses in Lambeth’s libraries.
There could be services at the library explaining I.T. and technology. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
It might be worth offering internet workshops. (Focus group, Ruskin Readers for adult literacy)
I would like the library to run an IT course that is basic and courses for all different levels. A six week course would be suitable and I’d like a certificate so at least you know you’ve done something. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I’d like to do an IT course, I’d like to get better employment. I only know basic computer skills. For me to get a better job I’d need to get better at IT. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Participant 1: I used to go to Palace Road. I don’t use the library that much as I use my IPod/Apple. I apply for books myself, and download books on it. It is a lot more easier for me to use. Participant 2: I would like to have a go at that. I would love to use that but don’t know how to. If there is something that could be made available for the Blind. Maybe there could be tutorials of some sort. (Focus group, residents with a visual impairment)
I need to learn the computer and I did go to a class – it’s called Silver Surfers – it really was very good. I thought it was very well organised. (Focus group, resident with a disability)
Self-service When discussing options for self service in libraries, there were a range of views given. Some people said that it was a good idea, and other said entirely the opposite.
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Opposition to self service equipment Some people were opposed to self service for a variety of reasons, including preferring to talk with a member of staff, concerns about people losing their jobs, the cost of installing the equipment and fear of using technology. Some queried whether it was needed for all libraries, or whether technology had already moved on and new developments were needed instead.
Well I wouldn’t use it on principle. I wouldn’t use the self service in Sainsbury’s. Also in the bank, I would always go to a teller. I would rather interact with people and have an intelligent conversation. (Streatham library meeting)
I went to a library and used a self check out. It chills my heart that you can go to the library and not speak to one single person. (Carnegie Library meeting)
The idea of self service technology does not appeal. I would rather be served by a friendly helpful and knowledgeable staff member. Also some elderly and disabled people might have difficulty operating self service technology. (Questionnaire)
You may be okay with holding a book in front of a screen until it beeps but I want to talk to a person. I never use the Sainsbury’s self check out. I prefer to talk to human beings. Staff here on the whole do their best. They are wonderful really. (Clapham Library meeting)
Fair enough, although from my experience using RFID does not mean you can employ less staff - machines malfunction and staff are needed to fix them/assist library users. (Questionnaire)
I would rather know people are being employed. There are now only 3 people in WH Smith in Victoria. It’s people being done out of a job. It couldn’t lead to a large scale reduction in the library service, because it’s only a scattering of staff anyway. (Streatham library meeting)
Self-service means sacking human beings. (Questionnaire)
This is very ambitious. Beware of self service, I've seen it in operation in other libraries it confuses people. (Questionnaire)
They will cost c£200,000 to buy - which must be paid back within 2 years. There seem to be no plans how to pay this back on top of the large cuts already being made - except perhaps by sacking even more frontline staff. People at meetings have consistently said they don't want to lose a human presence. RFID would be OK at busy Brixton, but may be irrelevant in smaller branches, where you need a minimum of personnel anyway for basic security.
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RFID is also an expensive central component of 'library access points' (a few books, 1 laptop, 1 RFID machine). These must be launched with caution - if at all - and not at the expense of the branch libraries. (Email)
Is it worth spending money on RFID especially in smaller libraries, rather than investing in e- books? (library staff meeting)
Support for self service equipment Those people who did support the use of self service felt that greater use would allow staff to spend their time on other work, and make them available to offer more support.
I think self service is a good idea. We could enable staff to do other things, like outreach and interact with people. (Brixton library meeting)
Always have option not to ‘self-serve’ as in supermarkets. (library staff meeting)
Should have been done 10 years ago!!! We had self service and technology in Australia libraries over 10 years ago. (Questionnaire)
Ability to pay fines online. (Email)
RFID understandable to have in smaller libraries to prevent queues and allow continuous access to stock when the library is closed. (library staff meeting)
RFID helps to keep libraries open and increase opening hours. (library staff meeting)
Inter-library loans Some saw new technology as an opportunity to expand the range of book stock available
Clearly digital media is a golden opportunity for a public library to save costs by less reliance on a large stock of printed matter and at the same time to greatly expand the range of material it can lend. The Council should not abandon its local sites (or give up on books entirely) but it should also be looking into expanding national and global networks of information sources. The "inter-library loan" should mean more in a few years than getting a book from the Streatham Library at the Carnegie library. (Questionnaire)
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Section 5
Outreach model
Cabinet recommendation - Introduces a new outreach model to help the most vulnerable in Lambeth’s communities to access library services.
This section includes information on the home visiting service and other comments on what people who can’t go to the library want from library services.
We asked people for their thoughts on the library outreach services. For those people who did not use the service, there was a recognition of its importance, and clarity that it was important to retain such a service. However, many were not clear how the service worked so were not able to provide detailed comments. For those people who do use the service, they were clear that it is vital and should be continued and extended.
Outreach services should be run professionally at all times. I am worried about volunteers and how this could work with vulnerable people. (Questionnaire)
The outreach service is a commendable initiative. Free home delivery service and online ordering of library resources should be maintained. Also non-library book collection centres and multiple access methods for library information and resources. (Questionnaire)
The consultation document fails to grasp the scale and important of library outreach services to the most vulnerable in our society. It fails to mention services to looked after children, to women’s refuges and homeless hostels, to residential homes and community centres – it seems these residents are forgotten. Knowledge of the work of the current library service seems to be entirely absent in this report. (Emai)
Everything takes so long. I am in a residential care home in Kings Avenue. Is there any way that someone from the library could visit our house? There are lots of people there who have disabilities, and all would have difficulties in getting to the library, but I think it would be good. (Resident with a disability, focus group)
I think the reservation service and the home service are excellent and very helpful. (Telephone interview, resident with disability)
I am disabled so really rely on those a lot; however, once the gentleman did not have ID and was a bit funny about me asking for it. I was a quite upset and made me a bit concerned that
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he didn’t want to show his ID. It would be good to be able to set up a password so you know that you are letting the right person through the door. (Telephone interview, resident with disability)
Cost of the outreach service Some people commented on the cost of the outreach service.
This is essential for the housebound but it is very expensive. (Questionnaire )
Not sure how the current service works but my initial reaction on seeing the cost of this service is that it does seem disproportionately high. I understand it's a necessary service but is does consume a massive budget for the numbers it is servicing. (Questionnaire )
I am in favour of you improving the outreach service. However I note the budget is not projected to increase in 2012/2 or 2013/14 (although it won't decrease as part of the cuts. Will this improvement come via volunteers, efficiency savings, as improved technology won't save money here? (Questionnaire)
Outreach is expensive, in Cornwall people volunteer. (Durning Library meeting)
There should volunteers to help those unable to make it to the library on their own to drive or escort these few vulnerable people. (Questionnaire)
Home delivery stock and main library stock Some people commented that home delivery stock was kept separate from the main library stock and that it would be more sensible to combine the two.
The bureaucratic nonsense of keeping all Home Delivery stock separate from local library stock. (Questionnaire)
There is no reason why this stock should be housed on its own, currently in the former despatch centre in the Carnegie basement. We have suggested it be brought up to the main floor and merged with the Carnegies' public library stock. This would widen the choice for both housebound users and those visiting the library. It would still be all under one roof - much preferable to being dispersed - and in the same site as the vans. Eventually there could be economies made by avoiding unnecessary duplication. (Questionnaire)
Mobile library Lambeth no longer has a mobile library service and some people commented on the impact of losing this part of the library service.
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I mentioned earlier that this service has been cut in South Streatham and we have suffered as a result. Streatham library is too far away -it is absolutely essential that outreach returns to our area. My children love books and we used it every week, until the service terminated. It is a real shame , all this talk about doing more as a community and really leaving the vulnerable in our area left out. (Questionnaire)
Mobile library – am I right in thinking it’s still on the road? Can we please get charitable funding into getting some more vehicles – from vehicle replacement expenditure. (Streatham library meeting)
Other suggestions Yes it was good when they had the coach. It was like a mobile library but it was done by RNIB and they had all the sensory equipment in there, but they came to you and you didn’t have to go very far. You could pick which books/CDs you wanted and then you could order them or buy them. Is this something that the home visiting service could do perhaps? To have not just books but other resources which could be available to people with sensory impairments. (Focus group, people with visual impairment)
For blind people like myself, it is useful to have more books and internet facilities for blind people. (Face to face interview)
Home visit service needs to be publicised properly as fewer people are aware the service exists. (library staff meeting)
Library Home visit service survey During the earlier library consultation, we carried out a postal survey with users of the home visit service. Because they are key to this proposal, we have included their feedback here.
• Introduction We sent questionnaires to people who use the home visit library services. Of the people who responded, 80% were female, over 80% were aged over 65 years old, and over 80% were White. 30% were owner occupiers, 23% lived in housing association accommodation, 18% were in council housing, and 20% were in residential homes or sheltered housing. Almost 55% had a physical disability, 34% had sight or hearing loss, and 40% had a long term illness. 77% were heterosexual and 6% LGBT.
• Knowledge of the home visit service We asked people how they had heard about the library home visit service. 60% said by word of mouth, 34% via a local library and 4% from a leaflet. No-one had heard about it from a
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website. We asked people how well they thought the service was publicised. 21% said very well, 19% said fairly well, 30% said not very well and 14% said not at all well.
‘I think there should be more publicity about services. I am sure many people are not aware of its existence. Leaflets to be left in common rooms of sheltered housing schemes would be useful’.
• Timing of visits We asked how often the visits from the home library service should be. 12% said the visits should be once every three weeks, 80% said once a month, and 7% said once every six weeks. We also asked how useful people would find it to have a phone call from the library visitor prior to their visit. 70% said this would be very useful, 13% said fairly useful. 6% said not very useful and 4% said not at all useful.
• Satisfaction with the service We asked about levels of satisfaction with specific aspects of the service. Almost 90% said that they were very satisfied with how adaptable the service was for their needs, and 9% were somewhat satisfied. No-one was somewhat or very dissatisfied. Over 80% were very satisfied with the choice of books that the library staff selected for them. 15% were somewhat satisfied, and less than 3% were dissatisfied. No-one was very dissatisfied.
‘The man who comes to me is excellent. He knows the type of books I like and looks out for any that are new in my line’.
‘X, our very nice librarian is always very pleasant and always has time for me. I usually give her a little list of authors and the titles of books I’d like to borrow. She brings my box with most of the titles I’ve asked for. If I happen to be out and not given her a list, she selects books she thinks I’d like; she’s invaluable to us all here’.
‘I always look forward to the afternoon that X comes with my books; she brings them to us in long boxes. I love going through my box and see the books she has put in for me, if I haven’t given her a list. It’s just like Christmas’.
Almost 40% were very satisfied with the choice of CDs and DVDs, and 12% were somewhat satisfied. 2% were very dissatisfied. The largest percentage (44%) said that they didn’t know. On the provision of CDs and DVDs, it is clear that some people are not aware of this aspect of the service.
‘Did not know of CD/DVD library home visit service until now, as no info provided to me’.
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‘Was not aware I could order DVDs’.
‘I can’t hold the books, so I am grateful for the CDs and DVDs’.
Over 90% were very satisfied with how helpful the library staff were and almost 7% were somewhat satisfied. No-one was somewhat or very dissatisfied.
‘The lady who comes to see me is very nice and always has a smile to cheer you up’.
‘X, my library lady, is wonderful (lovely person)’.
‘My home visit librarian, X, is always cheerful, helpful and efficient. A visit adds a brightness to my life. Thank you’.
‘I look forward to Y coming – she is very pleasant’.
‘Y, the library home visitor is excellent, efficient and very kind and caring’.
‘X is very nice and helpful to the tenants here’.
‘Z is a very nice person and nothing is too much trouble for him’.
‘Y is always very helpful and gets any books specially requested’.
‘My librarian is very courteous and friendly’.
‘The lady who comes to see me is very polite, kind, caring and helpful – I would be lost without her and my books to read as I am housebound’.
‘Being 90 years old and virtually housebound it’s lovely t be able to talk to Z, asking about his family and he mine’.
Over 40% were very satisfied with how knowledgeable staff were about council services, and 13% were somewhat satisfied. 5% were somewhat or very dissatisfied. A significant percentage (27%) said that they didn’t know.
85% said that they were very satisfied with the time that the librarian delivers to their home and 12% were somewhat satisfied. Just over 1% were very dissatisfied. Some people mentioned a few problems they had with the times that the service was delivered, with breaks in the service or problems with timekeeping
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‘Occasional long gaps between visits without explanation (2-3 months). Occasional failure to turn up on the day expected – phone messages left but calls not returned’.
‘Delivery of books and CDs not accurate – time varied and dates’.
‘Not always comes every four weeks’.
‘Regular visits – but more frequent as I read a lot’.
• Important aspects of the service We asked people to choose from a list the three most important aspects of a good quality home visit library service. 72% chose a flexible service tailored to people’s needs; almost 30% chose a wide range of CDs and DVDs; 9% chose access to reference materials; 34% chose information about council services; 40% chose a wide range of audio books, and 60% chose a wide range of large print books. 9% picked books in community languages; 2% chose access to an e-reader; and 5% chose access to online information.
• Making a difference to lives We then asked respondents to pick from a list the ways that the home visit library service made a change to their lives. 82% said that they get access to a good choice of books that they enjoy reading. 22% said that they get access to a good range of CDs and DVDs; 53% said that they get better access to large print and audio materials; 6% chose the access they got to books and information in community languages; almost 45% said that the home visit library service gave them more contact with other people than they would have had otherwise; and over 30% said that they were able to spend their money on other things, as they had this service provided free by the library.
‘Without the home library service I would not have any access to obtaining reading material. I would be lost without this service’.
‘Being housebound, I read lots of books. I have a large box delivered each month’.
‘I find this service an absolute god-send; it is so wonderful to be able to read again’.
• Improvements to the service We asked people to choose from a list how they felt the home visit library service could best be improved. 98% said that they wanted to continue with the service they get from the home visit library service. Only 1% said that they would like to visit a library to choose their own books. No-one said that they would like to join a readers group in the library. Others felt more
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and improved book choice would make the service even better. People also asked about regular news on books to introduce them to new authors and titles.
‘I would like to see more books and tapes’.
‘We are a project for men over the age of 40, but keep receiving books more for females – romances, home making and beauty routines’.
‘I did ask for Urdu books, but nobody knows Urdu in library so home visitor did ask whatever they could find’.
‘More talking books and a greater range’.
‘I would like a list of some of the authors I could choose from – some of the large print books I receive here are unsuitable reading material’.
‘A reader group inhouse would be nice’.
‘A book sale service – could coincide with her visit – I certainly wouldn’t mind buying books this way if it helps the continuation of our libraries, even in a small way’.
‘It is difficult to think of improvements of any kind, as I am totally satisfied with this most valuable service, for which I thank you wholeheartedly’.
‘By writing your reading clients every quarter of new books in stock with names of authors and the titles’.
‘Books in Arabic language is very important to me’.
• Importance to you personally We asked them to tell us how important the home visit library service was to them personally. 45% said the service is essential and 52% said that it is very important. No-one said it was not very important or not important at all. People told us about the difference the service made to them.
‘The best university education service I’m getting plenty. A new door opening for a disabled pensioner. A real god-send for four lonely walls’.
‘The home visit library service is of special help to me and I fully appreciate and welcome it. It would be deeply missed in my present circumstances and is a vital link in my life at present’.
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‘I could not carry books or walk so far to the library. So would have to do without reading books in my language otherwise without this service’.
‘I look forward to my monthly visit as not only do I get new books to keep my brain active but to enjoy a visit from another caring person to enjoy’.
‘It helps take my mind off other problems I have and keeps my mind working clear’.
‘It is wonderful t have a book to read when you are housebound and the day is grey and bleak and nobody calls’.
‘I used to be a theatre goer; my access to book and good authors compensates for my immobility’.
‘Remember what the dormouse said – “feed your head”’
• Saving money We asked people to suggest ways that Lambeth could save money from the library budget. Some suggested ways of generating income through sales, and changes to the overall library service. Others suggested small charge increases, but generally felt that it was unfair to make reductions to the library service.
‘Increase home service and sell off libraries that are isolated’.
‘You could charge a small amount, say 5p or 10p a book that we borrow. It would make a small contribution and help show our appreciation as well’.
‘Review the use of library buildings, access, upkeep costs and either restrict the opening times or consolidate services into more central and well accessed places across the borough. Ask uses to make donations for services. Sell old or underused books and DVDs’.
‘Stop theft of books. Charge a penalty for ill treatment of books. Evening rental of spare rooms. Hold classes and charge’.
‘Maybe a bi-monthly service’.
‘Consider volunteers to staff library’.
‘1. Close the libraries. 2. So some people will suffer. 3. The above will happen anyway’.
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‘Keep the librarians – sack all the superfluous middle management (whose fault this mess is)’.
‘Stop sending out expensive 13 page surveys’.
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Section 8
Upper Norwood Joint Library (UNJL)
Cabinet recommendation - Seeks to maintain a library service offer to address the need around the current Upper Norwood Joint Library.
This section includes feedback on the proposal about Upper Norwood Joint Library which is an independent library that is joint funded by Lambeth.
We included a question in the Cooperative Libraries questionnaire asking people what they wanted Lambeth council to do in relation to the funding of UNJL.
This question was responded to by significantly more people than answered the other questions. 8 out of 10 respondents said that the council should continue to fund the library as an independent service (79.2%), with around 1 in 8 (14.5%) saying that they thought the funding should be used as part of the development of cooperative libraries, alongside all others in Lambeth.
People then told us other things that were important to them about the Upper Norwood Joint Library.
Service provision A large number of Upper Norwood Joint Library users chose to complete only the section of the questionnaire concerning Upper Norwood Joint Library. There were many comments about UNJL providing a first-rate service to the local community.
Sorry to only reply to this bit, but this is the only library I use! I love it - both for books and children activities, and would hate to see it closed/changed. I understand it is efficient and cost effective and hope it can be maintained as is with adequate funding. (Questionnaire )
This is the best library I have ever used, fantastic staff, books, services, lovely building, well run, low costs...you must not consider redistributing the funds.(Questionnaire )
The library is a vital focal point in the community, reaching out to an enormous variety of people and needs. If it closes it will be a huge loss that can't be filled. It cannot and should not be closed. (Questionnaire)
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I live near West Norwood library. I used this for a long time but when it closed due to vandalism last year I was forced to use UNJL which is my second closest one. I have not regretted this experience! I discovered the stock is brilliant - wide variety and plenty of it; events for my children are exciting and inspiring; the staff are consistent and friendly; other customers have become some of my best friends. The way the library is managed is much more efficient and better value for money - I really hope that when (if) West Norwood library re-opens it is as good as Upper Norwood. Please listen to sense! (Questionnaire)
My profoundly disabled elder son was welcomed here and my younger son started to read here. Now in my old age, it is even more important to me. I cannot imagine my life without being able to make my twice weekly visits. I am now disabled myself and thank God that my only accessible bus, 322, stops outside my library and that both can accommodate my wheelchair, making it possible for me to use my freedom pass and go independently. This library is at the heart of our community and the hub of countless marvellous activities, used by all ages from toddlers with their parents, primary and secondary pupils, college students, job- seekers, people from all walks of life, to visitors interested in local history, authors giving talks, artists exhibiting their work, reading groups. One can also borrow music and films I urge you to keep it going for another 100 years. It is a beacon of learning shining out across London to hand on for our next generations. (Email)
Our library is special. It’s one of the few places where toddlers to older people can meet. It has professional librarians to answer your questions. People out of work go there looking for jobs. Young mothers take their babies. For me, it’s the only library. That’s the reason I live here. It would be devastating for me if it closed. (Upper Norwood Joint Library meeting)
Croydon and Lambeth joint agreement Upper Norwood Library has historically been jointly funded by Croydon and Lambeth. A number of Upper Norwood Joint Library users expressed concern about any potential changes to this arrangement.
The legal departments of both councils were involved in drawing up the 1999 joint library agreement, which confirmed the independent status of the joint library. This runs until 2014. The joint agreement was intended to preclude the need for further time and expense to be spent on considering possible changes in status until that date at the earliest. (Questionnaire)
I’d like to thank Lambeth for having this consultation. A £170k (budget) – I’m grateful for that. The whole community of Crystal Palace are upset by the way Croydon have acted. What we want to ensure is that the library stays independent and financed by Croydon and Lambeth. You say you’re committed to the library. But it (feels like) a conspiracy that Lambeth and
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Croydon are putting us in a pincer movement. It’s been an independent library for 112 years. I’d like to know that you haven’t given up on getting Croydon to the table. I’d like you to assure us that you’ve taken it to the law. We are independent with joint authorities. We need Lambeth’s backing and support. We feel under siege. We appreciate that Lambeth ACS have got a lot of other problems with their libraries. Perhaps you and the council could address this. (Upper Norwood Joint Library meeting)
It is a key part of the local community and to see it under threat after 112 years is very sad. I hope that you will continue to work with Croydon council to explore ways of keeping this popular and cost effective library open. (Email)
The Upper Norwood joint library agreement which Lambeth signed up to in 1994 says that Croydon and Lambeth will pay equal costs each year towards the UNJL. Lambeth have actually paid less than Croydon on 14 occasions since 1983 (although Croydon have done the same as many times). There has been equal funding on only one occasion in 29 years. This library has lost thousands of pounds because of this parsimony and broken promises and to cap it all, UNJL has also had its funding frozen for year after year by both boroughs in turn. For example, Lambeth's payment in 1989 was £128,700 but had only gone up to £138,100 by 2002. Nowadays, the Lambeth library services cost per persons is £27.88 but the far more cost effective joint library is only £14.00 per person. Why is the funding from Lambeth being cut by £40,000?? (Questionnaire)
Funding Many UNJL users commented that the library is a cost-efficient model and more economical to run than other libraries.
Upper Norwood library is the most effective. Lambeth’s libraries are not popular and are in decline. Upper Norwood is cheaper and runs effectively. If every library ran on the same basis as the Upper Norwood library you’d have money left over to run your libraries. If all libraries were as autonomous as Upper Norwood they’d be better (libraries) that should be in the consultation. (Upper Norwood Joint Library meeting)
UNLC believes that the unique 112 year-old independent status of UNJL has been a key factor in its cost-effectiveness, high quality service and huge support from users. UNLC thus strongly supports the option 'Continue to fund the library as an independent service' under Question 8a in Lambeth's consultation questionnaire. UNLC strongly urges Lambeth Council to continue to respect the independent status and governance of the library. (Email)
The approximately £1 million cost of the renovation and refurbishment was obtained largely— thanks to the initiative of Upper Norwood’s Chief Librarian—from heritage funds and charities,
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not out of either Council’s coffers. Notwithstanding all these excellent (and nationally recognised) features of Upper Norwood Joint Library, it is the library whose service that Croydon Council seems most keen to sabotage! (Email)
You’ve still got the model, so please use it. It’s there. We’ve asked for figures in the past. We asked your predecessor. The cost of their personnel department (in Upper Norwood) is costed into their costs. It costs £400,000 a year to run. If you used that (model), you’d have change left over from your budget. (Carnegie library meeting)
This is an excellent library, which is run cost-efficiently and serves as a hub for fast-growing Crystal Palace. (Questionnaire)
UNJL operates at 50% of the costs of Lambeth's libraries. It is a model of efficiency and provides great value for money with a service which meets the needs of the local population. I would like Lambeth to continue to fund the library as an independent service and for Lambeth to respect the unique independent status of the library which is key to its cost effectiveness. (Questionnaire)
When I used looking at information on the Lambeth council website and at information from the library campaign, I discovered that each Lambeth borough library costs an average of £811,738 to run and to independent UNJL only £454,800 making me wonder why all libraries in Lambeth are not run or similar independent line to the Upper Norwood joint library. Perhaps residents in all parts of Lambeth could be consulted about this rather than you asking the whole of Lambeth borough to rule on the independent one of the separately managed UNJL, which is totally unacceptable to people in Upper Norwood. I doubt that most of Lambeth even know where this library is. (Questionnaire )
UNJL should be funded by other boroughs Some people commented that as a cross-borough library serving residents across more than one borough, the Upper Norwood Joint Library should be funded by other local authorities.
The library should be funded by the four boroughs, whose residents use it Lambeth Croydon plus Bromley and Southwark. (Questionnaire)
Upper Norwood should be funded by Croydon not Lambeth - the library is clearly within that borough. West Norwood is within easy walking distance from the high need wards in South. The library building is bigger and more modern - reallocate funds from UNJL to West Norwood. (Questionnaire)
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Independent status The independent status of UNJL was something that many people felt was unique and must be preserved.
With many others, I believe that the Library should continue as an independent service and I would urge you to respect the unique independent status of the library. (Email)
I would like to see UNJL continue as an independent library, jointly funded, and to retain its unique character, and therefore strongly support option 8a of your questionnaire. (Email)
Unique, independent, around for 112 years. important and essential to community. (Questionnaire)
Because this library is unique, exciting and a pleasure to visit. Please don't make it a boring branch library. Please, please, please keep it independent. (Questionnaire)
UNJL’s inclusion in the Cooperative Libraries consultation Some Upper Norwood residents questioned the validity of UNJL’s inclusion in the Cooperative Libraries consultation.
Upper Norwood is a separate library service in its own right. I believe that Croydon council are also running a consultation, but that their one concerns Upper Norwood alone and not the whole borough as does Lambeth's. The separateness of UNJL is a good reason for Lambeth to have arranged a dedicated consultation likewise. Question 8 in this questionnaire places a question mark over Upper Norwood's independence. There is no mention of this in the list of recommendations to Lambeth's cabinet meeting lst November, nor in the final report of the Lambeth libraries commission from which these derive. From my knowledge of this process to date, I am not aware of any hint that the UNJL governance status was under consideration for possible change. This is self-evidently a matter for the residents of Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace and not for the residents I believe that this may well not be correct legal procedure. Do you think that Lambeth officers are acting in much the same way by roping this library into the Lambeth service and will henceforth be seen as complicit and supportive of Croydon's illegal behaviour? Local organisations tell me that in the course of more than eleven decades the UNJL has never before been included in any council review, reorganisation or consultation and so why now? Have the UNJL staff been treated with proper respect and been included in the planning and execution of these council initiated consultations? I am inclined to believe not. If this is not the case, I would be very surprised if the staff do not feel completely demoralised and undermined by the behaviour of both councils. (Questionnaire)
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I wish to know why this consultation and Lambeth speakers at a recent public meeting are acting as though the UNJL is part of the Lambeth library service. It has always been its own separate service in its own right with its own independent management committee. Stop trying to run the library. (Questionnaire)
You should not have included our independent joint library in a Lambeth council review. It has never happened before in 112 years so why now? The last time the UNJL's governance was reconsidered was in the early 1990's. A working party panel including local councillors and members of the Upper Norwood library campaign spent several months drawing up proposals which led to the new 1994 joint library agreement. (Questionnaire)
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Section 9
Opening hours
Cabinet recommendation - Endorses the Commission proposal that Streatham and Brixton will open seven days a week and instruct officers to explore how increases can be made to the opening hours currently planned for the new library in Clapham.
In this section, we have included feedback on the proposals to have seven day a week opening at the Brixton, Streatham and Clapham libraries. We have also included wider feedback on opening hours in general.
Main libraries Overall, the comments on opening hours for these libraries was positive, in that generally people want libraries open for more hours. However, people were much more opposed to extra hours being available at these three libraries only. Some felt that by funding these libraries to be open longer, they were getting additional resources which would otherwise have been available to the rest of the libraries.
It is unfortunate that we have heard in advance of this publication that Streatham and Brixton libraries were to receive disproportionate allowance. Perhaps it’s reasonable to suppose that their needs are greater than those other libraries, but we got the impression that you didn’t expect us to agree, so you decided for us. This is probably as fair as any "methodology" but doesn’t make me feel a high degree of admiration for it. (Questionnaire)
No decisions to be made? But the document [the library consultation document] says there will be a complete service i.e. a seven day library service in Brixton, Streatham and Clapham, is that correct? If you aren’t one of your three super libraries you will lose 30% of your service. How did you arrive at that? How is that not a decision already made? (West Norwood library meeting)
Existing usage is not really being assessed. Look at the beautiful building across the road. If Clapham is going to be open seven days, why not West Norwood, given the figures it doesn’t make sense. The three highest usages are Brixton, Streatham and West Norwood, not Clapham. As in the top three, shouldn’t we have super library status – Brixton 340,000 visitors per annum, Streatham 200,000 visitors per annum. 11% - West Norwood has had 11% of the overall usage. (West Norwood Library meeting)
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We would question whether 7 day/56 hour opening at Brixton and Streatham is really justified when Carnegie is open only 31 hours over 4 days.
People here, adults and children do not go to Brixton. It’s too far and too expensive. Clapham is useless to us as well as it is too far. Clapham has posh housing. Here they have council estates that instead of looking at population trend as they happen, the council needs to look at future trends. We have great poverty, great need. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
West Norwood should be in the same league as Streatham and Brixton libraries. (library staff meeting)
You have the library in Brixton - they make all the big noise, so we won’t cut them. You are planning to reduce the library service here. If you really did care about what the community needed, you would have built a new library like in other areas, with a new building, lots of computers. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
How will 6-7 day libraries be staffed? (library staff meeting)
Increased weighting of 30% given to Clapham Some people questioned how the additional 30% increase at the new Clapham Library had been estimated, given that the library had not yet opened.
In Clapham, your booklet shows a 30% increase in use at the new Clapham library. How was that decided? (Durning library meeting)
If an assumption can be made about a potential increase of 30% in visitor numbers at the new Clapham library, then an assumption can also be made about a potential increase in visitor numbers if the hours of operation at Carnegie were increased, to determine a viable budget. (Email)
You make the wild assumption that 'Clapham One' "will attract 30% more visitors than at present". This is pure imagination, not fact. Moreover, as Clapham One will be a multi- purpose building with a library element, visitors may come for other services and not even use the library. (Questionnaire)
Nobody, anywhere, wants extra money given to Clapham One. This was not envisaged in the Libraries Commission plan. It favours the centre of the borough too much, distorting even further the appearance of an unpopular future 'two-tier library service'. It is inconsistent to fund according to imagined future usage, unlike any other library. Increased usage might happen anywhere. (Email)
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New buildings do not have the same usage levers as old buildings. As old buildings require refurbishment, renewals to furniture, painting and general repair, why are you setting aside finance to increase usage in posh Clapham? Surely the community who have used Brixton Library over the years would benefit greatly if the money was used there, and greater usage - indeed. (Questionnaire)
Additional resources to smaller libraries instead Some people felt that the three libraries should not open for seven days, and instead use the funding to increase hours or services at other libraries.
Couldn’t we reduce hours Streatham, Brixton, Clapham were open on a Sunday and then you could give three hours to West Norwood to open. (West Norwood library meeting)
West Norwood needs a lot of money and I don’t know why all the money is going to Brixton. West Norwood is where people want to live more and more. As a resident, my money is being used to fund Brixton at the detriment of this community. (West Norwood library meeting)
That’s not a fair assessment; just because it’s not in a central area they won’t get as much usage. But if they get less money, they get less books, people complain and won’t come. It’s a catch 22. People stop coming. And small libraries won’t get passing trade. (Minet Library meeting)
Will the seven day opening in Brixton and Streatham mean that other libraries will be closed more often? How will it affect the rest? (Minet Library meeting)
By producing a budget divided between ‘central’ and ‘local’ costs it appears that some ‘local’ libraries are set to lose up to 60% of their budget. This division between central services (including services to some of the most disadvantaged Lambeth residents) and local services is divisive and a false representation of a comprehensive Library service. (Email)
Opening hours In our face to face interviews with 635 library service users, 86% of respondents identified convenient opening hours as being an important reason for using a particular library. The only more important factor identified was the location of the library. Opening hours are therefore an undeniably important factor for people in determining which library they use. For non users of libraries, opening hours was not identified as being a particularly important determining factor for not using their library (11%).
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Comments on opening hours Residents raised a range of issues about opening hours in the questionnaires, interviews, meetings and focus groups.
Open later or earlier People suggested that libraries should open later into the evening, at least on two or three days of the week. We also received suggestions around opening earlier in the day, so that people could visit on their way to work.
There could be less opening hours in the day, perhaps more in the evening. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
The libraries should open for two late evenings a week and I think weekend openings would be good because you get a free resource. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
If library hours could extend till 8pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays it would be good for working people. (Face to face interview)
I feel Libraries should be open at more sociable hours for people with full-time jobs. Two nights per week with late night opening rather than one night a week would be much better. (Questionnaire)
Many libraries are not particularly well used during the day due to work commitments etc. It would therefore be useful if libraries could open later say till 21:00, I am aware that this would add to costs but I think that it would be beneficial for the borough. Southwark council have the new Canada Water Library open Monday - Friday until 20:00 and it is well used. (Questionnaire)
The opening hours would definitely be ones of the reasons - the times that I would like to go are the times they are most likely to be closed. I would normally want to use the library later in the evening. (Focus group, disability)
With opening hours, sometimes I wonder why libraries are open during the day and closed in the evening. Why open while everyone is at work? It’s the same with everything else - surely it makes sense to make the most of time when people are not going to be at work to maximise their use? (Focus group, disability)
Well the library opens at 9am. If it was 7:30am the people heading to work would come, all those people on their way to the tube. (Brixton library meeting)
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Sunday opening A number of people commented on Sunday opening. Some people said that it was too expensive, and closing on Sundays would therefore be a good way to save money. Others felt that it would be important to have libraries open on Sundays if the demand was there locally. Staff also mentioned the pay grade of staffing on Sundays.
General hours – can we save and close on the most expensive day or the week – Sundays. I’m sure people can get here on other days. What about one or two days of the week opening for two hours, so some start opening late at a reduced cost. (Streatham Library meeting)
I think you could save some £85k a year by dropping Sunday opening. (Questionnaire)
Weekend open hours would be nice for the kids. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Opening hours for each library must be in line with the needs of the local community. Sunday opening hours appear to be well used at Streatham. (Questionnaire)
Sunday working – no-one above SO1. (library staff meeting)
Opening hours should be consistent as people get confused when they change People said that they found changing opening hours confusing, and this sometimes discouraged people from using the library if they were not sure if it would be open when they arrived.
Opening hours changed all the time I stopped coming for a period because of never knew it was open. (Minet Library meeting)
It should be more consistent - to make it as easy and simple as possible. I find it too confusing when one library is open one time and then another a different time, so you go to a different library and you find it closed. (Focus group, disability)
We are only open 31 hours a week. This week it’s only 23 hours because of the Easter break. I’ve seen students coming up those steps (library is closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and realising it’s closed. They go to Dulwich instead. Open the library for three hours on a Thursday and Tuesday. That would involve volunteers. (Carnegie library meeting)
I find it very confusing - that is having different opening times across the libraries. (Focus group, disability)
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Preferences for when the library should be open People expressed a range of preferences for when they wanted their library open.
The open hours that I’d like is everyday from 4-7pm. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
Flexible opening times make it more accessible for people who work. I use it on Sundays. I follow on from church. The children want to borrow books. (Brixton Library meeting)
Weekends from 9am-9pm would be the most suitable opening hours for me, particularly when my child is sleeping. Opening hours during the time that parents don’t have their children would be good. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I do greatly regret that it’s closed on Mondays here. (Streatham Library meeting)
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Section 10
Library Access Package
Cabinet recommendation - Explores creation of a Lambeth Library Access Package to be hosted in new or alternative outlets across the Borough.
In this section, as well as information on different outlets, we have included information on people’s comments on the individual libraries that they use, and their views on locality issues.
Location of the library building When we asked why people in the face to face interviews why they use a specific library as their main library, we found that the location of the building was considered most important over all other options.
1 The location is convenient for me 96.6% 2 Its opening hours are more convenient for me 86.3% 3 I like the library staff there 82.9% 4 The building, its layout and seating 77.0% 5 It has a better range of books and materials 70.2% 6 Its computer and internet facilities 53.9% 7 It has a particular class/activity that I attend 13.4%
People then added some additional information on their thoughts on the location of the building. Strongly agree / Agree I am not so concerned where the library is, so long as it provides a good service 26% The current location of my library is the only reason I use it 66.7% The location of my library is okay, but there may be other locations where it 22.4% could go
The library should not move out of its current location Some people were keen that their local library stays in its current location, and that there should be more willingness to make the most out of the current building.
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I like the location of Durning library as it is and I don't see why it should move, but there are empty office building around Kennington/Oval area that could be used. (Face to face interview)
[On whether the library could be housed in a different building ..it's absolutely impossible. I can’t even see that beginning to work. I’ve worked in museums and lots of ancient buildings. I can see that it’s not inviting from outside. (Streatham library meeting)
There is no way I could walk that far (to the new library in Clapham) and even if I could carry the books. I simply can not walk this far, and would just about be able to manage that very short distance, without carrying the books. From Clapham - Old Town (where the library is currently) there is no way that I would be able to manage it (to get to the new library). I couldn’t do this with carrying. For me this is a valuable service - it’s the only one I really use. (Clapham library meeting)
People should not get “hooked” on the building Some people commented that it is easy to get caught on the importance of the building, and that other options might be a possibility. Some suggested places that a library could go.
It’s the staff, books and resources that make the library not necessarily the building. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I think you can not be too hooked on the building. Some library buildings are disgracefully neglected. Libraries should be agreeable, well placed and fit for purpose – it does not need to be historic – it’s not sacrosanct – that’s not what it’s for. Having working most of my career in a fossilized building. If it stops us from having a good library – you’ve got to put aside that idea. (Brixton Public Meeting)
Streatham - The contact centre in Gracefield Gardens has a lift so could go upstairs. New Tesco development and the proposed development of Streatham Hill. (Face to face interview)
Waterloo - Waterloo Action Centre which was the library years ago and Oasis a building near Cornwall Road by the bus stop. (Face to face interview)
Library access points – schools, GP surgeries, supermarkets, post office, shopping centres, public houses, hospitals. (staff library meeting)
The disused offices next to Tesco in Vauxhall/Kennington could be used to capture a new market. (Face to face interview)
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Churches are under used e.g. Clapham Common churches and the like have empty vaults which could house libraries. Catholic churches by the tube station and on the main common. Often churches are underfunded and would be glad to have. The air raid shelter under Clapham Common, there's lots of space to be used, air vents for the Clapham South tube. (Face to face interview)
I want to refer to the issue of Library Access Points which was covered in some detail in the Library Commission Report a few months ago. Although the proposal as a whole and the thought of them appearing across the whole borough are definitely not awe inspiring, there is some merit in considering Library Access Points for areas that are currently poorly served, such as Streatham Vale and Clapham Park, which lost their Library buildings more than a decade ago. There are good grounds to consider introducing LAPs in these areas. I have discussed this matter with the local residents' association in Streatham Vale and they agreed unanimously that they would like to be considered as an area for a pilot scheme for a Library Access Point. In the Commission Report a number of potential venues were suggested for LAPs and Streatham Vale already has some of these including, for example, two schools, a health centre and a railway station. I would ask you to consider introducing a LAP in the Streatham Vale area. (Questionnaire)
I would like to try a mobile library service at the Oval Farmers market. It's got a guaranteed footfall every Saturday of more than 1,000 mostly local people. If you can't get a good take up of library services with that then I would be very disappointed. Happily to give it a go myself with a lot of support of course. (Questionnaire )
I think the library should be located next to a leisure centre and next to more shops than here at the Old Library. Not like this one on a hill but on a high street. I think if the library was near my school, it’d be nice to hang out in the library. It’s a long journey up here, it takes two buses. (Interview with young person, aged 15)
The library should be next to the cheap food shops. (Interview with young person, aged 15)
The location is very convenient at the moment. Its 10 minutes away. It’s on the high street, next to the post office, pharmacy and cinema. It’s especially convenient to renew and drop off books. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
It is perfect on the high street for when I go shopping. A lot of times my son will say, can we get a book while we are out shopping. Everyone knows its there. It’s a lovely building and the location is perfect. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
The library should be in a busy location where people would need to pass and the posters should attract people and not be boring. (Interview with young person, aged 14)
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Libraries should be in busy places. I'd be happy with a library in Tesco, or at the train station, or at the Rec, or by a school. I'd also be happy for Starbucks to rent a space in the library. (Questionnaire)
I’d like to see a swimming pool in the library. Like in my school the swimming pool is next door to the library. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
I want the library to be close to me, ideally a 5-10 minutes walk because I wouldn’t want to get the bus. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
I think there should be more libraries. I have to go to South Lambeth or Brixton which is a 10-20 minute bus ride. It’s a long way to go for a bit of homework. There could be lots more smaller libraries with just a few books and a couple of computers for people who want to do a bit of work and want to just pop into a library. (Interview with young person, aged 16)
There are three contenders here, Living Space, that’s worth exploring, it could work. Going above the Waterloo Action Centre, considering the development that’s going on next door. The other one is going to developers with this. I have some reservations having dealt with York Road and Shell. I know developers are developers, nice as pie, but it’s all about using every square inch. (Waterloo library meeting)
I think the library should be closer to schools and estates. I don’t know the nearest library. On the estates, people doing their GCSEs they should be able to just go across the road to revise. (Interview with young person, aged 14)
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Section 11
Customer focus
Cabinet recommendation - Remodels staffing structures and reduce management levels, shifting to a more modern, customer service focused model that helps build the community’s capacity to participate in cooperative services and offers an access point to wider council services.
In this section, we have included feedback on people’s views on other services that might also be available when they go to the library. Information on the community hub proposals, as they link to libraries, is also included here.
Survey findings: Library users In our face to face survey with library users, we asked people to choose from a list the kinds of services they thought would be appropriate to provide alongside library services. We found that the largest proportion, over half (56.1%) thought that “advice services for employment and training opportunities” would be a good idea, followed by a coffee shop or café (40.8%) and advice on legal and consumer issues (36%). Nursery and crèche facilities were chosen by one in four (25.9%), a one stop shop for council services (20.8%) was picked by one in five, with welfare benefits advice being supported by 14.1%
Survey findings: Non-library users In contrast to the findings from the survey of library users, when we asked the same question of non-library users, we found that a café/coffee shop was the most popular option (48%), followed by advice for legal and consumer issues and advice for service for employment and training opportunities (both 41%). There was little difference in the level of support for nursery and crèche facilities (26% for users, and 20% for non users), or welfare benefits advice (14% for users and 17% for non users).
Support for a hub Some people said that they supported the proposal to include other services in libraries, suggesting a range of services that could be considered. Some said that they felt having other services there could help to revitalise the libraries.
You should be aiming for something much better, not a little bit better. We’ve been short changed for years. There is a huge demand for it (a library). There is a vital district centre here which needs a library. We did the ‘Visibility Bank’ in 2005 and looked at other boroughs. Taking a little old library and making it into a new fantastic library, a critical mass action needs
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to happen with a huge amount of IT, 40 stations, a café, a place to watch videos and listen to music. And books. The critical thing is you have to have all those things and create a hub. A place that’s buzzing. In a street like this with a market, it’ll be full of people you don’t often see in libraries. (Waterloo Library meeting)
It is doable; you described a café, moving with the times. You must have realised that vision years ago with cafes. I remember ten years ago the National History Museum and V&A were empty. Those places are now cluttered, they make a lot of money. If they hadn’t had the vision back then…There has to be an economical value of things. We need to expand the entire concept of libraries, cafes, multimedia, books are just a part of it. The library has to have an expanded idea (of what it is)…of libraries that attract people. (Waterloo Library meeting)
A combined library space and community space that can allow activities to take place and the community to meet. (staff library meeting)
West Norwood, Nettlefold Hall spaces needs to be managed differently. Explore what we can do with the development of the Nettlefold Hall. We can move to something a bit more visionary. The Norwood Forum are looking to the community to discuss different ideas. (West Norwood Public meeting)
Rent space to compatible/sympathetic businesses e.g. coffee shops, bookshops, workshop/art spaces, computer centres, tutoring services, nurseries, exhibition spaces. (library staff meeting)
I represent a coalition of local organisations in favour of the re-opening of the Library Centre and Nettlefold Halls for library and community use… We would like to use this valuable opportunity to think constructively: to further develop ideas for future uses of the building, to consider what we require from a 21st century library , to think about how the building could be zoned or altered for commercial, community, arts and library use, To consider a model for its management. (Email)
I think sharing library buildings with other users for different uses is definitely to be encouraged and also to try to encourage young and disadvantaged people to use the service in whatever way suits them. (Questionnaire)
We would like to have a visitors centre (referring to the West Norwood Cemetery). There’s a building which hasn’t been used. Nettlefold is a fantastic facility. If we were to do something with that site. Work with the building to make people feel proud. People go to the high street
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because there’s lots to do. Think of the library not just as a place for books. (West Norwood library meeting)
Crèche/after school programmes. Old people’s services and charities. Homeless people and their charities. Religious organisations. Libraries need to be not only places to come to read/use computers but also to bring the community together in common purpose and to encourage learning and expression of thought. (Questionnaire)
What services couldn’t work in a library Some people suggested that, whilst some services could work well in a library, other services were not so appropriate.
Anything that does seek to utilise buildings more. I would have preferred the post office to move in here rather than WH Smith. (Streatham library meeting)
Schools, theatre group, OAP groups. Avoid church groups. (Questionnaire)
YES Schools, possibly leisure centres if done in the right way - encouraging people to think of reading as a fun and interesting thing to do, maybe occasional events in parks in the summer. NO the private sector. (Questionnaire)
At St James Library in Westminster, they have a little one stop shop at street level – it’s on Victoria Street in the Westminster system. You wouldn’t even know it was a library, but it is and it’s quite a good one. For example, I wouldn’t want to see a hairdressers or a travel agent. (Brixton Public meeting)
Education, employment, the arts, Citizens' Advice type services - yes. Faith, therapy, politics - no. (I speak as someone with a strong faith). A cafe - yes. A not-for-profit stationery shop - yes. Any other commercial interest - no. Reuse/ Reduce/ Recycle initiatives - yes. (Questionnaire)
Suggestions for additional services in libraries There was some enthusiasm for a mixture of services to be delivered in and around libraries. People made a whole range of suggestions, including social activities, arts and crafts classes, community events, and advice sessions.
I’d come to the library more if it was attached to other services. It should be attached to clubs, in particular social clubs where they’d be games and like this [youth] club they’d bring in nail art activities. (Interview with young person, aged 14)
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The one [library] across the road was better because it was a bigger space and it had a hall where I used to go dancing. (Interview with young person, aged 14)
It’s different, if you’re a student. You’re not looking for the same thing. You have the community here. When you go to the library you have not just for study. You go to see friends too. And I went myself to and say let’s go have a coffee. It’s more to socialise. It’s not just for books. (Focus group, ESOL resident)
We need some more community activities through FOCL do their best to bring in local people. Yoga classes could be held. Book signing and a collection pot? (Face to face interview)
Evening classes. Nothing was done last year. Why are good ideas blocked? Paying one teacher that’s all it takes. You need one teacher, maybe two to start with. (Clapham library meeting)
Current library as hubs Some people felt that libraries didn’t need additional services in order to be seen as community hubs, sating that they were already hubs for the community and already provided a range of services that were wider than what is seen as traditional library services.
The library is magic. The library is the ONLY place in this community where everyone can go and learn/read/use computers/get help/just sit and read a paper/take kids to social events. (Short questionnaire)
Libraries are already community hubs. They work with a lot of different services. Few sections of the council work with more partners or are more closely connected to the community. Libraries are highly valued by the community and well used by the community when compared to other services. Other services use libraries to help meet their agenda. If something is not broken there is no need to fix it. (Questionnaire, comment from resident comment)
Different focus in different areas People told us that some libraries had their own identities, and that any additional activities could be themed around what is important to people in that area.
Some libraries actually have kids coming after school and one has a library a garden and they have developed a gardening programme. Couldn’t we do something specific here, something only done here which makes us unique? I’m talking about something not done elsewhere. For example, upholstery, NVQs, value for employment. A specialism that isn’t available somewhere else. (Minet library meeting)
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Boroughwide rather than local services Some people felt that creating hubs could lead to a poorer service, and that it was better to have one centrally managed service.
I do not like the idea of hubs doing their own thing. Again this should be looked at borough wide and done strategically. We are one borough. These proposals are too divisive. We will end up with a better service in richer areas. No, no, no. Do not go down this route. (Questionnaire)
Libraries and learning People talked about linking more education services with libraries. There was feedback that the role of libraries in supporting children and adults with a range of educational opportunities could be further developed in a hub model.
Schools, nurseries and children's centres. I was particularly encouraged to see recently in Durning Library a scheme whereby pupils from Lillian Baylis were teaching computing skills to pensioners - it restored my faith in humanity! (Questionnaire)
Youth unemployment - be great if libraries could work with organisations involved in this. (Questionnaire)
I agree but there’s a danger in thinking it’s all about children. What about adults who have not had a good education? Adult learning is very important. Look at Morley College, it’s all about adults. To deny the opportunity to adults that would impact children. (South Lambeth library meeting)
Retired people...Most people are most interested in learning at retired age. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
The library is a service to the community that I use for education, recreation and fun. It’s not for the rich; it needs to be maintained for people who need more support i.e. older people. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I don’t see why there has to be an issue around putting a library with other services .. why they haven’t been put together with adult education before. To me these two things are almost the same thing. (Focus group, disabled)
I wish they could have more groups like [literacy group], as this would really help me. That would definitely be something that I would like to do. I didn’t want my children to go through
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what I did, but it is picked up a lot earlier in schools now and there is support there for anyone with dyslexia. (Disability)
I think libraries should have reading courses for adults, particularly for the less privileged, so without the cost. There should be lectures about books to keep them going out (borrowed). As well as visual courses, for those who didn’t get their GCSEs or didn’t go to college the library could provide a basic education. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Support to access information and advice Access to a range of information was seen to be an area that would link well with libraries. People also talked about accessing advice services from the library.
That said, they should be a great place to go for all sorts of information, including what the Council and local businesses (jobs) and further education colleges have to offer, as well as a social space for residents to make use of (for reading activities, story-telling, chess clubs, interest groups, meeting MPs and Councillors, music ensembles, drama, social dancing, friends of local parks and history and preservation societies, etc.) (Questionnaire)
The library is more useful and important than the local public house in providing a community focal point. Relevant information, essential educational resources. You can learn without intimidation. Children learn the foundations of essential research skills. Information and resources are available that one cannot afford! (Short questionnaire)
I’d like advice on how to get information, on research skills. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
I’d like there to be travel information in the libraries on places to go around London. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
More of an information centre – but these things need to be done well and managed (that is having information about events etc) (Streatham library meeting)
The library could have an information centre for the Council but something more interactive. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
JCPs - information on local skills shortages could direct some spending to addressing resources to meet those need - even if only in a fully accessible lists of training organisations and possible sources of financial support/grants. (Questionnaire)
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Something like benefits or employment advice would be helpful. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Advice services for employment and training opportunities Yes, all these people are looking for advice. The library should be used more and for more people. People trust libraries. (Telephone interview, Portuguese resident)
Career advice is very limited. I find it very difficult to source information and talk to people. I get overwhelmed by the technology. I’m sure I’m not the only person. This is a big area that can be looked at. (Carnegie library meeting)
For the purpose of explaining the benefits and other services there should be a set of monthly clinics-meetings in the library building, and then somebody who has a relevant experience could come with an assistant and run 1hr or 2hr clinic on a walk-in basis, providing basic information, addresses contact numbers, maps how to get to the relevant social services etc. But these sessions per customer should not run too long, because individual's privacy may be breached. (Questionnaire)
Getting the Inland Revenue in to hold seminars about tax advice and setting up own businesses. (Face to face interview)
I think there should be parenting advice. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
It would be a good idea to have other services in the same building as the library. If you had some kind of advice service with the library, you could think I could go there in the same day, I’ll stay here. (Disability)
I definitely think there could be a Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) near or inside the library because it’s something you have to book an appointment for. You have to go out of your way so it’d be more convenient for both the library and the CAB to be in the same place. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Advice services – yes – that would be a good idea. Any advice services would be good as people who have come down for some advice could also go to the library. (Resident with a disability, focus group)
Yes Citizens Advice or benefits advice – these are all good ideas to have these services together in one place. I can not see any problem with it. (face to face interview)
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It would be a good idea to have a CAB at the library, but it could cause long queues as there are always long queues and you wouldn’t want to lose your place, There are always queues out of the door. (Telephone interview, Portuguese resident)
Access to council services Some feedback was that people wanted to use libraries to get information on council services, being able to talk to council staff as well as get information.
It’d be good to have advisors available to answer questions regarding leaflets that are available at libraries, like an information point. It’s all well and good to pick up a leaflet but some people are scared to use the phone. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
Having access to council services here would be good as currently have to trek all the way to Brixton to get parking licences. (Face to face interview)
Definitely could share space with other council services - Connexions, Coffee shop, post office, Advice services. (Questionnaire)
Cafés in libraries Many favoured the idea of cafes in libraries, with food and drinks sold at a reasonable price. Those who spent long hours in the libraries were particularly keen on this. However some people felt there were already enough cafés next to their local libraries.
The library could serve food like sandwiches and drinks. (Interview with young person, aged 15)
Libraries should have a little café. (Interview with young person, aged 15)
Somewhere you could eat and have a cup of tea would make people want to go to the library more. (Interview with a parent of an under 5 year old)
People can buy coffee while in the library. Having coffee will make money as people will come and use Wi-Fi for free. (Public meeting in Waterloo)
I if there was a cafe it would need to be a social enterprise so that the money goes back into the local community. (Face to face interview)
I do not like the idea of cafes in libraries because it would make them too noisy. Plus cafes are everywhere now. (Face to face interview)
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“The one thing I can think of that might work, would be to have a café there where people could sit down and have a coffee or something like that. “ (Face to face interview, Portuguese resident)
Negative comments about additional services Some people were opposed to having additional services in libraries, for a range of reasons. Some said that this could detract from the important role that a library had in society.
Certainly having a mix of activities, but then that’s almost the same as having a community centre. I think a library does still need to serve as a library, even though it may offer other activities, it does need to focus on books. (Focus group, disabled)
Having Parking and Housing will provide a negative atmosphere for regular library users and staff (confrontation). (library staff meeting)
Libraries should be for books and if there were other things there, then people may go to the library for other things. The library should just be a library and nothing else. (Telephone interview, Portuguese resident)
It's not a good idea to mix libraries with welfare and employment services. It would be too complicated, they are two very different things and it would cause problems. (Face to face interview)
The threat of libraries becoming depressing one stop shops with a library as an add on. (Questionnaire)
I do not think that the libraries should work with the social care services; information about benefits and others should be distributed as flyers, and as it is now in the special wall section of the Streatham Library, for example. However, putting additional stress on the librarians to deal with benefits questions and all--this is too much. (Questionnaire)
I don’t think that libraries should be mixed with those activities associated with the benefit, housing etc except in the provision of leaflets and online info (Questionnaire)
A library is a library. A library in Forest Gate offers social services advice and it's very noisy, it’s unbearable to study there. (Face to face interview)
I don’t think libraries should be too much fun because gangs will come and mess up the mood. (Interview with young person, aged 14)
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Co-location is a misleading word, if all you are talking about is making a room available when the library is closed. Other services have not been paying a full market rent – in straightened times, there will not be much more money available. (Durning library meeting)
This entire proposal is completely unacceptable. These measures will destroy libraries. (Questionnaire)
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Section 12
Library efficiencies
Cabinet recommendation - Achieves further back office efficiencies, better and shared procurement.
In this section of the consultation report, we have included feedback on how people felt that Lambeth libraries could become more efficient, and potentially save money by procuring services in different ways. We have included information in this section on central recharges. We have also included information on the need for capital investment and views on the need to refurbish the buildings themselves.
More efficient ways of working People suggested different areas of work that could possibly be done in different ways, in order to reduce costs. These included suggestions for some activities that could be centralised and some for activities that could be done with other boroughs.
It's fairer if the system is centralised, so libraries share books and staff. Users then get a rotation of stock (thereby cutting down on the need to reserve which will make Talis cheaper). This will also mean all libraries remain run at a consistent quality. (Questionnaire)
Splitting budgets reduces the scope to provide borough wide collections and makes it far more difficult for the service to progress with work around cross borough collections which could come out of the future libraries project. (Questionnaire)
A library is not a luxury. It is a right. Why not ask people who have become emancipated/ educated by use of a library? Think about how books were only owned by rich people before libraries opened. Libraries have also contributed to the rise in book ownership, reduced book prices for all. Merge back office functions, e.g. procurement and use technology to make savings. Why don't you visit Morrison’s/ASDA and ask them how they do it? Ask for donations to save on buying new books/CDs /DVDs. (Questionnaire)
Some councils in London are merging their management functions, south London councils could consider that option. Increased cooperation with other councils could bring advantages for users: e.g. use of all libraries with the same library card, access to online resources and de-duplication of acquisitions for online resources (especially reference resources). (Questionnaire)
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Stock selection – could this service be merged with other authorities, such as the Bexley and Bromley model? (staff library meeting)
Our point is that for people like us who live near the borders of Lambeth, a library across the borough boundaries could be as good or possibly better than the most local one. If it was possible to arrange membership in a next door borough, then the total number of libraries across south London could possibly be rationalised. (email)
I go to other boroughs. I used to attend a club in Sutton. Occasionally I use Brixton. A long time ago you could use any library in London. That changed when the Greater London Authority changed to London Boroughs. Anywhere in London an older person could go to a class. Then Thatcher came. Though she’s gone now I don’t know why that’s not come back. (Clapham library meeting)
For people like us who live near the boarders of Lambeth, a library across the Borough boundaries could be as good as possibly better than the most local one. If it was possible to arrange membership in a next door borough then the total number of libraries across S. London could possibly be rationalised (there are a lot…) without reducing local access or quality. (Email)
Can’t all the boroughs get together? Print outs are all different, can’t they all get together? (South Lambeth library meeting)
I do not think library provision can be limited to one location in the borough. Boroughs are large and there should be a plurality of locations to access the library’s resources. (Questionnaire)
I think things like making it easy for people to use service across boroughs (borough-wide costs) will be good idea. (Waterloo public meeting)
Library service costs very little to run and provides good value for money- savings could be found elsewhere. What about merging services with Southwark? (Questionnaire)
Central recharges The central recharge is the funding that is used to pay for a range of services that help support libraries, including finance, human resources, and so on. Many people have suggested that libraries should not have to pay such a large proportion of their allocation towards the central recharge.
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Central staffing and stock control. Get rid of central expense first. Do not spend on the Nettlefold - sell it to a developer. It is awful. So REDUCE the BOROUGH-WIDE COSTS!! (Questionnaire)
For central recharges – it’s like governance of a little nursery – spending a lot of money, but running a very poor service. I suspect we are paying a lot of money to keep the Lambeth Show on the road – if that could be cut down … (South Lambeth Library meeting)
So you are taking corporate re-charge. 50% of the current funding that it has will go. Will we have to still pay one third which is the huge amount that we have to pay for the re-charge. (South Lambeth library meeting)
Focus on the frontline services People talked about the need to ensure that frontline services were reduced less than other parts of the service.
It is difficult for local groups to respond. Your proposals are more generous in money to central services, rather than frontline service. Central services are seen as more important. Lambeth are at the worst end in terms of performance. So why protect the central services. (Durning library meeting)
Devolving all cuts to the frontline is totally unacceptable. It is unfair. It is unworkable (up to 59% cut with some options). Frontline services took a share of the 2011-12 cuts, e.g. the mobile service (it is unclear what an Equalities Impact Assessment would say about this). It is impossible to see any way to make savings in this way, on this scale, except through mass redundancies. This should only be a last resort. Logic dictates that equal or greater savings are possible at the centre. (Email)
Your cooperative libraries information handout said that "it is important to state that these (recharged) services are just as essential to running a library service as things like services and books" and that "any savings" that are achieved from corporate recharges would not be retained by the library service. In this later document, the corporate recharges are nowhere to be seen and the overall Lambeth library cost has fallen to £5,369,000 (which I think includes other costs such as the Nettlefold Hall & archive service). Where have the recharges gone? At a public meeting at this last week, Lambeth officials were keen to say how transparent this consultation is and there is no 'hidden information as regards to library budget in Lambeth' it seems to me that if the cost of the recharges can be identified to the library services in the first place, how so can any savings being made from them. I also think that, having been open about these costs last year you are now embarrassed by them and are trying to wish them out of sight. (Questionnaire)
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Upper Norwood Joint Library model It was suggested that it was worth considering use of the Upper Norwood Joint Library (UNJL) model for service delivery. As an independent library, people said that they had lower central charges.
Staff are not the most expensive. Recharges are. Upper Norwood is 50% to 60% cheaper (than the others). If all libraries run this way, there wouldn’t be any need to cut staff or services. Service support charges are the most expensive. They’re the charges made to libraries centralised costs. Its £550,000 across the libraries, compare that to staff costs. (West Norwood Library meeting)
The Upper Norwood Joint Library could easily save the money you’ve got to save. Make more out of the nine libraries to be as good as Upper Norwood. It has more book issues than the other libraries. You could make it (Carnegie) a bigger library with more books and people will use the library. Get rid of the centralised functions. You have a good example (referring to Upper Norwood) on your own soil. Please use it. (Carnegie library meeting)
In April there was a document on Lambeth's council website which said that it cost £7,305,640 to run nine libraries in Lambeth, £2,7339,195 of which was said to be 'corporate recharges’. This recharge averages of £304,355 per Lambeth library each year, but I understand that the self-contained UNJL carries overheads of around £20,000 per annuity. Might it be an idea to give serious consideration to wider piloting of this better value independent model?? (Questionnaire)
General comments on budget reductions During the consultation, the broader issue of budget reductions came up time and again. Generally comments were that reductions to library budgets would have negative impacts on services, and that other areas across the council should be considered for cuts, rather than libraries.
Library cuts will damage most sorts of learning – from ESOL students who attend classes in the library, young people whose families cannot afford the books and ICT necessary to complete their studies, undergraduates who need the quiet study space, U3A groups using the meetings spaces, to PhD students accessing specialist texts. (Email)
The library service is a soft target - lots of boroughs are cutting it. A lot of schools have been receiving money though including for new school buildings. The library service is a poor relation. Do you want to reduce it down so all we have is a cupboard in the corner? You have mismanaged the library service. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
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I think every library should get a chance to at least try to survive the cuts. No library is likely to survive if more than a third of its current budget is cut. A third of the budget needs to be cut. I think every library should be given a chance to survive a cut of 33%. If a library has still to close, its budget ought to get re-distributed to neighbouring libraries. (Questionnaire)
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Section 13 Resource Allocation
The Libraries Commission recommended that the fairest way of dividing the budget was by creating a methodology based upon population, need and library usage. Four options were put forward as a way to allocate resources to libraries across the borough. The options are included here including comments we received. Because the feedback given was so detailed, we have included it as a separate section.
Questionnaire responses about resource allocation Across the four options proposed, questionnaire responses would suggest very little difference in the level of support for each of the options. Although Options 1 and 2 appear to receive marginally higher levels of support than Options 3 and 4, these results are inconclusive. It should also be noted that, for all four options, the level of opposition is higher than for those in favour.
Another important thing to note is the high proportion of people not expressing an opinion, i.e. approximately one in four for each of the four options (that is either saying “Neither agree nor disagree” or “Don’t Know). When this occurs, it is generally accepted that there has been a lack of understanding of what is being asked, and this is bourne out in some of the comments made during meetings and in the questionnaire itself. It would therefore be advisable to use these results with caution.
Option The proposal Agree Disagree Option 1 • Taking account of the population and needs of each 28.7% 33.5% area • Setting three geographical areas ( north, central and south ) • Considering the number of visits per hour to libraries in each area Option 2 • Taking account of the population and needs of each 28.8% 33.0% area • Setting five geographical areas ( north, central east, central west, south east and south west ) • Considering the number of visits per hour to libraries in each area Option 3 • Taking account of the population and needs of each 23.6% 35.9% area
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• Setting three geographical areas ( north, central and south ) • Considering the average number of visits and issues per hour to libraries in each area Option 4 • Taking account of the population and needs of each 24.7% 33.2% area • Setting five geographical areas ( north, central east, central west, south east and south west ) • Considering the average number of visits and issues per hour in libraries in each area
Comments on proposals about resource allocation We received many comments on the subject of resource allocation from the questionnaires, and also at the library and public meetings. These included people saying that Lambeth had provide too much confusing information on budgets, and others that there was not enough information on the budgets in order to assess the four options.
Information provided about the budget and the options People said that they found the information provided difficult to understand and confusing, and in places vague or unclear. In this respect, it was suggested that information around costs needed to be more transparent. Some found it difficult to assess the differences between the options, and how these may play out if implemented.
Some of the information provided on running costs etc is puzzling. And a great deal of further information is needed to deal with reality rather than aspiration (we appreciate the irony, as many at consultation meetings have said there was 'too much information'!) (Email)
I’m just following up on the accounts side – if they are going to look at x figure after April, are you going to tell us what happened last year? So we can see this area [which is] has been reduced. If you are going to be transparent... so that we can see the savings. Last year’s expenditure is the same as this year’s? (South Lambeth Library meeting)
This question is unfair how can you expect someone to make an informed choice on such vague statistics? (Questionnaire)
I find these options completely unclear!!!! Despite reading the paperwork more than once, this part of the Questionnaire is incomprehensible. Please try to put yourselves in the user's shoes and employ good, plain English next time. Quite frankly, most people are not remotely concerned with how many geographical areas there are in Lambeth. They want to go to the
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library which is nearest to them because it is likely to be the most convenient. Please get real!!!! (Questionnaire)
We need to address needs as we have at the current time. How transparent is the information about library staff? Where is this information from? It’s not transparent because it’s really not all that clear. Every officer in the library service is contained in this booklet. It is difficult to follow. Are you going to base your budget on your assessment? (South Lambeth library meeting)
A few people even suggested that the presentation of information in this manner was a deliberate smokescreen. (Questionnaire)
All these options are baffling and it is hard to tell the difference between them. I suspect they are a smokescreen for an overall reduction in services. (Questionnaire)
I do not have an opinion - these four options overlap and I do not see much choice. (Questionnaire)
These options are so complicated I'd be surprised if you get any meaningful response at all. (Questionnaire)
Disagreement with using this methodology Some people felt that there was no need to consider any methodology for allocating budget and that any cuts should simply be spread across all libraries, based on the current budget allocations.
We feel it is much better to spread the pain evenly, at least this year. Pro rata, across the board - and with central services included. It never works to institute major change at the same time as making major savings. (Email)
Why cannot the cuts be shared evenly, with each library taking a cut of 37%? (Email)
That would involve raising quite a lot as the funding allocation shows that we as a library would receive only half of what was spent last year. I notice that the funding allocation is different for different libraries. Why do you not do a pro rata cut for all libraries? It should be the same for all. Surely you should start from the basis of a flat rate before putting on the weighting? (South Lambeth Library meeting)
I’ve read carefully the report, we’ve done calculations. The thing that strikes me is you’ve got to cut £750k, we have nine libraries. The cuts are roughly £100k apart from Brixton. Some
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libraries are taking a cut of more than a half. We’re all in this together? I don’t think so. We want to help out. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
Why is it, you say your staffing is completely new? What is fair? Why is it then suddenly all the small libraries have less money? Why do small libraries have the most cuts? Are you saying in the North we don’t need libraries? I want you to rethink given that you say you want to start anew. (South Lambeth Library meeting)
Indicators used in the proposed methodologies It was evident that some people did not agree with some of the indicators used. Others felt that they could not judge whether these were the correct indicators to use when allocating budgets.
The choice of indicators has proved especially problematic, with a large variety of criticisms from different areas. The options currently proposed produce large variations depending on which is chosen and the effects of the different groupings. The lack of proposed savings from central services also produce harsh and unrealistic cuts. These issues cannot quickly be resolved. Much work needs to be done on refining the methodologies (we'll help). (Email)
As noted this use of statistical matrices simply abdicates the responsibility to make properly supported judgments of need and how that can be met.(Questionnaire)
I don't trust this sort of number crunching exercise in other spheres and don't trust it here either! I am not able to contradict it from an informed position, but having observed the library service at work for more than ten years, I feel uneasy. However I dislike criticising adversely when I can not propose some kind of improvement, so I shall keep quiet on this topic. (Questionnaire)
Future population projections It was felt that possible population increases in local areas had not been applied to the methodology in all areas, for example, Nine Elms for South Lambeth library. However, a weighting had been applied to Clapham to take into account any potential increased use of the new library.
We are on the edge of Nine Elms next to a huge influx of residents over the next 10 years. Do your weighting calculations take this into account? (South Lambeth library meeting)
Friends of TSL are not convinced that Cooperative Libraries has taken full account of the major expansion in population in Tate South Lambeth’s catchment area that will result from
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the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Development – by far the biggest project affecting the borough in the near future. (Email)
Surely in many respects the footfall is a lot to do with activities in the town centre. Working on the assumption that the council is going to do a lot more for West Norwood. West Norwood is getting screwed again basically. (West Norwood library meeting)
Number of visits or visits per hour Some people agreed with the notion that better used libraries should get more money. However, we received many comments that actually the opposite should be the case, and that those libraries not well used should actually receive more investment. It was argued that those libraries had often been starved of investment in the past, and therefore should receive more money, and not less. Even where people did equate a high level of use with increased funding, many felt number of visits only gave a partial picture of its use, and should not be used in isolation.
Agreement with libraries with higher number of visits getting more funding Only thing I agree with is that if a library is very popular and receives a high number of visits per hour then of course they should be allocated more resources. – Option 1 (Questionnaire)
Visits is more important than issues and visits. (Questionnaire)
It needs to take into account total footfall, including visitors from other boroughs where libraries serve a community that straddles different council boundaries - Option 1 (Questionnaire)
It is fair to skew resources in favour of the most heavily used libraries, as long as usage figures do not conceal unfulfilled needs i.e. low take up because of low literacy levels or lack of local communication. (Questionnaire)
Divide the available budget by the total number of people using ALL the libraries to create a pound per head figure and then give each library a budget dictated by the number of people that use it. But, keep an amount back before you start to provide extra support for individual libraries or structural work etc. (Questionnaire)
Disagreement that number of visits gives a complete picture Some who responded said that the number of visits does not conclusively demonstrate the level of need for the resource.
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It seems quite fair. However, the number of visits per hour may not reflect real needs or usage as some people who are the most reliant on libraries e.g. elderly or disabled or lower- income, may not be able to get to the library often. – Option 1 (Questionnaire) )
Option 1: Number of visits is not as reliable as it may sound. If one person returns twice in one day is that one visit or two? Also the impact of libraries is on the individual. This is not measurable by number of visits. You need to find a better way of measuring impact that quantity. (Questionnaire)
The long period of closure of West Norwood library will misrepresent the need for this library in terms of visits. Locally budgets should take account of sections of the borough linked with good public transport and footfall in the area. Children, the elde rly and disabled require local facilities to use them. (Questionnaire )
Option 1: I think percentages can vary for number of visits and an average is not always representative. It might be that one library really needs some more financial backing for renovations for example one year more than another and the budget should be set according to a review of the library and its services as a whole rather than how many people are using it. The views of the library users on necessary improvements to services should be taken into account. (Questionnaire)
However, I think there could be an element of unfairness when 'considering the average number of visits and issues per hour in libraries in each area' unless; the total number of the population for each area is taken into account as I feel that the decision would be unfair. For example, a larger number of residents lived in the central east area and this was reflected in the number of books borrowed on loan. Then for a smaller number of books to be borrowed on loan in a smaller area. In these circumstances the total number of visits could be represented as disproportionate unless expressed as a percentage. (Questionnaire)
Option 1: I believe the arrangement of the boundaries is reasonable and that need defined in this way should influence the library budget for each library. But is imperfect as it does not reflect book burrowing which is at the heart of a library service. (Questionnaire)
Number of issues per hour As with visits, there was disagreement on whether this was a fair measure to use when allocating budgets. Some people felt that going on visits or issues per hour was simply too simplistic a measure to base these decisions on. It would be important to take into account the wealth of other activities that happen in libraries. To some extent, using such “easy to quantify” measures was considered a “cop out.”
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It was pointed out that a wealth of activities happened across libraries and that very often people did not come to the library to get a book out, but may often spend a number of hours in the study area, using the computers or doing some activity. However these other types of activities would not be captured.
There appears to be no consideration in this proposal for length or purpose of visit, just for the number of visits. Surely the type of visit (i.e. internet usage, collect recycling bags, borrow a book etc) has a considerable impact upon costs. So, maybe to a lesser extent, does the duration of that visit. (Questionnaire)
This is not only useless; it is also an antiquated measure of library use. libraries now are not only, and sometimes not primarily, used to borrow items: the balance between print and e- resources is shifting, local and central government documents are available online and not in print, the people's network is widely popular and used. Also, libraries provide services such as children’s' and homework clubs, which are not related to issues. Is the success of a library really still measured in terms of items issued? Is that the best way to measure it? And why should this inform allocation of budget? Maybe it should inform which percentage of budget is allocated to acquisitions: if users of a library are extensive borrowers, then that library may decide to invest a larger percentage of its budget in print resources. (Questionnaire)
Looking at the number of issues and returns works well for me where I tend to go in, borrow books and leave. However some days I visit with my young son and we stay in the children’s area reading the books for maybe an hour but will then leave without actually borrowing a book. So we need to be able to gauge this as well. (Questionnaire)
There used to be a children’s library here and then the archives moved in. We’ve gradually been shrunk in every way which has had a knock on effect on usage. We always worked well with Archives and library together, but it is a lot of space. (Minet Library meeting)
A number of our regular visitors are mothers and babies and a few physically handicapped people who do not come through the usual entrance, and presumably their frequent visits are not registered, which seems unfair. (Questionnaire)
Also issues per hour should not be a significant factor, in my opinion. Libraries are used in several different ways, and use is changing significantly with computers, and for reference and research. Visits, including computer usage, are more important measures than the number of books borrowed. (Questionnaire)
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You can't completely use 'issues' because the library provides more services than just books. It doesn't take into consideration internet use, reading the newspaper etc. Therefore it doesn't seem fair. (Questionnaire)
Allocating on the basis of number of visits seems like a fair solution. Although, it does not take account of some locations being more 'attractive' to residents or workers than others. Allocating on the basis of visits also takes account of people using the library for study or as a community space other than depending on the number of issues. (Questionnaire)
The number of library visits per hour may simply reflect how good the existing service has been over a period. So if one library has been delivering a poor service and local residents have stopped bothering to use it, this system just compounds the problem. Every area should get a share of resources appropriate to the number of potential library users within its boundaries. (Questionnaire)
Impact of poor previous investment People argued that a lack of investment in the past would often lead to poor and under-used services, and therefore low visitor counts. But it was considered unfair that this past lack of investment could then lead to a lack of investment in the future. Again, many suggested that those run down services should get more money and not less. Essentially a lack of visitors could not really be an accurate indicator of the level of demand for a library.
Visits per hour will only reflect the current state of the library. An already underfunded library will have less visitors per hour because it is underfunded not because of a lack of demand! (Questionnaire)
Using number of visits per hour does not take into account that some libraries are already better resourced than others so are likely to draw in more people. If service levels are to be uniform across the borough, this may distort things. (Questionnaire)
Visits may be dependent upon assets at a particular library, which has less as a result of a disproportionate amount of past investment. By allocating future funds this way you may be starving libraries that have already suffered in the past. (Questionnaire )
All 4 options are unfair as under-visited libraries will continue to receive less money, giving people less reason to visit them and continuing a vicious circle until they are eventually closed. (Questionnaire)
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I read in the slides about allocation of money. Libraries with more visits get more money; but those who get fewer visits actually need more money to attract people. (Durning library meeting)
I suppose the danger with this is libraries in the areas with the least need would get the least investment and as a result be used less because they wouldn't provide as good a service as they could otherwise. So you get a really run-down public library that doesn't offer much in an area where people don't desperately need it, so they don't use it - whereas if you invested in providing a range of exciting services people would use it. (Questionnaire)
But the usage of statistics when you are basing it on foot fall [is wrong]. You should be promoting West Norwood. It could be a case to increase it as foot fall isn’t as high. It shouldn’t be as it is, it should be promoting areas. (West Norwood library meeting).
This way, libraries that need most resources are allocated the least. Libraries are under-used when they have lost touch with their local community: their offer is irrelevant, their facilities outdated, their opening hours unsuited to the community, their services unknown and not publicised. Those libraries are the ones that require the most funding, not the least. (Questionnaire)
Needs of vulnerable groups People felt that high use of books (ie issues per hour) and other resources in libraries was closely related to social and economic class. It was commented that more vulnerable groups, living in deprived areas could lose out, simply because they tended to borrow books less than other groups. For this reason, some argued that the level of deprivation in an area should be properly considered in the allocation of resources. The methodology should therefore not rely on number of issues as a measure of need.
I think the allocation by population and needs within a geographical area is reasonable, but allocation by visits per hour tends to simply allocate resources to libraries that are already well used. This may discriminate in favour of areas where library use is high due to social class and knowledge and go against the aim of improving library use in deprived areas (as those posts are likely to have a low income). (Questionnaire)
People with less needs are more likely to have books, IT equipment, internet access etc. So in times of financial hardship it's good to focus on poorer people. But I think a lot of elderly people have a need to an accessible library service. They might not show up on employment figures for example. (Questionnaire)
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There are communities which are not articulate and these will be hardest hit. Both visits and issues is an arbitrary measure which can lead to incorrect deductions for each group. (Questionnaire)
Including visits and issues means the statistics discriminate against library usage by ignoring those who come into study, read papers, use the computer or photocopier etc who are most likely to be in greater need and who need more funding and better provision. At least statistics that refer to visits are more likely to reflect use by those who really need libraries, rather than those who simply find them useful (but of course we need to cater to them all). (Questionnaire)
Opening hours affects percentage of visits The number of visits and issues was considered unfair as some libraries were opened fewer hours and had fewer resources, and therefore could only provide limited access to residents.
The methodology in all 4 options does not take into account that some libraries have more restricted hours, less extensive library facilities ands smaller book stocks than others e.g. Carnegie library which is local to Herne Hill Society members. We feel that the figures produced by the chosen methodology are therefore flawed. (Questionnaire )
Considering the number of visits per hour to libraries is a very incoherent way of allocating budgets, not least because the opening hours of many libraries already limits access for residents. (Questionnaire)
Carnegie Library users borrow more per visit. But issues and visits will both be higher when we are open longer (as we must be to be a successful hub), publicised and promoted. In fact, issues are already increasing, having risen by 8.26% April - December 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. This trend should be taken into account. (Questionnaire)
If West Norwood was open 7 days it would be used more. Like a cafe that is always open, people always know it’s open so they always go. If it was open 7 days it would be different. If you would be giving an average of our figures, then wouldn’t it be a fall in the figure then on the existing budget? (West Norwood library meeting)
I think it is unfair to compare this library to those that are larger and open more. Funding should be more evenly spread. There is a very small book stock here. We have always been a really neglected library. It’s been a death by a thousand cuts. (Minet Library meeting)
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West Norwood library opens only part of the week and does not have Sunday opening, so you are not comparing like for like. West Norwood Library is the third most used library in the borough by your own figures despite this. (Questionnaire)
Visits are mostly to do with the opening times. E.g. Carnegie library never open on Sunday and closes too early on Wednesday and Friday. Only open 4 days per week (1 evening until 8pm). People working can't get to it before it closes !!! (Questionnaire)
Other factors to take into account for budget allocation? We received many suggestions from residents and stakeholders. Demographics were considered particularly important including population density, number of children and young people, and the use of various deprivation measures. Some of the areas suggested had already been included as part of the four proposed options, but we have included the comments here to show the areas that people felt were most important.
Impact of age on budget allocation Younger age groups are particularly high users of libraries and it was felt that this should be taken into account. People also wanted to ensure that school performance should also be considered in conjunction with income indices.
Was age a consideration? This seems very significant. Children are big users of books. There should be more allocation based on young families. (West Norwood Library meeting)
This depends on the age demographic of the area as well. A young area will get increased footfall, this needs to be looked at closely. (Questionnaire)
Population, and within it percentage of young people / children - deprivation index (integrated for the borough and split up into territorial sub-sets and wards) - literacy index, determined in collaboration with local schools - level of social integration / percentage of population with English as a second language. (Questionnaire )
Looking at the income of the various areas and school performance as well. it is important areas which are richer do not get more. (Questionnaire)
Impact of overall deprivation levels on resource allocation Many people felt that the level of deprivation in an area should be taken into account in the allocation of resources. It was felt that libraries were often essential for families who did not have IT at home, or quiet study space for children to do their homework in where there was not the space to do this at home.
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We heard how, in some cases, libraries can provide a ‘lifeline’ to people, providing them access to vital resources needed to carry out school work, to get a job, join a club to meet new friends, or simply as a ‘safe space’ out of the home.
Need should be prioritised over usage, as current usage is not necessarily on its own an indication of how much the population needs a library and may well use it in future with new outreach model and more publicity, more events, different ways of bringing people in and making the offer more modern (technology, the look and feel of the library etc). (Questionnaire)
I do think budget allowance should be made for potentially greater degree of economic hardship i.e. numbers of people who are school age/students, on benefits/low income, or retired as these people are more likely to need/use the library service. (Questionnaire)
More popular libraries should really get more of a budget. Most people can get to Brixton fairly easily, for example. But that doesn't really address the issue of how a library can support the most deprived local people, who may need extra support/incentives to use their libraries. Therefore, analysis of deprivation, and a library that provides services like a children's centre or story time, or other outreach services should also be factored into funding. (Questionnaire)
Other factors that should influence budget allocation These included population density, the working population using local libraries, and how close alternative resources are in terms of distance and via transport links.
By population. Only by population density! (Questionnaire)
Demographic, population, usage, area - distance to another alternate source where there may be more resources. Transport links. (Questionnaire )
More attention needs to be give to the working population in the north of the borough. A great many people do not reside in Lambeth but work here and contribute to the local economy and the community. Their needs are important. (Questionnaire)
It’s worth bearing in mind that the library service has to meet the needs of local people. The commissioning board has a set of facts. An important measure of deprivation is managing life expectancy. The libraries with most deprivation are this library and Minet. (Carnegie Library meeting)
Comments on the specific options
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In addition to the comments above, some people did say that they would choose one option over another and why they would do that. Here we have included comments to show some of the issues that people raised.
Option 1 Option 1: I've looked at all the options and this one seems the fairest to me. (Questionnaire)
Option 1: Seems logical and fair. (Questionnaire)
Option 1: This is fair but I will mark option three as best. (Questionnaire )
Option 1: Find this slightly better than the other 2 (as not split up in too many areas and visits are counted, not loans. (Questionnaire)
Option 1: I'm not sure how else you would do it. Seems reasonably transparent, and easy to understand. (Questionnaire)
Option 2 Option 2: I feel this option also unfairly penalises the libraries at the southern end of the borough in Streatham and West Norwood. (Questionnaire)
Option 3 Option 3: I’m not sure I understand what the difference is between this and the first option, except one takes account of actual books checked out and the other doesn’t. This might be helpful since many people use the library for other things (sitting and reading newspapers, computers etc) but may not actually check out a book each time they visit (Questionnaire )
Option 3: Visits alone rather than issues and visits would seem to be a fairer proposition, as many people who access libraries do not do so simply to borrow books. (Questionnaire)
Option 3: This is slightly fairer by taking into account issues per hour as well as visits, although the nature of each existing library building will to an extent determine both. (Questionnaire)
Option 3: This is fair providing that use of other library facilities is taken into consideration, i.e. use of computers, reading of newspapers and periodicals, events such as toddlers groups. Seniors groups and 'Friends' events as well as homework clubs etc. (Questionnaire )
Option 3: This is the least objectionable of the proposed options.
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Option 4 Option 4: This is the fairest method - but it's still flawed as many people use more than one library. (Questionnaire)
Option 4: Seems the fairest mathematically. (Questionnaire)
Option 4: Fair apart from consideration of the number of visits without reference to type or duration of visit. (Questionnaire)
Impact of split by geographical area on budget allocation There were mixed views about whether five or three areas would be preferable. Some felt three areas were too broad, and that five areas would be able to better able to represent the needs of local populations. However others felt that five areas would be too narrow.
Support for five areas Some people commented that five areas would be able to better able to reflect the needs of local areas compared to three areas, which many felt would be too broad.
Option 1: Lambeth is the longest borough in London, as you well know. Three geographical areas would be too large. (Questionnaire)
Option 1: "3 geographical areas" is too broad - Lambeth is too diverse and densely populated to be divided in this way. We need to maintain our libraries in areas of deprivation. (Questionnaire)
Population and needs of each area are good measures; but defining catchment areas is difficult. Dividing this large borough into five areas is preferable to three areas. Considering visits per hour will be influenced by the number and choice of opening hours, and so can be misleading. (Questionnaire)
South and North Region is a far too broad category to know what is really happening within those categories. It does not serve any real purpose and is slightly worse than the more varied categorisation in terms of delivering specified budget based on specific needs.(Questionnaire)
Option 2: Five areas better than 3 as catchments for libraries are fairly local so this division will better reflect the needs of the immediate community. (Questionnaire )
I don't think the three geographic areas represent a fair allocation of resources; it is better to look at smaller catchment areas that each library serves. (Questionnaire)
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Support for three areas Some people felt that five areas would be too narrow, and that it would create too many sub- regions within the borough.
I think it would be looking at areas too narrowly. (Questionnaire )
Option 3: I would favour this option out of the four. By maintaining larger geographical areas, redistribution according to need within the area is easier to achieve. By accounting for both numbers of visits and issues per hour, this option takes into account not only that the library is active with community groups, but also that how many active readers it attracts. (Questionnaire)
Too many sub-regions, two with just one library within them. Stick to three sub- regions.(Questionnaire)
The grouping of town centres with the proposed geographical split/s Some did not agree with the geographical areas proposed, because of the way that town centres within the borough would be “bundled together” in an almost arbitrary way. People felt that transport links should have been considered and the actual places that people would go to visit. Another issue was the grouping together of areas which some people felt had little in common. One person suggested that having a central east region only highlighted the predicament of libraries such as Minet and Carnegie which would be expected to “operate on a third of their current budget by 2013/14”, put together with Brixton.
Option 1: The regions you have created are a false bundling together of town centres which do not necessarily have strong links between them. No-one would travel from Norwood to Streatham to use the library and not many people travel from Clapham to Brixton for that purpose. It seems designed to write off certain libraries and depress their funding by comparing them to other larger libraries in an artificial way. (Questionnaire)
I prefer the catchment area option as it reflects more the actuality. The Lambeth Central Region has two centres - Clapham and Brixton. They have a different flair, different interests etc and should not be grouped together. Central East has a problem though, highlighting the general problem of these weighted budgets. Whereas Brixton will survive easily, Minet and Carnegie are supposed to operate on a third of the current budget by 2013/14. You can’t be serious! (Questionnaire)
I consider clumping Clapham and Brixton together insensitive to the realities of the population and usage. Using issue as well rather than just footfall is better (hence "unfair" as compared
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to "very unfair" in Q3a). How can any library compete with foot fall with a reference library? Yet Brixton gets an extra budget to its reference library which remains untouched! (see p 10) A budget which is higher than that for Waterloo, South Lambeth, Minet, Carnegie and equal to Durning. Why? It’s not like the huge new stock d oes get purchased for it. (Questionnaire)
This seems a fairer allocation of budget, although I still argue that a significant slice of Tulse Hill (where there are many housing estates) would use the West Norwood Library due to proximity. Similarly, a good slice of the Streatham Hill ward would too, but I guess that is included in the "South" calculations. In the southern geographical area, only two libraries serve an increasing population, so I do not think the allocation is entirely fair. (Questionnaire )
Resource allocation should take into account other facilities in the area People talked about how some areas already have other leisure and community services, and that more resource should be allocated to those areas that don’t. North Lambeth has access to all the leisure facilities of the south bank on their doorstep. Brixton, Clapham, Upper Norwood and Streatham have leisure centres. You should look at lack of other facilities. (Questionnaire)
The allocation of resources should be based on the existing layout and shape of the local communities and town centres. Using arbitrary geographical areas such as North, Central etc is very unfair on existing communities and is typically a means of centralisation for the benefit of the administrators only. (Questionnaire )
Council services and advice is a service that has to be offered regardless of whether a library exists to deliver this service. This has to be abstracted out of the figures as it unfairly inflates the figures of specific communities that have higher deprivation. Serving these communities is necessary and A Good Thing but has nothing to do with library provision thus should be budgeted separately. The council has to think of this as a situation of "What would it do if there were no library there?" Would it not deliver the service? Of course not. (Questionnaire)
Other comments about geographical split Option 1: I think that dividing the borough into three regions is unfair - I think the allocation by catchment area is more valid/fairer because in practice won't often travel to another catchment area within their region. They will use a library that is local in their community and that they can walk to easily. (Questionnaire)
The analysis is done on wards but really it should be on known areas and not wards, and Norwood only has 2 wards. The library needs to be somewhere accessible. (West Norwood library meeting)
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No opinion on number of areas Some recorded that they didn’t feel the number of geographical areas was important. No strong opinion on the number of geographical areas. I expect the budget experts at the council to consider this and come up with the fairest solution. (Questionnaire) )
The division into three - or five- geographical areas is meaningless. What should be taken into account in the allocation of resources is the population and needs in the catchment area of each library. (Questionnaire)
Impact of methodology on individual libraries Some named libraries where they felt the options would have a negative impact.
West Norwood: I do not believe taking the number of issues into account as fair as people using the library in different ways, not always taking something out. It is however very difficult to give an opinion on fairness as I would like to know when the visits per hour were calculated. West Norwood library has been closed for a very long time, if any of this data is based on usage of the temporary libraries then that is going to be an unreal statistic. (Questionnaire)
West Norwood: I do not think that the West Norwood Library gets a fair share of the budget. Some of the proposed changes seem vague and it is unclear to me how a cooperative library might work in practice. (Questionnaire)
West Norwood: The percentage drop should not fall by that much – by as much as 50% – that is just throwing them to the dogs. There should be a limit to how much you can cut from any library budget. The distortion with Clapham throws the money out for the rest of us. (West Norwood Library meeting)
West Norwood: At West Norwood the budget will be between 43% and 45% lower in 2012/2013 and between 54% and 58% lower in 2013/2014 depending on which model is chosen. At Brixton the budget will be between 23% and 35% lower in 2012/2013 and between 38% and 48% lower in 2013/2014. I will not calculate the budgets for other libraries. These figures already take into account estimated efficiency savings. If you take into account the costs which will need to be spent whether libraries are open or not, please explain how you think that changing the management of the libraries will make any difference to the cuts which WILL need to be made. (Email )
West Norwood: You’re right on the Clapham issue. It is one the least needy area, but from the Clapham One project. That library will attract 30% more visitors, so it’ll need more funding. If we’re noisy here, we’ll get more attention. We have Tulse Hill which is very needy. Around
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50% of our residents are library users. But in other wards it’s a third. (West Norwood Library meeting)
Waterloo: Somewhere large and well stocked like Streatham, with long opening hours and situated in more affluent area will do much better than somewhere like Waterloo. (Questionnaire)
West Norwood: It is unclear to me how Clapham - with fewer community needs than you would expect to find in West Norwood /Tulse Hill and greater disparities in wealth with lots of extremely wealthy people living there - can merit £100,000 more in budget than West Norwood with only a minute increase in the number of issues and visits per hour (52.5 in Clapham and 51 in West Norwood). Also, I doubt that your average Clapham resident is going to stop buying books on Amazon or Kindle because the council built a new facility. (Questionnaire)
Smaller libraries: What is very clear from these figures is that the smallest libraries (Waterloo, Minet and Carnegie) and one mid-range library (South Lambeth) are due to have their funding cut by very much more than the average for the whole service. (Email feedback)
Libraries should awarded for cost efficiency Efficiency and cost-effectiveness should be considered and a ranking produced to let libraries according to how efficient and cost-effective they are run. Then libraries ranking as less efficient and cost-effective should be helped as to improve their efficiency and cost- effectiveness, but not at the expense of diverting budget or funds away from better ranking libraries in the borough. (Questionnaire)
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Section 14 Community Hubs
Details of the consultation carried out The consultation on the community hubs was carried out using a variety of methods. These included: • Two workshops arranged by LVAC on 24 January and 16 April 2012. • Letters to 105 organisations occupying council owned premises. Letter sent on 15 February 2012 • Attendance at Forum meetings: o Stockwell Partnership o Streatham Action o Oval Partnership • Email address given for written feedback: [email protected] • Open days were organisation by Lambeth Accord and the Woodlawns Centre
Feedback received LVAC meeting 24 January Attended by 75 people LVAC meeting 16 April Attended by 45 people from 31 organisations Letters received 4 (these were received via email) Emails received 9 Forums Unsolicited emails and visits
Key themes from the consultation
Vision General agreement for the community hubs vision Location of hubs is important
Community hubs already in place Recognise key premises that have established local support services/developing networks
Finance and funding Requests made for council to support a period of transition. Invest in buildings and provide initial resource to establish new organisations
Issues re building maintenance Poor state of buildings; backlog of repairs.
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Support for proposal to invest in buildings over the longer term
Community involvement More time needed to create the platforms for future structure and management of buildings Hubs must be attractive for the community in which they are based
Capacity building Package of capacity building support needs to be determined cooperatively and resourced by Lambeth and other stakeholders Appropriate governance arrangements for each hub is a priority
Themed community hubs Hubs will need to offer a range of services/activities based on local demand and the space available Hubs need to be relevant to the local community A community hub does not need to be one building – it could be a cluster of buildings
Specific worked up proposals Specific proposals were received from: • The Brix at Matthews • Minet community hub
Date Organisation Key m essages 24 January LVAC supported • Development of community hubs a good idea 2012 Borough-wide • Vision still requires definition consultation event • Current community hub proposal too building led rather than community • Who will manage community hubs • Good governance is critical • Need to consider how the local community will be affected by the relocation of services • Provision of financial information is critical/financial transparency • Visioning at a local level is required • Partnership working important • Funding support will be required • Market development and capacity to support coproduction process needs everything from legal advice to information on asset transfer • Capacity building needed to support the transition
6 January Waterloo Action • Interested in being part of a community hubs network 2012 Centre in the borough • Local centres and forums need to be involved to North maximise the hub strategy
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Date Organisation Key m essages LVAC – • General support for the community hubs vision, however more information is needed to allow groups to organisation’s fully engage including more information about how the response model will operate
Borough-wide • Further meetings at local level needed at local level to discuss hubs in more detail
• Sector are concerned about • Capacity to engage – more capacity building required • Approach needs to be flexible • Development of hubs needs to be needs driven not building driven • Local communities need to be involved in the design and development of hubs in their area • Hubs may result in an increase in competition between local community/voluntary organisations 13 April Woodlawns • Hubs good for networking across organisations and events South • Wider range of people attracted – reciprocal benefits • Continuity at Woodlawns is important • Woodlawns – central in Streatham – as good as you can get in Streatham • People want to hang onto libraries because of an outdated view that they are required for information • Future use for libraries – specialist, educational ‘knowledge hubs’ 16 April LVAC • Some reservations about the sustainability of consultation event community hubs • The distribution of community hubs must reflect Borough wide need/location of hubs is important • Hubs must be attractive for the community in which it is based • Community involvement required in the development and running of hubs • Runs the risk of being a duplication of services • It will not wok without total commitment from the council • Governance – who will manage/run hubs • Community builds will help develop innovative/creative opportunities • Transparency required and council must show that they are committed to working alongside organisations • Capacity building and continued support is required • Potential conflict with the community and the council if the community want a hub and the council wants to sell • It isn’t just about buildings need to think about the services being delivered • Not one size fits all • If a hub involves multiple groups who owns it? Governance key 19 April Minet /Myatts • We are already a community hub. Field • The Myatt's fields park group has spent ten year Central redeveloping a number of buildings and infrastructure
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Date Organisation Key m essages to the park with more than 2 1/2 million raised and we are in the process of raising funding on a large scale from the heritage lottery to improve the surrounding buildings which include, Minet Library and Longfield hall, and become a hub for numerous other local organisations in the area – the list is over 20 organisations to date.
• As part of IEL incredible edible lambeth, we are one of only 3 food hubs in lambeth, and would build on this expertise
• Proposal received for development of Minet Hub.
Brixton Society • The Council’s proposed list of “frontrunner” hubs implies a standard package, but does not serve the Borough wide borough uniformly. If delivering services locally is comments important, then Clapham has been forgotten and provision in Streatham is thin.
• It is unlikely that the Council will be able to roll out a standard hub with a fixed range of services, though there might be some basic requirements for recognition as a hub. A more realistic pattern is that different hubs will offer a different mix of activities and services, depending on established uses, local demand and the space available.
• It is not essential for local services to be provided out of a single building - a cluster of nearby sites offering complementary services is potentially more adaptable and sustainable.
• The 2010 survey by Community Matters provided surprisingly little data about the condition or limitations of the buildings. These are key factors in the feasibility of adapting selected buildings to host a range of activities.
• The Council needs to recognise the practical limitations on community organisations and individual volunteers.
• Leases need to be long enough for the group to justify capital expenditure on repairs and improvements to the premises. Terms of 99 or 125 years are preferable.
• Managing an existing library as a Community Hub may be beyond the capacity of existing Friends groups.
Loughborough • One stop shop/signpost/noticeboard/village theme – Hubs meeting creative centres of excellence
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Date Organisation Key m essages Central • Pace yourself – walk before run in the development if hubs - build relationships/do not alienate groups • Need overarching vision for wider area: socio economic: community partners information distribution of funds • Hubs need to be relevant to the local community • Long term investment in fundraising and capacity building • Need to maintain momentum 16.3.12 Rebecca • A community hub would be a cluster of therapeutic Thackery practitioners - foot massage, toenail cutting for those (individual who do not have conditions like Diabetes & therefore response) would not require a podiatrist.
Borough wide
16.3.12 South London • Have reasonably well advanced plans for the future of Theatre the building – happy to share these and investigate how they could help the community hubs scheme. South • Once the building is restored they expect to be able to provide space for other groups to use during the day, and to become users of anybody else's extra space for rehearsals in the evenings.
Streatham Action • Very few Council-owned buildings in Streatham that could act as Community Hubs South • Possibility of other buildings being considered as Community Hubs – some discussion about the Palace Project
• Concern that the development of Woodlawns as a more generic Community Hub could displace existing user groups • The location of hubs is important
April 2012 Nettlefold and • Two models which they are interested in discussing Library Centre Coalition • An enhanced version of the status quo which will involve members of the coalition in running the library South and Nettlefold Hall
• A bolder version which will explore the full potential of the building to include an Events and Heritage Centre. Amongst ideas discussed so far are: an events management service, creative and crafts options, a centre for historical and research purposes in collaboration with the cemetery.
Workspace • Registered interest in continuing discussions about the North and involvement of workspace in the development of plans possibly across for the borough. all areas • Welcome consultation and inclusion of enterprise and
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Date Organisation Key m essages the recognition of the involvement of SME’s.
• There are some key ways in which Workspace experience may be able to benefit Lambeth and in particular the current review.
16.4.12 Brixton Green • Registered interest in working with the London Borough of Lambeth to establish a community hub on Central Somerleyton Road to serve the immediate and wider community.
• View Somerleyton Road as a key area to deliver Brixton community’s ambitions
• The proposal for Somerleyton Road is to include a community-led cultural hub, anchored by Oval House Theatre and including workshops and offices for the cultural and creative industry. Will offer training, health, employment and educational facilities, as well as housing and spatial opportunities for the community.
April 2012 Philharmonia • Philharmonia understands that the area currently Orchestra occupied by the Lower Marsh lending library is subject to an ongoing public consultation. Believe that the site North would match very well with their requirements, and are
keen to redevelop this site in partnership with Lambeth Council.
• The Philharmonia’s presence in Lower Marsh would help to expand the area’s artistic and cultural vibrancy beyond the Southbank Centre and The Cut.
22 April Friends of • If coproduction is to success people will need to be 2012 Durning Library found who are willing to engage in the management of libraries in the longer term. Fear that unrealistic North expectations will be made of local people.
• People are interested in being involved in helping the library but that interest may not extend to becoming trustees.
• Governance is very important if external funding is to be attracted for the restoration of the building.
• There is only limited space available in the library area of the Durning building which restricts the use that can be made of the building and its potential as a community hub.
• Want to work with the council to find ways of refurbishing and modernising the building and that the library service continues to be based there.
• The design and layout of the building probably mean
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Date Organisation Key m essages that it is unsuitable for its own fully fledged community hub.
Loughborough • LJAG and URH have been discussing the use of the Junction – Loughborough Centre and its future sustainability. Community Hubs Development • Potential to develop ‘hub and spoke’ model Group – written proposal • Looking to increase the usage of local venues with an
operational focus on collectively developing the Central following venues as a community hub – The Loughborough Centre, Green Man Skillszone, Marcus Lipton Youth Centre
14 th April Stockwell • Agree with flexible, economic workspace, and home 2012 Partnership for community growth
Comments on the • Emphasised need for open door approach, range of Cabinet proposal services and sign posting and local context with regard to • Local circumstances lends itself to a network of potential assets transfer facilities (buildings and density of population)
Central / North • Strong Governance required to support sustainability and focus on facility not service
• Buildings – South Lambeth Library, 157 South Lambeth Road, Springfield and add site at 13-15 Stockwell Road as a potential and key future site.
• Local engagement undertaken (ref Future Stockwell Framework report)
• Capital investment required - suggestions made as to sources
• Staffing and transfer arrangements to new models could be challenging
• Needs analysis underway on related work (community led commissioning)
The key objectives of a Community Hub from Stockwell’s perspective are to enable local people to • Obtain wider access to information pertaining to the local network of services;
• Participate and partner in local decision making processes;
• Contribute to the design and delivery of local policies, programmes and services.
Stockwell Partnership makes the following proposals given previous and current interest:
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Date Organisation Key m essages • As the recognised lead advocate for Stockwell, Stockwell Partnership will coordinate delivery of the Community Hub (Hub Objectives 1 – 3 listed above) in Stockwell.
• 157 South Lambeth Road should be transferred from Lambeth Council to Stockwell Partnership, either as a freehold or on a long (125 year or similar) lease, to sustain our coordination of the Stockwell Community Hub and other strategic services in the area, lever in external resources and to act as the northern outlet for services, alongside the other public buildings mentioned above. (note, Business Plan was produced in 2009)
• Stockwell Community Resource Centre should be the main outlet for Hub Objective 1 in Central Stockwell [included in this report for reference only, as it is owned by Hyde Housing]
• 110 Union Road should be the main outlet for Hub Objective 1 in West Stockwell, managed by a suitable third sector / social enterprise delivery agency. 110 Union Road should be marketed by LBL for transfer to a suitable agency with a requirement that whoever takes it on will provide in perpetuity a minimum level of community facilities / access points, in conjunction with the wider Hub network
• A Development Appraisal should be undertaken for 13-15 Stockwell Road and, subject to agreement, with the owners of the Old Cinema Site, the Tigrinian Development Association. If the TDA are interested 1, a Special Purpose Vehicle should be created to manage the development of this site 2. The Development Appraisal will need to be funded by the main landowners – LBL, and the TDA if the Old Cinema is included. This site is worth major investment as due to its size and location it has the potential to meet a multitude of objectives which would create a step change for regenerating Stockwell, including:
o a Community Hub with offices / meeting rooms for community / third sector organisations, incubator units, a shared space (including café?) where people can meet and receive services, information,
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Date Organisation Key m essages signposting, and leisure / cultural activities
o Space for new and improved retail (Stockwell’s current retail offer is very poor)
o The possibility of new Health facilities / GP centre for Stockwell (the site has already had initial feasibility work undertaken on it by Building Better Health)
o Housing or alternative development, a proportion of which can help to sustain the Community Hub and related activities
o Overall, this site (uniquely) has the potential to create a new, revitalised centre for Stockwell, through a possible ‘Clapham One-style’ development
21 Feb Stockwell Forum Pr iorities of Stockwell Forum Discussion Groups 3 2012 – consultation 1 There needs to be local participation in all meeting activities in the hub.
Central and North 2 There needs to be a mentoring facility in-house to sustain and develop local groups and services.
3 Networking and transparency must be a condition of using the hub.
• The word ‘Hub’ is meaningless
• If a network, then all hubs must deliver separate specialism’s, each hub would need differing management skills
• Inter-hub competition must be avoided.
• The Hubs need to provide opportunities for communities to meet and mix in flexible spaces
• Sustainability could be assisted via community charity subscriptions and other local fundraising options
• Communication is critical between and within Hubs
April 2012 Oval Partnership In broad support – laudable proposal if vision allows for community hubs to be created beyond doing something (North) with problematic LBL premises. Need to be greater in number locally – Oval, Kennington and Vauxhall in vacant commercial premises ideally More local stakeholder consultation required. Suggests best use of premises would not be for
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Date Organisation Key m essages community hub and proposed list is too short – creates something that’s high risk. Would extend range of uses - business and services – and where most local people socialise / do business (e.g. Oval Farmers Market or Business Park or empty shop) Council ought not invest resources if something suitable is available locally Interested in the proposal as an organisation, in LBL building, to become involved in the strategic development of local hub(s) but not manage long term – options could come from stakeholders Want involvement in determining local funding and disposals and officer to attend Partnership meetings Stakeholders could require project, development and training support The Brix at St • Registered interest in working with the Council to Matthews develop a community hub at the Brix.
Central • The Brix at St Matthews believes that it can make a positive contribution to the delivery and implementation of the community hubs policy and has submitted a proposal t crease a ‘St Matthews Community Hub’ in Brixton Town Centre.
• The proposal sets out three ways it believes it can contribute:
o Provision of low cost office accommodation for voluntary and community organisations
o Offering affordable facilities for meetings, seminars etc.
o Taking over management and maintenance of St Matthews Peace Gardens
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Section 15
Consultation feedback
Here we have listed all the feedback received. All the information is included on the Lambeth website at www.lambeth.gov.uk/CooperativeLibraries
Cooperative Libraries Consultation 2012
Comments Cooperative Library questionnaire comments Face to face interviews with library users comments Short Cooperative Library questionnaire comments Telephone interviews with non users comments Young people – 13 to 16 questionnaire comments Children – 9 to 12 questionnaire comments
Topline results Topline results Cooperative Libraries questionnaire Topline results face to face interviews with library users Topline results Short Cooperative Libraries questionnaire Topline results telephone interviews with non users Topline results 13 to 16 questionnaire Topline results 9 to 12 questionnaire
Equalities data Equalities data combined – Cooperative Libraries questionnaire Equalities data combined – face to face interviews Equalities data combined – telephone interviews with non users
Public meetings Waterloo public meeting Brixton public meeting Norwood public meeting Streatham public meeting
Library meetings Brixton library evening meeting
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Brixton library morning meeting Carnegie library evening meeting Carnegie library morning meeting Clapham library evening meeting Clapham library morning meeting Durning library evening meeting Durning library morning meeting Minet library evening meeting Minet library morning meeting South Lambeth library evening meeting South Lambeth library morning meeting Streatham library evening meeting Streatham library morning meeting Upper Norwood library evening meeting Upper Norwood library evening meeting Waterloo library evening meeting Waterloo library morning meeting West Norwood library evening meeting West Norwood library morning meeting
Staff Staff workshops combined
Email / postal feedback All email feedback, including submissions All postal feedback
Qualitative interviews Young people interviews/feedback Disabled adults interviews/feedback Portuguese interviews/feedback
Childrens’ Centre data Childrens’ Centre results – Jessop Childrens’ Centre results – Sunnydale Childrens’ Centre results – Maytree and Rosendale
Childrens’ drawings
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Lambeth Libraries Have Your Say consultation (May 2011 to October 2011)
Appendix 1 Questionnaire comments Lambeth Libraries Have Your Say paper and online survey comments combined Lambeth Libraries Have Your Say paper housebound survey comments Lambeth Libraries Have Your Say children’s surveys 5-8 year olds, 10-12, and 13-16 year olds
Appendix 2 Meetings Workshops with Lambeth library staff (June 2011) Open Space Public meeting notes (June 2011) Public consultation meeting (September 2011)
Focus groups Focus group – parents of under 5s Focus Group – Literacy Group (residents who have problems with their literacy) Focus group – older people Focus groups with those on low income
Appendix 3 Emailed comments Feedback by text Feedback by letter Notes from public meetings added to message boards
Email submissions
Community Hub consultation documents As detailed in section 14
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This page is intentionally left blank CABINET JULY 2012
Equality Impact Assessment Report Full Equality Impact Assessment Report (EIA1 2-13)
Date to EIA panel, department, DLT or DMT: Panel 260612 Title: Cooperative Libraries
Author: Valerie Dinsmore
Job title, division and department: Head of Policy, Research and Customer Relations Page 165
Contact email and telephone: 64682 [email protected]
SLB Sponsor: Jo Cleary
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London Borough of Lambeth
Full Equality Impact Assessment Report
1.0 Introduction 1.1 Business activity aims and intentions In brief explain the aims of your proposal/project/service, why is it needed? Who is it aimed at? What is the intended outcome? What are the links to the cooperative council vision, corporate outcomes and priorities?
Page 166 Currently Lambeth Council runs nine libraries spread across the borough. These libraries are:
§ Brixton - in the centre of Brixton, next to the Ritzy Cinema. Also contains the Reference Library. Visits 1 each year: 354,750 (122 per hour), open for 56 hours each week, 57 issues per hour;
§ Carnegie - in a residential area close to Denmark Hill and Herne Hill. Visits each year: 33,701 (21 per hour), open for 31 hours each week, 24 issues per hour;
§ Clapham - in the Old Town, a short walk from the Common and the shops. A new Clapham Library, on Clapham High Street, will open to the public early in 2012. Visits each year: 110,640 (43 per hour), open for 49 hours each week, 36 issues per hour;
§ Durning - in Kennington, close to the tube station. Visits each year: 94,938 (47 per hour), open for 39 hours each week, 28 issues per hour;
§ Minet - a small neighbourhood library in Knatchbull Road, near to Myatt's Fields Park. Also contains the borough’s Archives.
1 “Visit” statistics reflect activity from 2010 – 11.
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Visits each year: Minet 37,545 - Archives 8,136 (21 per hour), open for 34 hours each week, 16 issues per hour;
§ South Lambeth - between Stockwell and Kennington. Visits each year: 75,487 (37 per hour), open for 39 hours each week, 25 issues per hour;
§ Streatham - on the High Road. Visits each year: 198,214 (68 per hour), open for 56 hours each week, 46 issues per hour;
§ Waterloo - situated in Lower Marsh, right next to the market, in a building shared with the job shop. Visits each year: 40,156 (25 per hour), open for 31.5 hours each week, 15 issues per hour;
§ West Norwood - next to the main gate of Norwood cemetery. Visits each year: 133,440 (52 per hour), open for 49 hours each week, 50 issues per hour.
There is a tenth library located in the borough - the Upper Norwood Joint Library. This is an independent library service, grant funded by Croydon
Council and Lambeth Council, but is not part of either borough's “Library Service”. Page 167
The Council is proposing a radical new approach to providing library services in Lambeth. In line with the Council’s vision of being a “Cooperative Council” it has been proposed that library services are provided on a cooperative basis with the involvement of local communities in both the design and the delivery of the service. This new cooperative approach will be based on three broad commissioning principles:
§ Money - Be clear about how much we have available to invest in the library service in Lambeth and be clear about what things cost; § People - Work together with citizens and stakeholders (and not just the existing service users) to coproduce a library service in communities within the resources available; § Services - Use the money we have available to buy the services communities need to meet agreed priorities.
In addition, due to cuts in central government funding, Lambeth Library Service has to save £750,000 from its existing budget by 2014 (this represents approximately 15% of the operational budget for the service).
The Council is keen to transfer as many functions as possible to the communities in an effort to reduce bureaucracy within the authority, thereby freeing up a more substantial budget for actual service provision. The Libraries Commission (established in 2011) had recommended that the co operative libraries could form “Community Hubs ” where a range of services could be provided (both library and non library) at library sites. These services might include health services, employment support, adult learning, family support, etc.
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It is proposed that each library in the borough will be g iven a local budget. Local residents in each area will determine the extent of their influence in determining the way in which funds are managed and the operational management of each library. The Council will act as a “Commissioner” and enter into a contract with local communities in the delivery of the service.
Given the scale and the scope of this initiative, it is acknowledged that the development will need to be a phased one. The Council has undertaken a comprehensive consultation exercise with local communities on these proposals, including the budgetary position for each library. Consideration needs to be given to the way in which funds are allocated equitably across the service; the Libraries Commission recommended that there be a methodology that is based on:
§ Population; § Need; § Library Usage.
The consultation document entitled, “Cooperative Libraries” outlines the proposed options for the allocation of resources (please see Annex I). Page 168 The document details the minimum standard of service provision, based on the existing library offer. It also highlights some key recommendations made by the Libraries Commission for the improvement and enhancement of the service. Finally, it sets out the respective roles, responsibilities and obligations of both the Council and the Co operative Library.
It is proposed that the Council will initially retain management of the Brixton, Streatham and new Clapham libraries to allow time for the first phase of coproduction to be implemented in the remaining libraries.
2.0 Evidence dashboard, identifying the potential impact 2.1 Evidence dashboard Any proposed business activity (new policy or strategy), service change, procurement) must be made by carrying out an assessment of the likely impact that it will have for our customers. In this section please include both data and analysis which shows that you understand how this decision is likely to affect residents that fall under the target groups below.
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Target groups Impact: Impact analysis External data sources Positive Please explain how you justify your claims around impacts. (please provide any Negative Please include any data and evidence that you have collected hyperlinks) Both including from surveys or complaints to support your proposed None changes to business activity. Unknown General comments: as the library service is free and open to all, it is difficult currently to give a full picture of everyone who uses the library. People can use the library without registering.
Race Positive All users registered with Lambeth Libraries (as at 31 March 2012) Library performance data indicates that 54% of all users registered with the service identify themselves as White, with 45% identifying themselves as being of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) origins. Of the
8,569 people identifying themselves as being of BME origins, 64% Page 169 indicated that they were Black, followed by Asian people at 15%.
All active users (1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012) The trends described above are repeated for ‘active’ users of the library (i.e. those who have borrowed a book at least once in the last financial year). Of all active users, 57.7% define themselves as White and 42% identify themselves as belonging to a BME group. Of the 13,206 people identifying themselves as being of BME origins, 65% indicated that they were Black, followed by people of mixed parentage at 14.89%. Asian users follow closely behind at 14.5%.
The State of the Borough report 2011 suggests that White communities make up 67% of the borough’s population, whilst 36% of people are from BME communities. This would suggest that a lower percentage of white residents use the library service.
The Residents Survey (January 2010 – April 2011) concluded that ethnicity does not influence library usage in any significant way. Of all
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White respondents, 39% stated that they use library services, with 38% of Black respondents stating that they make use of the service. 55% of both categories rated libraries as good or excellent.
The cooperative libraries initiative should have a positive impact on local communities as they will play a greater part in shaping library provision and managing it. As the initiative is phased in, we will need to pay due regard to the needs of the local populations and ensure that the service is commissioned in an equitable and collaborative way.
Gender Positive All users registered with Lambeth Libraries (as at 31 March 2012) Of all residents registered with Lambeth Libraries, 58% are female and 41% are male. The gender split in Lambeth is 51% female and 49% male
(State of the Borough Report 2011). The Residents Survey (2011) Page 170 confirms this pattern by suggesting that women are more likely to use libraries and to rate them positively.
All active users (1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012) 61% of all active library users are female and 38% of all users are male. These trends may be partially attributed to the high proportion of young children using the library services, who are often accompanied by their carers who tend to be women.
As with ethnicity, this initiative should have a positive impact on both men and women as they will play a greater part in shaping library provision and managing it. However, as the initiative is phased in, we will need to pay due regard to the needs of the local populations and ensure that the service is commissioned in an equitable and collaborative way. Gender Unknown Library performance management systems do not currently collect data re-assignment for this equality strand. The service will need to consider how to adapt existing monitoring systems and mechanisms to capture data in respect of gender re-assignment.
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Disability Positive All users registered with Lambeth Libraries (as at 31 March 2012) 3,170 people registered at Lambeth libraries, have not requested information/books in an accessible format or asked for a home visit service. This represents the vast majority of users registered at 82.7%. Therefore, the figures relating to disabled people requesting specific services are fairly small: § Talking books: 6.5%; § Audio cassette services: 2.7%; § Large print facilities/services: 2.45%; § Other facilities/services: 2.19%; § Home visits: 1.62%.
The Residents Survey (2011) has suggested that disabled people or those who are ill are less likely to use library services. In light of this, the low numbers of people using the home visit service is surprising. The
library service may need to consider more creative ways of promoting Page 171 the service to disabled people to encourage greater take up.
The service also needs to address any gaps in disability access, particularly physical access both to and within the buildings. If this issue is not addressed then it could lead to there being a potential negative impact on disabled people as the cooperative libraries are established.
Age Positive All users registered with Lambeth Libraries (as at 31 March 2012) Of the 44,125 people registered at Lambeth libraries, the vast majority were aged between 25 and 39 years (15,535). This represents 35% of the total. This group of people is followed closely behind by children aged 4 to 12 years of age at 8,452 (19%) and then adults aged 40 to 59 years of age at 8,079 (18%). Young people aged 18 to 24 years make up 10% of the overall membership. This profile is reflected across each of the libraries to a greater or lesser degree.
Older people aged 60 to 64 years form the smallest group of users currently registered at total of 790 people; this represents 1.79% of the
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total population.
All active users (1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012) The patterns described above for all those registered with the library service are repeated for active users. Of the 27,751 active users, 31.5% were from the 25 – 39 years age group, 25% were children aged between 4 and 12 years and 16.74% were adults aged between 40 and 59 years. With regards to active users, 485 people are aged between 60 to 64 years (1.75%).
The data is not directly comparable to data contained in the State of the Borough Report as the categories used are different. The only category that is comparable relates to adults aged over 60 years. 11% of the
Lambeth population are aged over 60 years, compared to 1.75% of Page 172 active library users. This would suggest that older people are significantly under represented in the library service, whilst younger people and children are over represented.
The Residents Survey (Jan. 2010 to April 2011) suggests that young people aged between 11 and 16 years of age are most likely to use libraries than adults (80% of those surveyed use libraries) but that there is a sharp drop in usage among 18 to 34 year olds (39% of those surveyed use libraries).
The high number of people aged 25 to 39 years using library services may be partly attributed to them coming from households with young children. Within the Residents Survey, two thirds of people aged between 11 and 19 years of age rate libraries well and the 35 to 44 age group are also more likely to rate Lambeth’s libraries positively. 29% of young people access the internet from a library. Older residents are least likely to rate libraries positively.
In developing co operative libraries, the Council will need to give careful consideration to the disparity in the use of library services across the
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age various groups. Libraries need to be inclusive and the needs of one age group cannot be compromised in favour of another. Although younger people may welcome improved IT facilities, larger, livelier environments, older people may prefer smaller, more local libraries. Issues of transport links, parking and disability access are also crucial when improving access for older people. Sexual orientation Unknown CIPFA Plus carried out a Public Libraries User Survey in March 2010. This survey indicated that 93% of adults across the ten libraries described themselves as Heterosexual/Straight.
The Residents Survey 2011 suggests that there is no difference in the use or satisfaction of library services by sexuality. Libraries have organised activities focussing on the needs of people belonging to this group including, Brixton Queer Plus: Celebrating Gay and Lesbian Artists from Brixton Artists Collective. This workshop aimed to promote the work of local artists through exhibitions and the Page 173 opportunity to meet with artists. It also provided an opportunity to visit the black and gay cultural archives in Lambeth.
The library service also stocks specialist material for people who may be gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Existing library performance management systems do not currently collect data for this equality strand. The service will need to consider how to adapt existing monitoring systems and mechanisms to capture data in respect of sexual orientation.
Religion and belief Unknown Library performance management systems do not currently collect data for this equality strand. The service will need to consider how to adapt existing monitoring systems and mechanisms to capture data in respect of religion and belief.
The Residents Survey (Jan. 2010 to April 2011) concludes that there is no statistically significant difference in the use of the libraries or the
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ratings given to Lambeth’s libraries by religion.
All Lambeth libraries have sections dedicated to religion and belief.
Socio-economic Positive This development will have a positive impact on those on low budgets factors as libraries provide the opportunity to borrow and use stimulating and enjoyable resources free of charge such as books, DVDs, home computers with internet access, etc.
Marriage and civil Unknown Library performance management systems do not currently collect data partnership for this equality strand. The collection of data in respect of a person’s marital status is not deemed to be relevant to the provision of this service.
Page 174 Pregnancy and Unknown . Library performance management systems do not currently collect data maternity for this equality strand. The collection of data in respect of pregnancy and maternity is not deemed to be relevant to the provision of this service.
2.2 Gaps in evidence base Have you checked the council's equality and monitoring policy? What gaps in information have you identified from your research and evidence analysis? In your response please identify areas where more information is required and how you intend to fill in the gaps. If you are unable to fill in the gaps please state this clearly with justification.
Section 2.1 above has highlighted a number of gaps in our evidence base when collecting data about people who belong to one or more of the “protected characteristic” 2 groups outlined under the Equality Act 2010. As the development of co operative libraries and community hubs is going to be phased in, Council officers will need to consider very carefully the available data in respect of each library and ensure that the development is implemented in an inclusive and equitable way. As co operative libraries are established, performance monitoring systems will need to be updated and improved so that we can collect more robust data for all those groups that are relevant for this service; however, the
2 It is unlawful to discriminate against an individual because of any of the “Protected characteristics” in the Equality Act 2010. The nine protected characteristics are age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and marriage and civil partnership.
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CABINET JULY 2012 data generated will have some inherent anomalies due to the very nature of the service.
3.0 Consultation , Engagement and Co -production 3.1 Engagement and consultation with stakeholders Who are your key stakeholders and how have you consulted, co-produced or engaged with them? What impact has this had on the project/proposal/service?
Lambeth Council has undertaken a comprehensive and detailed consultation process which ran from 27 January to 27 April 2012. This included
§ Four public consultation meetings were held at a range of venues; § Two meetings were held in each library in the day time and evening – twenty in total; § A consultation survey was posted on the website for people to complete online or by posting a copy back to the Council; § Written feedback was received; § An 0800 number was publicised for people to ring in with responses;
§ A text phone number was also made available for those that need it; Page 175 § Telephone interviews and face to face interviews; § Picture drawing activity for young children; § Focus groups.
The consultation exercise focused primarily on the recommendations arising out of the Cabinet meeting in November 2011: § To give greater control to communities around each existing library to co-produce their future library service. This includes decisions on which location is the most appropriate place from which to run an accessible and effective service given the resources available. There is no presumption that any area with a library service will lose it; § To consider transferring library management and/or buildings to community-led organisations in each locality if consultation with local people shows that is the preferred option and if there is local capacity to take on such a commitment; § To explore opportunities for partnerships that secure inward investment in local library services, including franchises; § To modernise and invest in new technology, including the introduction of Wi-Fi, self-service technology, an enhanced e-book offer and improved online library services; § To introduce a new outreach model to help the most vulnerable in Lambeth’s communities to access library services; § To seek to maintain a library service offer to address the need around the current Upper Norwood Joint Library;
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§ To endorse the Co mmission proposal that Streatham and Brixton will open seven days a week and instruct officers to explore how increases can be made to the opening hours currently planned for the new library in Clapham; § To explore creation of a Lambeth Library Access Package to be hosted in new or alternative outlets across the Borough; § To remodel staffing structures and reduce management levels, shifting to a more modern, customer service focused model that helps build the community’s capacity to participate in cooperative services and offers an access point to wider council services; § To achieve further back office efficiencies, better and shared procurement.
Respondents were also asked to provide equalities monitoring data. This data is outlined in the more detailed Consultation Report accompanying this Equalities Impact Assessment.
Emerging patterns and trends - General
Page 176 A key element of the consultation process focussed on the development of cooperative libraries with local communities playing a greater part in the management and the delivery of the service. When asked for their views of this initiative and the degree to which people agreed or disagreed with this proposal, it was found that there was no significant difference between those who broadly supported the development (31%) or opposed the proposals (36%). It was also found that a large proportion of people said that they were undecided, answering “Neither agree nor disagree” or “Not sure/ don’t know” (33%). When asked if people supported or opposed the proposal to transfer management of some library services, and/or some library buildings to community- led organisations in each part of the borough almost half (45%) said that they were dissatisfied, with around one in four (26%) expressing support for this proposal. However, when asked about how people should be involved in deciding how budgets should be spent, 71% said that they felt local people should work with the Council to do that. 18% said that this was a role for the council alone.
In library interviews
635 people were interviewed within the nine libraries. When asked why people use the library as their main library, 81.6% said that the location was “very important” to them, with a further 15% saying that it was “fairly important”. Very few (3.1%) said that the location was not important
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CABINET JULY 2012 to them. However, there was concern expressed about the general neglect of the buildings. Respondents felt that the persistent neglect had led to further deterioration and a lack of access for disabled people and those with young children.
When respondents were asked about the primary reasons for use of the library, it was notable that the use of computer facilities was rated as either very important or fairly important; approximately half (53.9%), stated that computer and internet facilities were of primary importance. 67% of those respondents were of BME origins, compared to 40.2% of people describing themselves as being White.
In respect of improvements that need to be made to the library service, a large number of respondents suggested that the provision of Wi-Fi would enhance existing provision. 51.1% of these respondents were of BME origins, compared to 41.2% of White respondents:
People of BME backgrounds also felt that the opening hours of the library are very important to them (59.9%) compared to their white counterparts (45.2%). Respondents had stated that the cooperative library will need to offer greater flexibility in terms of opening hours to be Page 177 more inclusive.
When asked about the development of libraries as community hubs, over half (56.1%) of the respondents felt that it was a good idea and they suggested that the provision of “advice services for employment and training opportunities” would be a good idea, followed by a coffee shop or café (40.8%) and advice on legal and consumer issues (36%). Nursery and crèche facilities were chosen by one in four (25.9%), a one stop shop for council services (20.8%) was picked by one in five, with welfare benefits advice being supported by 14.1%
66.2% of those who prioritised employment and training service provision were of BME origins, compared to 44.1% of those of White backgrounds.
There is a marked difference in the needs of users from different age groups, as reflected in the interview responses. 56.7% of respondents who considered the book stock as being of key consideration were over 65 years of age, whilst 37% of respondents (aged under 65 years) considered the book stock as being of primary importance. Conversely, 36% of respondents aged under 65 years of age considered the use of computers and IT facilities as being of primary importance, compared to 25.4% of those over 65 years of age. This pattern is further reflected in their responses
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CABINET JULY 2012 to ideas for impro vements to the Library service: 49% of the under 65 year olds felt that the introduction of Wi -Fi facilities would enhance library usage, compared to 19.3% of those over 65 years of age. Similarly, 15.1% of those under 65 years of age felt that the introduction of Ebooks would be a positive change, compared to 5.3% of those over 65 years of age.
With respect to the development of community hubs, the three services prioritised by respondents were employment and training advice, consumer advice and nursery/crèche provision. 57.9% of respondents prioritising employment and training advice were aged under 65 years of age and 35.8% were aged over 65 years. With regards to consumer advice, 35.3% of those under 65 years of age felt that this was a priority, compared to 45.3% of those aged over 65 years of age.
When asked about the primary purpose for those using library services, the availability of book stock was identified as a priority by a significant group of respondents. Of these, 48.1% were unemployed people, 45.5% were students and 31.5% were in employment. Similarly, 41% of those Page 178 people not in employment prioritised the availability of computer facilities in libraries. 40% of those people prioritising computer technology were students and 31.1% were in employment.
With regards to the development of comm unity hubs, 65.4% of respondents prioritising employment and training provision were students, 54.9% of people were in employment and 51.4% were unemployed. In respect of consumer advice, 39.9% of those who prioritised this service were unemployed, 37.4% were employed and 27.1% were students.
Non library users – telephone interviews
200 people were interviewed to ascertain why people chose not to use the library on a regular basis. A significant majority of these users (81%) chose not to use a library because they already had access to computer technology and the internet at home. A further 69% of respondents stated that they preferred to either buy or download books, music, DVDs, etc, rather than borrowing them from a library.
Of the respondents stating that they have access to computer technology and the internet at home, 84.7% were from a BME background and 71.7% defined themselves as being White. 43.8% of those over 65 years of age stated that they had access to internet facilities at home, whilst
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81.3% of those under 65 cited the same reason.
When asked about the measures that could be implemented to encourage greater usage of library services, just over half of the non users (55.8%) stated that there should be more events held in libraries. 66.7% of these respondents were of BME origins. For people of BME backgrounds, the availability of space for more community events was of primary importance (68.3%); whereas only 41.7% of respondents favouring these facilities defined themselves as White.
49.2% of respondents in this group stated that libraries should hold more up to date stock. Of these people, 54.2% were of BME origins and 45% were White. 37.5% of these respondents were over 65 years of age and 49.7% were under 65.
The availability of Wi-Fi was another area of improvement recommended by 45% of respondents. Of this group of respondents, 56.7% were of BME origins and 40.0% were White. Page 179
Noise management was a key priority for people aged over 65 years; of those that prioritised noise management, 34.4% were aged over 65 years.
The interviews then focussed on the development libraries as community hubs and asked people about the services that could be made available. Just under half (45.5%) of the respondents prioritised the availability of a café in a community hub, followed closely by the provision of legal and consumer advice at 43.7%. A further 32.9% prioritised the provision of employment and training advice and 28.7% of respondents favoured the provision of a one stop shop for Council services. For BME respondents, the provision of employment and training advice was a priority, whereas those of a White background preferred the provision of legal and consumer advice.
Over half of all respondents stated that they did not want to have any involvement in the delivery of the cooperative library. 56.0% of these people stated that they did not have the time to get involved in such a development. The majority of people expressed the view that they might be interested in being involved in consultation events, or perhaps organising specific activities but they did not feel that they had the time to become involved on a regular basis. However, 38.3% of those willing to commit to one day a week were of BME origins, whilst only 13.3% of
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Accessibility of buildings
Accessibility was considered to be particularly important, especially by parents of young children and disabled residents. Comments focused on the need to be accessible for children in buggies and for disabled people in wheelchairs.
Outreach Services
There was a strong body of opinion that argued for the retention of an outreach service for the vulnerable and housebound. A specific survey carried out as part of the consultation said that users felt it was a lifeline. It was also seen as key by people who did not use the service.
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3.2 Gaps in consultation and engagement What gaps in consultation and engagement have you identified? Please identify where more consultation and engagement is required and set out how you intend to undertake it.
If the models of coproduction are developed, we will need to look carefully at the demographic profile of local residents and those participating in the initiatives to ensure that the process is inclusive and community representatives are given an equitable role within the development. The extensive consultation material, detailing what people want from their libraries,will need to inform the phased implementation of coproduced libraries
4.0 Equ alities Impact Assessment Plan
4.1 Recommendations and justification What are the main conclusions of this EIA? Are there any disproportionate negative or positive impacts, if so, are they justifiable and how will they be mitigated?
This EIA has demonstrated that the proposal to develop cooperative libraries, in principle, is a positive one which if delivered equitably could
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CABINET JULY 2012 have a positive impact for local communities. However, careful consideration needs to be given to the practical implementation of this model of coproduction as there are mixed views in the communities about the development. It would appear that there are pockets of interest within the community who want to take a significant role in the development. There is, however, a wider willingness to support developments by engaging in consultation or organising events and activities.
Given the gaps in available performance data in the library service, there needs to be some work undertaken in strengthening the performance management systems so that the service is able to generate more robust data to inform any future development. It is only at the stage of implementation, as each library is being transformed that the Council will need to examine closely the demographic profile of the locality, the performance data in respect of library usage and the views of local residents elicited as part of this consultation exercise.
There are important issues that need to be considered when implementing any approach towards coproduction. The Council will need to ensure that the library service continues to be a free public service that is accessible to all and responsive to the specific needs of the local communities. Given the diversity of Lambeth and the high levels of deprivation in some parts of the borough, it is imperative that the library service is better targeted to the needs of the most vulnerable in society who rely on the provision of public services that are sensitive to their needs.
Page 181 4.2 Responding to equality considerations The plan should include a description of how you will monitor, evaluate and review the business activity.
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Issue Resulting actions Timeframe Lead officer Access to data Whatever the model agreed for libraries, further work needs to As on programme plan Adrian Smith be completed on gathering data on usage by all equalities strands. Engagement of local Whatever the model agreed for libraries, engagement with local As on programme plan Adrian Smith communities residents needs to be strengthened in order to ensure that the library service meets the needs of all stakeholders. Development of new When implementing new developments, including those linked As on programme plan Adrian Smith initiatives to technology, consideration must be given to the needs of all equalities strands. Monitoring delivery A programme of customer feedback and managing performance As on programme plan Adrian Smith is being put in place. Development of hubs As required, additional equalities impact assessments will be As on programme plan Adrian Smith Page 182 carried out when implementing any potentially significant changes
5.0 Publishing your results The results of your EIA must be published as per the council's EIA guidance. Once the business activity has been implemented it must be periodically reviewed to ensure it has the intended impact and is still appropriate.
EIA publishing date July 2012
Policy review date
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July 2013 Assessment sign off: Name Date
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This page is intentionally left blank Proposed Cooperative Libraries and Community Hubs Codesign Meeting Schedule
157 South Lambeth Lambeth The Brix at St Durning Library Nettlefold Centre Minet Library Waterloo Library Carnegie Library Road/Springfield Centre & Accord/Angell Town Matthews Tate South Lambeth Library shops
Lead Officer: Chris Lead Officer: Chris Lead Officer: Chris Lead Officer: Chris Lead Officer: Chris Lead Officer: Gareth Lead Officer: Charlotte Lead Officer: Chris Sipidias Sipidias Sipidias Sipidias/Gareth Sipidias Edmundson Evans/Donna Wiggins Sipidias/Donna Edmundson Wiggins
09-Jul 10-Jul 11-Jul 12-Jul 13-Jul Sat 14-Jul Sun 15-Jul 16-Jul 17-Jul 18-Jul 19-Jul 20-Jul Sat 21-Jul
Sun 22-Jul Page 185 23-Jul 24-Jul 25-Jul 26-Jul 27-Jul Sat 28-Jul Sun 29-Jul 30-Jul 31-Jul 01-Aug 02-Aug 03-Aug Sat 04-Aug Sun 05-Aug 06-Aug 07-Aug 08-Aug 09-Aug 10-Aug Sat 11-Aug Sun 12-Aug 13-Aug 14-Aug 15-Aug 16-Aug 17-Aug Sat 18-Aug Sun 19-Aug
20-Aug Page 186
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b Cabinet 9 July 2012
Community Hubs
All Wards
Cabinet Portfolio: Report authorised by:
Cabinet Member Communities and Executive Director Adults and Community Equality: Councillor Lorna Campbell Services: Jo Cleary Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources Executive Director Corporate Resources: Councillor: Paul McGlone Mike Suarez
Executive Summary
This report follows the end of public consultation on the recommendations from the Cabinet meeting 12 th December 2011. The report sets out the strategic vision for community hubs, which will provide safe spaces for residents, community groups, social enterprises and small and medium sized enterprises from which they can operate and deliver services. They will provide a home where community growth, community action, volunteering and enterprise will flourish. This will be delivered within the following framework:
• £450,000 will be invested to kick start the community hubs programme. This will result in 25 new offices and 30 new ‘hot desk’ units being established over the next 2 years for local community groups and small enterprises to rent.
• A community asset plan will generate capital receipts of approximately £7m over the next 4 years to secure reinvestment into the community hubs network which will include libraries which will be transformed into community hubs and continue to offer a library service to their local communities.
• Subject to the delivery of the community asset plan, a £1m challenge fund will be established in 2014-15 aimed at community-led proposals, which extend or further develop the community hub network.
• Where capacity exists, community assets will be transferred into community ownership in a long term sustainable way through a revised community asset transfer policy.
• £160,000 over two years to be invested in community capacity building to support communities to build the required skills, knowledge and expertise to manage assets.
• An initial asset transfer programme of council owned property to the local voluntary and community sectors valued at £1.6m will be instigated and explored in 2012-13.
• Community hubs will provide resource centres for local voluntary and community sector groups. Page 188
Summary of financial implication
If successfully delivered over the next four years the plan will generate £11.5m of capital receipts for reinvestment, whilst at the same time secure, or invest up to £18m of assets into the community hub programme. The success of the programme will be determined by market conditions for the sale of assets. It is proposed that an estimated £7m of the generated capital receipts is invested in libraries, community hubs and a cooperative community hubs challenge fund. If the full asset disposal plan is achieved it could result in an estimated loss of £282,000 rental income per annum which will accumulate over the four year period of the asset sale plan. This will be taken into account as part of the Service and Financial Planning process. A phased programme to spend £450k of transitional funding is proposed to be invested in community hubs.
Recommendations Cabinet is asked to consider the following recommendations:
(1) Agree the strategic vision and direction for the development of the community hubs network as set out within the report. (2) Agree the community asset plan. (3) Agree for consultation the draft framework for a revised community asset transfer policy and report back to Cabinet in September 2012.
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Consultation
Name of consultee Department or Organisation Date sent Date Comments response appear in report received para: Internal Jo Cleary Executive Director Adults’ and 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the Community Services report Adrian Smith Divisional Director Culture and 13/6/12 18/6/12 Throughout the Communities report Maria Millwood Divisional Director Resources 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the ACS report Peter Hesketh Assistant Director Resources 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the ACS report Guy Ware Divisional Director Corporate 13/6/12 18/6/12 Para 7 Resources Sophia Looney Divisional Director Policy, 13/6/12 Equalities and Performance Uzo Nwanze Head of Asset Strategy 13/6/12 25/6/12 Throughout the report Alison Young Divisional Director Planning, 13/6/12 Regeneration and Enterprise Sandra Morrison Divisional Director Children and 13/6/12 15/6/12 Throughout the Young Peoples Service report Ann Corbett Head of Community Safety 13/6/12 18/6/12 Para 10 Valerie Dinsmore Head of Policy, Research and 13/6/12 18/6/12 Throughout the Customer Relations report Chris Sipidias Head of Community Hubs- 13/6/12 18/6/12 Throughout the Culture and Communities report Charlotte Evans Head of Active Communities – 13/6/12 18/6/12 Throughout the Culture and Communities report Gareth Edmundson Cooperative Services Manager, 13/6/12 18/6/12 Throughout the Culture and Communities report Mike Dickens Legal and Democratic Services 13/6/12 18/6/12 Para 8 Mark Nicolson Head of Improvement, Risk & 13/6/12 18/6/12 Para 5.3 Insurance Councillor Campbell Cabinet Member Equalities and 15/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the Communities report Councillor McGlone Cabinet Member Finance 15/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the report Councillor Prentice Cabinet Member Culture and 15/6/12 22/6/12 Throughout the Olympics report
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Report history
Decision type: Key decision: reason Key decision EITHER a) expenditure or savings of £500,000 or more X
OR/AND: b) proposal affects significantly two or more wards X
Authorised by Cabinet Date report Date report sent: Report deadline member: drafted: See above 17.5.12 26.06.12 18.06.12 Report no.: Report author and contact for queries: 66/12-13 John Kerridge, Assistant Director Culture and Communities 020 7926 2744 [email protected]
Background documents
Community Hubs Report Cabinet: 12 th December 2011
Appendices
1. Community Asset Plan 2. Draft Community Asset Transfer Policy 3. Consultation and Equalities Impact Assessment Report
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Community Hubs
1. Context
1.1 Following the end of public consultation this report will deliver a network of community hubs. The strategic vision for community hubs is to provide safe places where communities can come together and where their willingness to act mutually on local issues will be encouraged and supported.
1.2 Community hubs will be at the heart of delivering the cooperative agenda by establishing a physical platform to engage residents in community-led commissioning approaches.
2. Proposals and Reasons
2.1 As reported to Cabinet on 12 th December 2011 the Council’s current policy of providing buildings to community groups is unsustainable. There is general agreement with the vision, direction and concept of community hubs from our voluntary and community sector partners, but there remain concerns on three fronts that need to be addressed within this report:
a) Accessibility of affordable space for small and emerging community sector groups. b) Capacity of community groups to manage assets. c) Any disposal programme of assets needs to be undertaken after additional spaces have been created to replace any loss of capacity elsewhere.
2.2 To address these concerns this report recommends the following mitigating actions:
a) Transitional funds to be prioritised to increase access in the supply of new improved and affordable office/hot desk facilities for small and emerging local voluntary and community sector groups to rent. b) A capacity building programme to support communities wishing to take on additional responsibilities around the management of community assets. c) A revised community asset transfer policy that encourages the increased ownership of buildings within the local voluntary and community sectors. d) A Community Asset Plan that will secure reinvestment into the community hubs network.
2.3 Community-led commissioning is a structured way of deciding what and how resources should be invested. The process may involve:
• Assessment (or reassessment) of need • The identification of resources • Planning how to use the resources • Arranging service delivery through a procurement process • Monitoring and reviewing service delivery
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2.4 The fundamental difference between traditional public sector commissioning and community-led commissioning is that the latter process is managed on a “co- production” basis, whereby public sector officers/commissioners are required to work in partnership with community-led organisations to develop new priorities and investment plans. Residents are provided with information and opportunities to be much more than passive recipients of services. This goes beyond ‘consultation’ by recognising the unique position communities have in identifying need and may include them leading on the design, commissioning and delivery of services.
3. Community Hubs
3.1 The term community hub is a generic term and local communities through the coproduction process will determine the operational name of their hub. A community hub will provide flexible, economical space for community groups, the statutory sector, social enterprises and small and medium sized enterprises to operate in, co-produce and deliver services from. They will provide a home where community growth, community action, volunteering and enterprise will be nurtured. They may consist of a single building, a network of complimentary buildings, or assets. They may also have a themed service priority, i.e. young people, cultural activities, a library service, learning or knowledge offer, or mix of service outcomes,
3.2 The matrix below provides an overview of the direction of travel for the network of community hubs following feedback from the public consultation period and officer assessment. This list includes those libraries, that will be transformed into community hubs and will continue to offer a library service to their local communities:
Site Proposal
The Brix Hub • Owned by independent trust • Investment towards modernising and remodelling of the internal layout of the building. • 15 additional offices for voluntary and community groups, ranging from single person offices to four or five person offices. • Up to 30 “hot-desks” or open plan area spaces, each provided with a workstation and storage cabinet, telephone with external line and docking station for computer or laptop. • Access to other support services and pooled locally or borough wide that could reduce costs to local groups (e.g. accountancy support) • Shared office services, such as photocopiers and printers, kitchen facilities, phone answering service, and a central server for the building offering all resident groups cheap access to the internet and telephone lines (at a charge of about £35 per month plus 2p per minute for calls). • Training and meeting room facilitates. • The Integrated management and maintenance of the Brixton ‘Peace Garden’ through a cooperative entity. The Nettlefold • To reopen the West Norwood Library in the Nettlefold Centre Hub and to develop the building as a community hub.
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• Lambeth Council to continue to revenue fund library services within the building. • Lambeth Council to contribute towards design and feasibility costs. • Explore joint venture arrangement for future of the building including council, community and commercial partner. • Subject to capital explore option to reopen as a community hub with integrated: - Library service offer - Cinema - Cemetery Visitor Centre - Community space - Café/Bar • Remodel internal space to create rental space for small enterprises or community groups. • Prioritise £750,000 capital investment programme. • Linkage with Norwood Hall, South London Theatre and Norwood Old Library to provide additional community space. Minet Hub • Community-led consortia wishing to explore an integrated cooperative management and maintenance approach across: - Minet Library - Longfield Hall - Myatts Field Park - The Remakery • To become a community hub. • Lambeth Council to continue to revenue fund library and archive services. • Potential community asset transfer of buildings to a cooperative entity. • Contribution towards professional development of project feasibility. Lambeth • 336 Lambeth Road is owned by independent trust. Accord (336 • Interest from local community group (Angell Delight) to be Lambeth involved in parade of shops. Road)/Angell • Seek an integrated management and maintenance Town Shops arrangement between sites. and Boiler • Modernise and remodel Angell Town shop parade to create House Hub 10 rental units for small enterprises or community groups. • Potential revenue impact if shop parade transferred back to community management from the Council. • Determine future use of Boiler House, galvanising current enthusiasm to see facility improved and supporting programmes for young people with local management. Black Cultural • Organisation interested in continued use of Othello Close Archives Hub after their relocation to Raleigh Hall. • Modernise and remodel internal building (Othello Close) to create rental units for small enterprises or community groups. • Additional community meeting space for hire and to deliver elements of BCAs education programme. Carnegie Hub • Develop the range of services on offer at the Carnegie Library into a community hub in partnership with local community, independent school and library service • Lambeth Council to continue to revenue fund library service within the building.
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• Investment for design costs. • Additional meeting and rental space for community activities. • Modernise and remodel internal building additional space for community activities and small enterprises. • Create cooperative entity, which may ultimately receive the building through an asset transfer. The • Broadening the range of groups using the centre to increase Woodlawns sustainable income Centre Hub • Investment to modernise and remodel internal of building to create 3 additional rental spaces for community activities or small enterprises that offer appropriate facilities required of potential session and longer term hirers and other users . • To become a community hub 157 South • Explore the creation of a single cooperative management Lambeth Rd and maintenance structure across 4community assets to /Springfield create a Stockwell community hub network. Centre/Old • The asset transfer of 157 Lambeth Road, Springfield Centre, Estate Office/ Old Estate Office to a community managed trust. Tate South • Modernise and remodel internal layout of buildings to create Lambeth additional space for community activities or small enterprise. Library Hub • Potential link with future options concerning Tate South Lambeth Library. • Lambeth Council to continue to revenue fund library service at Tate South Lambeth. • Interest from Stockwell Partnership, London Community Foundation and the Lost Theatre. • Develop the range of services on offer at the Tate South Lambeth Library Lambeth Walk • Currently a doctor’s surgery on the ground floor. Hub • The site offers opportunity on the first floor of this modern building, with lift access. • The building has the potential of offering rental space for voluntary and community groups, as well as space for community activities and meetings.
3.3 Each proposal will now be developed to its delivery stage. This process may also include where applicable delegated authority to ensure community-led approaches or commercial opportunities are not unnecessarily delayed.
4. Community-led approaches
4.1 The Council will continue to support community-led approaches throughout the lifecycle of individual community hubs. This will include funding to support the development of their capacity to enable them to take on additional responsibilities, if they so wish. The Council will also provide methods of intervention when things do not go to plan. The successful delivery of this programme will rely upon good, transparent, healthy, robust and engaging governance arrangements.
Capacity Building
4.2 The Council has a budget of £320,000 over the next two years to support community capacity building activity in the borough. Asset management involving
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communities requires skills, knowledge and expertise and this will be a priority within this budget. Following feedback from the public consultation period, along with further discussions with Lambeth Voluntary Action Council and Community Matters this report prioritises £160,000 of this budget over the next 2 years.
4.3 This funding will be used to commission a capacity building programme that will support communities wishing to get more involved in the management of assets based on the following outcomes and priorities:
Outcome: Community-led partners are ready to take on additional responsibilities where they desire to do so, including the codesign and coproduction of community services and asset management Priorities Business and service planning Fit for purpose governance Leadership, negotiating and influencing Asset Management Managing people/volunteers Effective budget management Equalities, user and community Fundraising engagement
4.4 The balance of the community capacity building budget (£160,000) remains subject to consultation with local voluntary and community sector groups with the following issues identified by them as priorities:
• Generic capacity building across the voluntary and community sectors • Tailored training and business planning • The Volunteering Centre • The representative role of the voluntary and community sector in Lambeth • Building new and collaborative working (i.e. The Lambeth Association)
Accountability Framework
4.5 Where communities wish to take on additional responsibilities for managing council assets they will be assessed against an accountability framework, which will test the organisation, along with a public interest test. The accountability framework will be structured around work being taken forward as part of the Cooperative Council:
Organisational Test • Legality • Accountability • Governance • Quality • Adaptability • Value for money • Equality and inclusion • Deliverability • Affordability
Public interest test framework
1.Justifying the organisation: - Viability/Sustainability - Intentions of the organisation - Additional activities - Compliance with regulations and laws
2. Justifying the idea - Who will benefit from the proposal?
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- Is there a real need for the proposal? - Does the idea proposal link with broader strategies? - Does the proposal achieve value for money?
3. Public Involvement - How involved are residents in coproducing the proposal? - Activity that offers opportunity for the broadest possible engagement, including traditionally excluded communities. - Methods and activities of on going consultation and involvement
Transitional Funding
4.6 As reported to Cabinet in December 2011 the Council had made £450,000 of transitional funding available to kick-start the process of developing the community hubs network. Set out below is the estimated expenditure, which will now be developed into a phased programme:
From Libraries Cabinet Report Sites Investment Est. cost Nettlefold Contribution towards design costs. £2,500 Minet Contribution towards the employment £35,000 by local trust of expert to prepare feasibility and options appraisal report and develop funding applications. Carnegie Design and governance development. £5,000 Upper Norwood Governance development £2,500 Joint Library Durning Survey, condition and options £5,000 appraisal. Streatham Business case and options appraisal. £5,000 Waterloo Options appraisal. £5,000 Tate South Lambeth Survey, condition and options £5,000 appraisal. Sub Total £65,000 Equalities Impact Commissioning of expertise to £20,000 Assessment undertake EIA assessment The Brix Contribution towards adaptations to £70,000 building Angell Town Contribution towards adaptations to £90,000 building Woodlawns Centre Contribution towards adaptations to £50,000 building 157 South Lambeth Contribution towards the employment £75,000 Road/Springfield/Old by local cooperative entity of expert to Estate Office/Tate prepare feasibility and options South Lambeth appraisal report and develop funding Library applications. Contribution towards adaptations to building Programme Delivery of overall programme £80,000 Management Sub Total £385,000 Total £450,000
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4.7 This investment will provide the opportunity to unlock the asset disposal programme and generate capital receipts for reinvestment. The anticipated outcomes from this investment are as follows:
Additional office/location capacity for voluntary and 25 units community sector/small enterprises New ‘hot-desk’ places for voluntary and community 30 units sector/small enterprises
Capital Investment
4.8 An estimated £7m capital programme is required to deliver the recommendations in this report and the sister report on Cooperative Libraries. Once secured the programme of investment and renewal will be implemented across three strands:
Investment Plan Investment activity Est Fit for purpose library • Health and safety improvements service points • Disability access £3m • Reopening of the Nettlefold Transforming, • Installation of new technologies, including modernising and self service facilities updating existing • Building alterations in existing libraries to £3m library service points create additional rental space and into community hubs. transform into community hub. • 15% contingence for unexpected costs. Community Hubs • A designated capital investment fund Challenge Fund aimed at community-led proposals within £1m the hub network. • Building alterations in localities to create additional rental space. • Criteria to be designed to give priority to proposals that can lever in additional funding.
4.9 These funds will also contribute towards the programme management costs within the Culture and Communities Division over the next 2 years. Programme management will be locked into the strategic asset management procedures for delivering the Council’s capital programme. The council reviews the capitalisation of costs to ensure they meet strict criteria. Accordingly, proposals will be reviewed by the Capital & Taxes team within Corporate Finance to ensure the criteria are met before costs are charged to the Capital Investment Programme.
Community Asset Plan
4.10 The community asset plan is set out over 4 phases. The plan will manage sensitively a process that will create additional capacity in the supply of affordable spaces and the sale of vacant buildings. Voluntary and community groups who have and are meeting the terms of their lease will not face eviction under this plan. Voluntary and community sector groups currently occupying Council owned premises will have a number of options to consider over the next 4 years:
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1. Take up ownership of the building through the revised asset transfer policy. 2. Increased security of tenure through a new occupancy agreement followed by an investment sale of the building. 3. Opportunity to relocate into a community hub.
4.11 It is estimated that this approach will generate an estimated £11.5m in capital receipts depending upon market conditions over the next four years. This report earmarks £7m of these estimated capital receipts for reinvestment into the community hub network.
Phase Activity Est capital receipts Instigate community right to bid process across the whole portfolio of properties listed at N/A appendix 2. 1 1 (a): Consider asset transfer requests against (£1.2m) the revised asset transfer policy. 1 (b): Dispose of vacant community buildings when opportunity arises and sale of buildings £7.1m whilst providing secure occupation for tenants. Future Years Programme Increased space becomes available through the community hubs network. N/A 2 Consider asset transfer requests against the £0.5m revised asset transfer policy. Dispose of vacant community buildings when £1.0m opportunity arises and sale of buildings whilst providing secure occupation for tenants.
Increased space becomes available through the N/A community hubs network. 3 Consider asset transfer requests against the £0.6m revised asset transfer policy. Dispose of vacant community buildings when £0.9m opportunity arises and sale of buildings whilst providing secure occupation for tenants.
Complete assessment of capacity building N/A investment 4 Consider asset transfer requests against the £0.6m revised asset transfer policy. Dispose of vacant community buildings when £0.8m opportunity arises and sale of buildings whilst providing secure occupation for tenants. Estimated total capital receipts £11.5m
4.12 The community asset plan, subject to market conditions offers the following level of investment into the future provision of community buildings in the borough over the next four years:
Type of investment Estimate Value Council owned property earmarked for asset transfer £1.2m Capital recipients earmarked for investment £7.1m Property occupied by voluntary and community sector £3.4
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groups remaining in Council ownership Council building earmarked for community hubs £10.4m Total £22.1m
Estimated Revenue Implications
4.13 The community asset plan will result in a loss revenue income to the Council. This rental loss per financial year is estimated as:
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Est. loss of rental income £46,000 £47,000 £148,000 £41,500
Est. loss of income by department ACS £44,000 N/A £65,000 N/A HRE £2,000 £47,000 £83,000 £41,500
4.14 This estimated loss of income will be addressed as part of the Service and Financial Planning process. This will need to be assessed annually against community asset plan and market conditions. A revised community asset transfer may add a further revenue impact, which will be dependent upon the final policy agreed by Council.
5. Community Asset Transfer Policy and Insurance
5.1 Attached at appendix (2) is the framework for a revised community asset transfer policy. The proposed and revised outcome of the community asset transfer policy is as follows: Communities utilising, managing and owning assets sustainably to improve the social, economic and environmental opportunities within neighbourhoods and foster their self-reliance.
5.2 The cooperative vision for the revised policy is an increase community ownership of assets within neighbourhoods to stimulate the creation of new social markets and robust community enterprises that deliver local services and provide residents with new learning and employment opportunities.
5.3 It is proposed to enter into a 12 week period of public consultation with voluntary and community groups, including existing occupants through Lambeth Voluntary Action Council. The consultation material will also be available through the Councils website. The revised policy will be subject to approval by Cabinet as any proposed changes will amend the Council’s Asset Management Plan and Policy Framwork.
Buildings & Contents Insurance
5.4 The Council insures the buildings and contents for which it owns (or leases) and for which the council has an insurable interest. In the event of the building being damaged by an insured event i.e. fire, our insurance policy would respond. As part of any insurance policy conditions the insured is required to ‘take reasonable precautions’ to protect the property. In much the same way that if a private individual left a window open at home and were subsequently broken into insurers could decline the claim on the basis that the individual failed to take
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‘reasonable precautions’ to protect their property, the same is true should a community group fail to secure / lock up a library after they had finished using it and a break in subsequently occurred.
5.5 Community groups would be able to have access to library buildings outside of core hours without this affecting the council’s insurance cover providing that some form of hire agreement was in place outlining the terms of the hire including procedures for locking windows and doors and setting intruder alarms.
5.6 An alternative option could be to have a designated caretaker who has responsibility for securing the building at the end of any hire. The second of these options could have a financial implication but would reduce the risk of any oversight invalidating insurance cover. Any equipment, personal possessions, furniture etc which is brought onto the premises and is owned by the community group or an individual, would not be insured under the council’s cover and the owner of that equipment would need to ensure that they had their own insurance cover in place to protect their possessions.
Liability insurance
5.7 The main type of liability insurance is public liability which provides indemnity for claims made by a third party against the council (or an officer) for injury or damage that has been caused to them whilst using our premises, land, and equipment or as a result of a service being provided. Lambeth’s existing public liability insurance would provide indemnity for any visitor on library premises (even if during an evening/weekend hire) where the injury was caused as a result of the council’s negligence as property owner, i.e. a trip on a faulty floor surface.
5.8 There is a risk however that somebody could be injured during a hire on a piece of equipment brought in by the community group. In this scenario the council’s insurance cover would not address any claim as the equipment is not owned, maintained or the responsibility of the Council. To plug this gap in liability and provide cover, the Council’s liability insurance cover would need to be extended. This is currently being explored with the council’s insurers. It is important to note however that a proposed ‘hirers liability’ would only extend cover for claims that arise during the period of the hire.
5.9 It is for this reason that it is recommended that community groups have their own annual liability insurance that would provide them with a much wider level of insurance protection in relation to claims that may arise outside of any particular hire. Another point to note is that if any claims arise under a ‘hirer’s liability’ the extension would count against the Councils claims, which could have a significant impact in the event of injury claims.
6. Finance Comments
6.1 This report has a variety of recommendations that have complex financial implications. A number of the recommendations are subject to further work, to finalise the financial implications to the authority, and reporting. All proposals must have sufficient resources identified before the authority is committed to any expenditure or loss of income. Similarly, full appraisals need to have taken place before there is a loss of assets or loss of potential capital receipts. The report
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contains an overview of community hubs and expenditure to be spent from the £450k of transitional funding. The report recommends the adoption of the Community Asset Plan which details the future of a wide range of buildings assets which are used in the community. In summary, the Community Asset Plan will result in:
• The asset transfer of £1.2m of buildings assets to the community.
• The disposal of assets over four years totalling £11.5m.
6.2 The report sets out plans to invest £7m of the £11.5m of receipts as follows:
• £3m to make libraries fit for purpose including health and safety, disability access and reopening of Nettlefold.
• £3m to invest in transforming and modernising library service points into community hubs.
• £1m for a cooperative community hubs challenge fund.
6.3 These sums are estimates at present and are subject to further work to finalise the programmes and amounts to be invested. The proposed recycling of receipts to fund capital proposals set out in this report forms part of the recommendations included within the July Finance Review, also on the July 9 th Cabinet agenda.
6.4 The success of the programme will be determined by market conditions for the sale of assets. If the full assessment disposal plan is achieved it could result in an estimated loss of £282,000 rental income per annum although the full impact of the loss will accumulate over the four years of the asset sale programme. This will create a budget issue which will be addressed as part of Service and financial Planning.
7. Comments from Director of Governance and Democracy
7.1 Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 introduced a new “general power of competence” for local authorities, defined as “the power to do anything those individuals generally may do” and which expressly includes the power to do something for the benefit of the authority, its area or persons resident or present in its area. 7.2 The Localism Act also introduces a number of community rights, including the “Community Right to Bid”, whereby parish and community councils and local voluntary and community organisations will be able to nominate local land or buildings to be included in a list of community assets maintained by local authorities. A property will be included where its current main use furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community, and where it is realistic to think that this use will continue. A property will also qualify when it has been in such use in the recent past, and this may realistically recur within the next five years. Certain buildings or land will be excluded, primarily wholly residential premises. Social interests include culture, recreation and sport. The Council is responsible for determining whether a property qualifies for inclusion in the list and is also required to keep a list of assets that have been rejected for inclusion. When listed assets come up for sale or change of ownership, community groups
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have the opportunity to develop a bid and raise the money to bid to buy the asset when it comes on the open market. 7.3 By virtue of section 123, Local Government Act 1972, the Council is empowered to dispose of land held by it in any manner it wishes but, except with the consent of the Secretary of State, it may not do for a consideration less than the best that can reasonably be obtained (unless the disposal consists of a grant of a term not exceeding seven years). 7.4 However, in August 2003 the ODPM in its circular 06/2003 and the annex thereto (The General Disposal Consent (England) 2003) removed the requirement to obtain the Secretary of State’s specific consent for any disposal of non-HRA land in specified circumstances, i.e.:
(a) where the difference between the unrestricted value of the land to be disposed of and the consideration for the disposal does not exceed £2 million; and
(b) the local authority considers that the purpose for which the land is to be disposed is likely to contribute to the achievement of the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well-being of all or part of its area, or of all or any persons resident or present in the area.
7.5 The circular makes it clear that, when exercising these powers to dispose of land at an undervalue, members must be satisfied that the circumstances warrant such action and be aware of the need to fulfill their fiduciary duty in a way which is accountable to the local community. In addition, the authority is advised to ensure that it complies with normal and prudent commercial practices, including obtaining the view of a professionally qualified valuer as to the likely amount of the undervalue. The circular also points out that all disposals need to comply with the European Commission’s State aid rules:
“When disposing of land at less than the best consideration authorities are providing a subsidy to the owner, developer and/or the occupier of the land and property, depending on the nature of the development. Where this occurs authorities must ensure that the nature and amount of subsidy complies with the State aid rules, particularly if there is no element of competition in the sale process. Failure to comply with the rules means that the aid is unlawful, and may result in the benefit being recovered with interest from the recipient.”
7.6 Section 32 of the Housing Act 1985 provides that local housing authorities have power by virtue of that section, and not otherwise, to dispose of land held by them for the purposes of Part II of that Act. With the exception of the right to buy, disposals under this section require the consent of the Secretary of State.
7.7 The Department for Communities and Local Government has issued general consents pursuant to this section on 9 May 2012. General consent A.3.2 permits the Council to dispose of vacant land at any price determined by the Council. Vacant land is defined to mean land on which no houses have been built.
7.8 When considering the issue of State aid, regard must also be given to the various exemptions as set out in the General Block Exemption Regulations (800/2008) as well as the block exemption for de minimis aid. In broad terms, the de
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minimis block exemption permits grants of aid to undertakings, provided that grants to any one undertaking do not exceed a total of 200,000 euros over any period of three fiscal years. There are also new Regulations that came into force on 26 April 2012 that make provision for funding of services of general economic interest (“SGEI”) which allow for a higher de minimis cap without the need for prior European Commission approval. The Regulations act to exempt aid of up 500,000 euros per organisation granted as compensation for the provision of SGEI over the period of three fiscal years from the notification obligations under the EU state aid rules. Due to the size of this new de minimis limit, the Regulations are helpful to entities operating at a local level such as Community Interest Companies, charities and other organisations providing localised services. What actually constitutes ‘services of general economic interest’ is for Member States to decide.
7.9 Details of the consultation and community engagement undertaken are set out in paragraph 9 below and in Appendix 3. The following principles of consultation were set out in a recent High Court case. First, a consultation had to be at a time when proposals were still at a formative stage. Second, the proposer had to give sufficient reasons for any proposal to permit of intelligent consideration and response. Third, adequate time had to be given for consideration and response, and finally, the product of consultation had to be conscientiously taken into account in finalising any statutory proposals. The process of consultation had to be effective and looked at as a whole and it had to be fair. That required that consultation took while the proposals were still at a formative state. Those consulted had to be provided with information that was accurate and sufficient to enable them to make a meaningful response. They had to be given adequate time in which to do so and there had to be adequate time for their responses to be considered. The consulting party had to consider responses with a receptive mind and a conscientious manner when reaching its decision.
7.10 Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 sets out the public sector equality duty, i.e. that all public bodies are under an obligation to have ‘due regard’ to eliminating unlawful discrimination, advancing equality and fostering good relations in the contexts of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy, and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
7.11 Section 149 (1)(b) of the Act states that: a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Part of the duty to have “due regard” where there is disproportionate impact will be to take steps to mitigate the impact and the Council must demonstrate that this has been done, and/or justify the decision, on the basis that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Accordingly, there is an expectation that a decision maker will explore other means which have less of a disproportionate impact. Details of the Equality Impact Assessment undertaken are set out in paragraph 10 below and in Appendix 3.
8. Results of consultation
8.1 The public consultation on cooperative libraries and community hubs was concluded on 27 th April 2012. A full consultation report is attached at appendix 3
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of this report. A variety of methods were utilised to reach out to Lambeth’s diverse communities, which included:
• 26 public meetings to discuss proposals for cooperative libraries and community hubs;
• 5 public meetings specifically on community hubs, 2 of which were borough wide meetings organised by Lambeth Voluntary Action Council.
• 600 one to one interviews with users.
• 200 one to one interviews with non users of the service.
• Over 700 paper questionnaires completed, including art/drawing based contributions from children.
• Survey findings from 2011 as part of Lambeth Libraries ‘tell us what you think’ programme.
8.1 An analysis of the equalities profile of those engaged is provided within the consultation report. The key messages obtained through the public consultation period, which have been considered and influenced this report and its recommendations are as follows:
• The provision of safe space, i.e. • Interest in the mixed service use study space and places to enjoy. of buildings.
• There is locality based interest in • Mixed response regards borough neighbourhoods regarding wide ‘community-led’ library increased influence over service services. design but not at the expense of professionally-led services.
• Need to develop additional • Accessibility of and capacity for new community improvements to buildings groups to have access to economical rental space.
• Voluntary and community sector • Any planned asset disposal agree with the general direction programme needs to be of the community hub proposal, managed sensitively to take into but with caution. account new and emerging community groups.
8.2 The concept of working together cannot be simply imposed from the top, although the Council can create the right conditions for this to take place within neighbourhoods and with users, non-users, communities, staff and enterprises.
8.3 This requires flexibility to enable neighbourhoods to grow and take on responsibilities based on their capacity, ambitions and desires. This may result in a patchwork of arrangements across the borough with local support, which the Council will need to mould itself around by providing appropriate support.
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8.4 The public consultation period has identified a number of prerequisites required for successful codesign and coproduction (both within the community and council):
• Locality based people having the skills and behaviours to create and facilitate engagement, mutual interest, and cooperation and embrace opportunities. • The provision of transparent information on budgets, assets and associated running costs. • Recognising professional employees at the point of delivery are best placed to shape services alongside residents and communities. • Knowledgeable and confident staff with the skills and behaviours to grasp and nurture opportunities, share resources and power within a community hub environment. • An exceptional customer focus. • Localised autonomy of budgets, decision-making and asset management. • Council staff being responsible and accountable within their core duties for creating the conditions that enable residents and communities to be more than passive recipients of services.
9. Organisational implications
Risk management: A risk register for the programme is managed and reviewed by the transformational programme board.
Equalities impact assessment: An equalities impact assessment reports is attached at appendix 3 of this report. The findings of these assessments have been considered and mitigating actions are set out within the body of the report.
Community safety implications: Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998: The Act imposes a general duty on local authorities as follows: "Without prejudice to any other obligations imposed upon it, it shall be the duty of each authority to exercise its various functions with due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of those functions, on and the need to do all it reasonably can to prevent crime, disorder and substance misuse in its area". Compliance with the requirements of s17 may therefore include a two fold consideration i.e. having due regard to the likely effect of a decision on crime and disorder and doing all it "reasonably" can to prevent crime and disorder.
Successive surveys have shown that the level of crime in the Borough is the number one concern of residents. It is essential therefore that opportunity for crime and anti social behaviour is prevented and that the public realm environment promotes safety and security and deters criminal and anti-social behaviour opportunities .
Community Hubs will provide a prominent means of distributing crime prevention advice and details to residents, and are a key community resource for residents to gain advice around reducing the risk of crime. The adoption of a cooperative approach to libraries will increase the accessibility and awareness of this information to the community, and as such should secure beneficial consequences for crime and disorder.
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Environmental implications: Many of the hubs are also key civic buildings within the locality. Investment in them will provide improvements to the local environment. All procurement of capital improvements will be undertaken under the corporate procurement procedures to ensure sustainable impacts.
Staffing and accommodation implications: The report, along with its sister report on cooperative libraries proposes a £7m capital investment programme across a portfolio of buildings. Broader staffing issues for the Council are picked up within the cooperative libraries report.
Any other implications: There are none
10. Timetable for implementation
i. July 2012: Council to enter into codesign discussions with communities. ii.September 2012: Further report to Cabinet
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Community Asset Plan
Equalities Impact Assessment Low Medium High
Index
Page 2 Asset Transfer Proposals - Phase 1A Page 3 Phase 1B Page 4 Future Years Programme Page 5 & 6 Property Occupied by the Third Sector remaining in Council ownership Page 7 Property Earmarked for Community Hub Site Development Page 207
Page 1 of 7 Table 1: Asset Transfer Proposals - Phase 1A
Equalities Comments Lease Agreed Rent Estimated Capital Property Impact Paid Investment required Ward Years Start End Assessment Cedar Tree Grove Knights Hill 3 1986 2015 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
Clarewood Walk Coldharbour 2 2010 2012 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
Kennington Cross Princes 1 2010 2013 No £10,000 to £50,000 Medium Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme on the basis of a project proposal within the next two years.
9-11 Norwood High Road Gipsy Hill 3 1999 2010 Part Nil Medium Transfer to organisation as part of cooperative council programme
2a Norwood High Street Knights Hill 1 1976 Yes Over £500,000 Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme. Building in considerable need of urgent repair and investment. Subject to a HLF application. 66 Railton Road Coldharbour 3 1986 2014 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme. Subject to partnership work with CYPS 2b Saltoun Road Coldharbour 30 1988 2018 No Nil Medium Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
13 Shrubbery Road St Leonards 3 2008 2011 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
27 Streatham Place Streatham Hill 80 1957 2037 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme. Page 208
46 Knights Hill Knights Hill 25 2008 2033 No Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme. Rent waived Tyers Street Princes 27 1999 2026 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
Eastlake Road Herne Hill 3 2009 2012 Part Nil High Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
105-111 Landor Road Larkhall 59 1983 2043 LBL head lease holder. Transfer to tenant as part of co-operative council programme 66 The Cut Bishops 118 1987 2105 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
Weir Road Thornton 60 2008 2068 Yes Nil Low Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
Estimated Value: £1,200,500
Page 2 of 7 Phase 1 B: Sale of vacant buildings when opportunity arise and sale of buildings whilst providing secure tenancy for occupants
Lease Agreed Rent Equalities Comments Estimated Capital Property Paid Impact Years Start End Investment required Assessment 126 Atkins Road Thornton 20 1997 2017 Yes £100,000 to £500,000 Medium Tenant to vacate property in 2012 and relocate.
14-17 Calais Street Vassall 3 2010 2013 Yes Nil Low Tenant to vacate 2012 331 Kennington Lane - (March 2012 - Oval 20 1996 2016 No Nil Low Tenant to vacate 2012 in principle agreement to sell) 96 Riggindale Road St Leonards 3 2006 2009 Yes Nil Low Subject to the outcome of investigations as a possible specialist hostel 131 Lyham Road Brixton Hill Nil Low Property currently vacant, however, CYPS considering the use of the property as a children’s nursery 58-60 Rosendale Road Gipsy Hill 40 1977 2017 Part Nil Low Tenant to vacate 2012
73 Leigham Court Road Streatham Wells 10 2000 2010 Yes Nil Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 35a Killeser Avenue Streatham Hill 39 1987 2025 Yes Nil Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 162 Eardley Road Streatham South 15 2002 2027 Yes Nil Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 21 Frazier Street Bishops 15 2004 2019 Yes £10,000 to £50,000 Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern Page 209 56 Clapham Park Road Clapham Common 26 1991 2018 Yes Nil Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 4a Rectory Grove Clapham Town 10 2009 2019 Yes Nil Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 73-75 Stanford St. Bishops 20 2006 2026 Yes Nil Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern
Estimated Value £7,100,00
Page 3 of 7 Future Years Programme
Lease Agreed Rent Equalities Comments Estimated Capital Property Paid Impact Years Start End Investment required Assessment 363-365 Brixton Road Coldharbour 3 2003 2006 No £50,000 to £100,000 High Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 3 2003 2006 No No agreement N/A N/A No No agreement N/A N/A No 34 Brixton Water Lane Tulse Hill 27 1983 2011 Yes £10,000 to £50,000 Medium Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 3, 5 & 7 Coburg Crescent Streatham Hill 3 2008 2011 Part £100,000 to £500,000 High Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern. One unit occupied by TRA - need to look at reprovision. This would reduce risk to medium 56a & b Courland Grove Larkhall 7 1991 1997 No £10,000 to £50,000 High Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of 15 2003 2018 No tenure to a private concern Gothic Lodge Thurlow Park 55 1989 2044 Yes £50,000 to £100,000 Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 13-15 Stockwell Road Stockwell 3 1998 2010 Yes £100,000 to £500,000 High Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of 3 1996 2010 Yes tenure to a private concern 10 1997 2007 No 3 1998 2010 No 247-251 Sternold Avenue Streatham Hill 0 N/A N/A Part Further information required. New lease required. Page 210 Bishops Medium Current location for Waterloo Library 114-118 Lower Marsh 194-198 Railton Road Herne Hill 25 2004 2029 Yes Nil Medium Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 583 Wandsworth Road Larkhall 25 1987 2012 Yes Nil Low Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern
Buildings requiring further assessment 143 Brixton Road Vassall No agreement N/A N/A No Further info required Medium Further property and services assessments required 23 Dunelm Grove Gipsy Hill Licence N/A N/A Further info required Medium Further property and services assessments required
18 Benton Lane Gipsy Hill 25 2006 2031 Yes Further info required Medium Further property and services assessments required 297-299 Coldharbour Lane Coldharbour 25 1985 2010 No £100,000 to £500,000 High Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern 161-167 Clapham Manor Street Clapham Town 15 1989 2004 No £100,000 to £500,000 High Sell to tenant or Sell property with occupants having security of tenure to a private concern
Estimated Value: £4,400,000
Page 4 of 7 Property occupied by the Third Sector remaining in Council ownership
Lease Agreed Rent Equalities Comments Estimated Capital Property Paid Impact Years Start End Investment required Assessment Agnes Riley Gardens Thornton Licence N/A N/A Part N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors programme. 1 Aston House Larkhall 3 N/A N/A No N/A N/A Site will revert to housing stock if tenant no longer wants access to the property Ilex House Barrhill Road Streatham Hill 42 1985 2027 Yes N/A N/A LBL is head lease
Bolton Crescent Oval No agreement N/A N/A No N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors programme. 40 Bramah Green Vassall Licence N/A N/A N/A N/A Site part of larger redevelopment proposal .Building to be demolished and facilities reprovided 35 Brixton Station Road Coldharbour 20 2010 2029 Part N/A N/A Part of Brixton Rec site. Reduced lease value offered as part of match funding for National Lottery award. 53-54 Brockett House Larkhall 3 2009 2012 Yes N/A N/A Site will revert to housing stock if tenant no longer wants access to the property Brockwell Park Herne Hill 10 2012 2022 Yes N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered Brockwell Park Herne Hill Licence N/A N/A No N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors Brockwell Park Herne Hill Licence N/A N/A No N/A N/A Partprogramme. of Park. Lease agreement to be offered 29 Cancell Road Vassall 3 1998 2001 N/A N/A Site part of larger redevelopment proposal. Coral Street Living Space Bishops Licence N/A N/A No N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors
programme. Page 211 21 Effra Parade Herne Hill 3 2009 2012 N/A N/A Part of housing estate.
Gordon Grove Coldharbour 10 2009 2019 Yes N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors programme. Grange Mills Thornton 125 1991 2116 N/A N/A Council head lease Harleyford Road Oval License N/A N/A Yes N/A N/A open space Hillside Gardens Streatham Hill No agreement N/A N/A No N/A N/A Part of Park Iveley Road Clapham Town Licence N/A N/A N/A N/A Allotments Kennington Park Oval 10 2004 2014 N/A N/A Part of Park Kennington Park Oval 25 2002 2027 Part N/A N/A Part of Park Labumum Court Streatham Hill 3 2006 2009 Part N/A N/A Part of wider service delivery within Dykes Court sheltered housing 3 2006 2009 No N/A N/A estate 3 2006 2009 Part N/A N/A 7-13 Lambeth Walk Bishops 5 2009 2014 No N/A N/A Part of housing estate 32-40 Larkhall Lane Stockwell 30 2003 2033 Yes N/A N/A part of voluntary adventure playground provision Larkhall Lane Stockwell No Agreement N/A N/A No N/A N/A Part of school site Mostyn Road Vassall Licence 2010 2025 Yes N/A N/A Further information required Peartree House, Lunham Road Gipsy Hill N/A N/A Yes N/A N/A Further information required Priory Grove Go Kart Track Stockwell Licence N/A N/A Yes N/A N/A Part of voluntary adventure playground provision Pulross Road Ferndale 15 1999 2014 Yes N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors programme. Railton Road Coldharbour Licence N/A N/A No N/A N/A part of voluntary adventure playground provision Rectory Grove 2 Clapham Town Licence N/A N/A No N/A N/A Further information required
2 Somerleyton Road Coldharbour 1 2008 2009 N/A N/A Part of BTC development site
10 Somerleyton Road Coldharbour 5 2011 2016 Yes N/A N/A Part of BTC development site Stewart’s Road Larkhall 30 2005 2035 Part N/A N/A Part of voluntary adventure playground provision Stockwell Park Road Stockwell 10 2009 2019 No N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors programme. Streatham Manor Hall Coldharbour 14 1997 2011 Yes N/A N/A LBL is head lease which expires 2016
Page 5 of 7 Waterloo Road Bishops 999 2001 3009 N/A N/A Public open space Windmill Drive Clapham Common Licence N/A N/A No N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors programme. Windmill Gardens Brixton Hill No N/A N/A No N/A N/A Part of Park. Lease agreement offered as part of Early Adaptors programme. Binfield Road Stockwell 125 2003 2128 Yes N/A N/A Connected to wider portfolio 11 Bondway Oval 98 1991 2090 N/A N/A Connected to wider portfolio Hurley House Princes License N/A N/A No N/A N/A Further property and services assessments required 14 White Hart Street Princes 15 2005 2010 N/A N/A Further property and services assessments required 4 Worcester House, Kennington Road Bishops 2013 Yes N/A N/A Part of housing estate
236 Coldharbour Lane Coldharbour Licence N/A N/A N/A N/A Further property and services assessments required 14 Bridgetown Road Gipsy Hill 3 2005 2011 No N/A N/A Part of housing estate
19 Brixton Water Lane Tulse Hill No N/A N/A Required by CYPS Ashmole Street Oval 10 2012 2022 No N/A N/A Part of CYPS service development under co-operative council framework. Rent waived
Estimated Value: £3,400,000 Page 212
Page 6 of 7 Property Earmarked for Community Hub Site Development Ward Lease Agreed Rent Equalities Comments Estimated Capital Property Paid Impact Investment required Years Start End Assessment Overton Road (parade of shops) Coldharbour N/A N/A N/A N/A £50,000 to £100,000 High Earmark for community hub in partnership with the trustees of Lambeth Accord (336 Brixton Road). Co-operative Council early adopter project. 336 Brixton Road - NOT LAMBETH Ferndale Not owned by the Council N/A N/A High The Building is owned by an independent charitable trust and PROPERTY provides spaces for a variety of disabled peoples organisations. Co- operative Council early adopter project. 14 Bayliss Road Bishops No agreement N/A N/A N/A £100,000 to £500,000 High Earmark for community hub in partnership with trustees at Waterloo Action Centre. Co-operative Council early adopter project.
The Nettlefold Centre Gipsy Hill N/A N/A N/A N/A Over £500,000 High To be retained as a Library with option to develop a community hub in partnership with Friends of Nettlefold/Norwood Forum. Co- operative Council early adopter project. Co-operative Council early adopter project. 14-16 (Old Library) Knights Hill Gipsy Hill Various Licence N/A N/A Nil High Listed here because of its close proximity to the Nettlefold Centre. Building currently being assessed by CYPS as part of co-operative Council. A joined up approach with Nettlefold required.
Upper Norwood Joint Library Not in Lambeth N/A Nil High To be retained as a Library
Minet Library Vassall N/A N/A N/A N/A £100,000 to £500,000 High Library houses the Archive. To be retained as a Library with option to
develop as a community hub Page 213 157 South Lambeth Road Stockwell Lease 2001 2007 N/A tbc High Co-operative Council early adopter project. New lease agreement required. Asset transfer sought Carnegie Library Herne Hill N/A N/A N/A N/A £100,000 to £500,000 High To be retained as a Library with option to develop as a community hub Durning Library Princes N/A N/A N/A N/A Over £500,000 High To be retained as a Library with option to develop as a community hub South Lambeth Library Oval N/A N/A N/A N/A £50,000 to £100,000 High To be retained as a Library with option to develop as a community hub. Earmark for community hub in partnership with Stockwell Partnership. Co-operative Council early adopter project.
The Springfield Centre, Union Road Larkhall N/A N/A N/A N/A Nil High Earmark for community hub in partnership with Stockwell Partnership. Co-operative Council early adopter project. 50 Knatchbull Road Vassall 15 2009 2024 N/A £50,000 to £100,000 High Transfer to organisation as part of co-operative council programme.
Old Housing Office – Union Grove Larkhall N/A N/A N/A N/A £50,000 to £100,000 High Earmark for community hub in partnership with Stockwell Partnership. Co-operative Council early adopter project. Raleigh Hall Coldharbour 99 N/A High
The Brix Tulse Hill Not owned by the Council N/A tbc High Develop as a community hub in partnership with the Brix at St Matthews 16 Leigham Court Road Streatham Wells 99 2008 2107 N/A £50,000 to £100,000 High Develop a community hub in partnership with Streatham Darby & Joan Club. Overton Road Boiler House Coldharbour No agreement N/A N/A N/A No information High Earmark for community hub in partnership with the trustees of available Lambeth Accord (336 Brixton Road). Co-operative Council early adopter project. 1 Othello Close Princes 15 2012 2037 N/A N/A High Further property and services assessments required following BCA move to Raleigh Hall, Brixton. 5 2005 2020 N/A N/A High
Estimated Value: £10,400,000
Page 7 of 7 Page 214
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Draft framework for a Revised Asset Transfer Policy
Outcome Communities utilising, managing and owning assets sustainably to improve the social, economic and environmental opportunities within neighbourhoods and foster their self-reliance.
Cooperat ive To increase community ownership of assets within neighbourhoods to stimulate the creation of new social Vision markets and robust community enterprises that deliver local services and provide residents with new learning and employment opportunities
Responsibilities Communities will take responsibility for the management, design and delivery of sustainable assets. The Council will be accountable for ensuring assets transferred to the community continue to be used for public benefit and demonstrate value for money.
Page 215 Supporting • Managing Asset Transfers Procedures and • General Powers of Competence Processes • Capacity Building • Community-led Commissioning • Risk Management • Asset Data Management System
Interdependencies • Cooperative Borough Policy • Service and Financial Planning • The Localism Act • Capital Investment Programme • Asset Management Strategy • Regeneration and Planning Policies • Strategic Planning Framework
Page 216
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b
Equality Impact Assessment report
Full Equality Impact Assessment Report
(EIA10-11)
Date to Challenge 26 June 2012 Panel Title Community Hubs
Author Valerie Dinsmore
Contact details [email protected] ; 020 7926 4682
Jo Cleary, Executive Director Adults and Community Services SLB sponsor
To present the draft equalities impact assessment on proposals to Purpose of report introduce Community Hubs.
For discussion √
For decision
For action
For consultation Page 218
Previous work carried out on Council buildings occupied by Third Sector organisations found the current method of providing these buildings to be unsustainable. The report established the need to remove the Council as a provider of subsidised buildings to the Third Sector through the commercial portfolio.
As an alternative to the current system, the report suggests setting up a network of community hubs. It is calculated that an estimated £22m capitalisation programme over the next 3-4 years via transfer of assets to build future resilience and sustainability of the local Third Sector service supply market would be realised.
This EIA sets out to analyse the potential impacts these proposals would have Executive summary on the services provided from these buildings and seeks to establish if there are any opportunities to be utilised. Through stage 1 of this EIA the following strategic impacts have been identified: • Almost all organisations (98%) believe the current location of the buildings they are operating from is good. Relocation away from where they are would affect their operation. • Reduction in the number of buildings without creating more space in new community hubs would create a shortage of space. • Lack of disability access in many of the buildings. • An opportunity to reach out to those who are not currently accessing the services, such as the newer communities who have come to the borough and older communities who for various reasons have not been able to secure space to work from. • Cabinet are asked to assess this document to ensure that there are no opportunities missed. Whilst past and current benefits are important, equally important would be potential benefits to be realised as a result of achieving the Cooperative Council vision. • Cabinet are asked to assess whether a single approach to Community Recommendations Hubs and coproduction can be fairly and justifiably applied in all cases of asset transfer given the diversity in services being delivered, the location and vulnerability of some groups. • Cabinet are asked to note that disposal of public and community assets will require additional consultation.
Consultation with corporate boards/officers/departments
Audit trail Name Date sent Date cleared/received
LBL/PEP/EIA Report Template/V. November 2010/JRT 2 Page 219
London Borough of Lambeth Full Equality Impact Assessment POLICY: Community Hubs DATE: 26 June 2012
1. Introduction Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the public sector Equality Duty , requires all public bodies to “ have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities”. Local authorities must pay due regard to the needs of local communities when introducing any new policies or services and/or revising any policies or services.
The initial screening for relevance of this business activity is summarised below. Given its relevance to tackling inequality a full assessment is deemed proportionate.
1.1 Section 1 – Stage 1 summary Business High – needs very detailed and thorough process with significant external challenge. Full activity assessment required relevance Medium – needs reasonably robust process with some degree of external challenge. Full to equality assessment Low – needs a degree of rigor to confirm that it is in line with statutory duties but external challenge. Full assessment not required Relevance Race Gender & Disability Age Sexual Faith or Social identified Transgender Orientation Belief Factors High/ High High High High High High High Medium/ Low
1.2 This full assessment builds on the stage 1 initial screening and provides the following: • the aims and intention of the business activity; • equality evidence collected; • results of consultation and involvement; • the potential/actual 1 impacts revealed; and • justification of decisions made and action taken.
1.3 Business activity aims and intention Why is it needed? Who is it aimed at? What is the intended outcome?
Why it is needed • Following a survey of Council owned buildings occupied by Third Sector and community organisations, the Strategic Leadership Board, in their report of 14 December 2010 on “Community Hubs” recommended that an equalities impact assessment be carried out as part of the consultation process. The equality impact assessment would then feature in the subsequent reports when individual assets and Third Sector organisations will be identified more precisely. • In their report of 12 December 2011 on “Community Hubs Vision and Direction “ the Cabinet recommended that a variety of formal discussions be sought as part of the consultation and that central to that process will be a full equalities impact assessment. • The transfer of Council owned buildings to community groups and to Third Sector organisations (if implemented) amounts to a major policy change with far reaching long term impact on the service delivery mechanisms. It is therefore vitally important that such a policy change does not negatively impact on the quality of service delivered by these organisations. It is also an institutional requirement to make sure that public opportunities are open to all, without anyone being excluded on grounds of who they are. • The survey report on Council buildings occupied by Third Sector organisations including community groups found that the existing method of providing community buildings through the Council’s commercial portfolio is not financially sustainable and does not meet the needs of the Third Sector, communities or Council. • The same survey by Community Matters has shown that 25% of the surveyed buildings were in a poor state, including a lack of disabled access and poor health and safety investment. Where tenancy agreements are in place rents are reviewed to reflect the value of property, although in a small number of cases occupiers are reluctant to agree terms with the Council. • Funding from the Council to support occupancy and services has been in decline for several decades and
1 If the EIA is for the review of an existing business activity it must include an assessment of the actual impact and outcomes. LBL/PEP/EIA Report Template/V. November 2010/JRT 3 Page 220
this loss of income has not been replaced. This has resulted in diminishing service activity and no proactive investment into the fabric of the buildings.
Who is it aimed at? • The recipients and range of services from these buildings are as follows: - Children/young people: 75% - Local community/neighbourhood: 65% - People with disabilities: 51% - Older people: 41% - BME specific: 41%
Education and training: 98% Disability: 47% Social activities: 80% Accommodation/housing: 47% Community development: 65% Sport and Recreation: 45% Art and culture: 65% Environment: 45% Health and wellbeing: 55% Poverty relief: 39% Employment: 53% Religious activity: 29% Representative/advocacy: 47% Economic: 20% • While the survey tells us about those groups and individual currently accessing the services and buildings from which the services are delivered, it does not tell us about groups and individuals in the borough who are not accessing the services and the buildings for whatever reasons. For example, the survey found that 25% of the surveyed buildings lack disabled access and lack health and safety investment; there are usually communities within communities who do not often get an opportunity to be involved; the newly arrived, and those not well established. • Monitoring of service users in Council owned buildings which are occupied by Third Sector organisations has not been consistent. In the absence of data on service user monitoring, it is not possible to establish the magnitude or profiles of those failing to access the service.
Intended Outcomes
• The purpose of a Community Hub is to provide a flexible and economical space for the Third Sector, including community groups, social enterprises and small and medium sized enterprises to operate in, generate income and deliver their services from. Hubs will provide a local home where community growth, community action, volunteering and enterprise will be nurtured to enable the local ownership and design of services to take place. A Community Hub may consist of a single building or a network of complementary buildings within a neighbourhood.
• Community Hubs will be owned and managed by a local trust operating as a social enterprise where monies raised are recycled back into the running of the hub and their services. The main source of their income will be derived from rental income and services provided from the Community Hubs. The Council may rent space in the hub, or commission services to be provided from the hub.
• The Community Hub provides the opportunity to link up and share back office and on costs with other community buildings.
• The proposed site for Community Hubs offers development opportunities that will increase internal capacity and rental yield. The site also offers opportunity to attract non-Council investment to deliver improvements to the Community Hub.
• The building/s has the opportunity to provide a level of rental income that will cover core running costs of the Hub.
• The governance model will be fit for purpose and able to manage building assets sustainably and within a social enterprise ethos. This would be an existing or a new community interest company, development trust, or consortium.
2. Section 2 – Sound, consistent equality data collection and analysis EIAs should ensure that the business activity involvement and consultation approaches include communities and groups covered by the public sector duties and wider equality groups. This section sets out how equality information has been mapped, collected and analysed to better understand the likely impact of the business activity on equality and the main issues that could hinder the effective implementation.
LBL/PEP/EIA Report Template/V. November 2010/JRT 4 Page 221
2.1 Collecting and using data to identify the impact What does available data In your response please include: indicate about access to • Any further evidence captured or insight gained since stage 1. the proposed business • Equalities profile of service users/staff and beneficiaries by race, gender, activity and its intended transgender, disability, age, sexual orientation, faith or belief equality or socio outcomes for different economic status. equalities groups? • Evidence from relevant surveys and complaints.
The buildings survey report showed that the use of buildings and service take up by equality strands exceed their demographic representation (apart from Faith or Belief) in Lambeth. These are shown in the diagram below.
Equality Strand Demographic Profile Building use and service (Lambeth) take up Children and Young People 37% 74% Disabled people 29.56% (2011 51% estimate) Older people 10.9% 47% Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic 36% 49% Economic factors 35.5% ( children who 39% live in poverty ) Faith or Belief 70% 29% Gender 49% female 1%* and 74% children and young people
The 1%* service take up under the “gender” strand is very low but the potential impact on parents, guardians and carers is huge if taken in the light of service to children and young people. The responsibility for children usually lies with women who are majority carers or guardians. Any changes to nursery, crèche or play areas are bound to affect women more than any other groups.
Children and young people The above figures show that services for children and young people double their demographic representation. These are services delivered by 74% of the organisations and any significant reduction in children and young people provision would create an acute shortage space and a huge gap in unmet need. The main issue arising from children provision would be location as nursery places and after school activities should be conveniently located for pick ups by parents, guardians and carers. Working parents may suffer economic adverse impacts if changes are implemented without introducing mitigating factors.
Almost all organisations (98%) provide education and training most of which is to young people. Unlike changes to nursery and play area provisions, education and training would benefit greatly from the implementation of Community Hubs proposals by eliminating duplication, cost reduction (visible value for money), joined up and easy access. This aspect of service would be a good candidate for an early adopter programme of the cooperative Council. Taking responsibility for services, regardless of where they are accessed or which agency provides them, is one of the key cooperative council principles and almost all organisations have already been doing this in respect of education and training.
Older people The survey shows that service take up for older people (at 47%), is more that four times their Lambeth demographic representation which is 10.9%. The service level need for this particular group is very high and should be weighted accordingly in any future service plans. Whilst there are only a few organisations that provide dedicated services to older people, nearly half the surveyed organisations provide generic services to older people.
Disabled people This equality strand transcends all other equality strands leaving it potentially exposed to multiple disadvantages. The buildings survey revealed that 25% of the buildings surveyed are not Disability Discrimination Act compliant thus denying access to a large proportion of the population. The level of service need for disabled people would almost be higher that the 51% shown by the survey had all the buildings been accessible.
Ethnicity Twenty out of ninety-four (21%) of surveyed organisations provide services primarily to BME residents. This figure is lower than the Lambeth BME demographic representation which is 36%. However more organisations (49%) also provide services to BME users. These figures show that more organisations provide services on the basis of need rather than on ethnicity. This is a common trait across other equality strands where information is available. This common feature that is found in most surveyed organisations should be embraced, encouraged, nurtured and embedded into coproduction early adopter programme. This cross interest commonality (the golden thread) builds
LBL/PEP/EIA Report Template/V. November 2010/JRT 5 Page 222
on and strengthens community cohesion. More importantly, this development is initiated by community-based organisations and not by a statutory authority. This development lends support to the generally held thinking that single-interest organisations are more of historical importance than of future community development relevance.
However new communities would benefit from a more targeted approach. In their report on buildings, Community Matters observed, ‘with the exception of 2-3 specific organisations, the specific BME groups could be characterised as generally smaller organisations in terms of income/LBL funding levels.’
Faith or Belief The people of faith or belief make up 70% of Lambeth population but only 29% of surveyed organisations provide service or space to this particular group. Further investigations are needed to ascertain why there is such low level need or lack of take up. Following recent consultations (April 2012) it has emerged that a number of faith groups are being accommodated in these community centres or Council owned buildings.
Economic factors The 2010 Index of Multiple Deprivation places Lambeth as the 5 th most deprived borough in London and 14 th in England. Coldharbour ward is the most deprived in ward in Lambeth. The most affluent areas include Thames- side part of Bishop’s ward and the Dulwich border area of Thurlow Park. Generally speaking the State of the Borough report tells us that 35.5% of children in Lambeth live in poverty. Community initiatives to counter this are contained in the buildings survey report that shows that 39% of the surveyed organisations dedicate their activities to alleviate poverty in the borough. Given that youth unemployment is rising efforts to alleviate poverty should be given a high priority. Historical social instability has been linked to poverty and unemployment factors.
Gender In the context of this equality impact assessment the direct impact on gender are of low relevance. Only 1% of the surveyed organisations deal primarily with gender issues. This represents a huge disparity in gender imbalance considering that the Lambeth demographic gender split between males and females is almost 50/50. Indirectly however, there is high relevance when the impacts affecting women are linked to children and young people provision. Almost a quarter (24.46%) of all surveyed buildings caters for children and youth provision. This figure is further boosted by 74% of organisations, which among other things provide services for children and young people.
In recent meetings with 43 organisations, we found that all the all nurseries and day care centres are managed by women and the majority of the community centres are managed by men.
2.2 Positive involvement and consultation What do stakeholders In your response please set out: think about the business • The potential barriers to participation for the different equality groups. activity? • How you have consulted with key stakeholders in the process of developing the business activity to obtain their views on it. • How feedback and challenge from informed groups and individuals will be used to ensure that the final business activity is robust, addresses identified need and promotes equality of opportunity.
The Consultation process Consultation with stakeholders was done in three different ways: face to face interviews; two public consultation events and questionnaires. The sum total findings of these three methodologies are used in this equalities impact assessment.
Face to face interviews Altogether forty-four (44) organisations were interviewed in face to face interviews at their operational addresses. All but four organisations were operating from Lambeth owned premises. Two of the four organisations did not have premises to operate from while the other two were operating from non Lambeth owned buildings. At the end of each interview each organisation put forward some key messages for Lambeth Council to take note of. It is important to note that at the beginning of the interview process most interviewees were sceptical, cynical and had a tendency to hold back. There were also concerns that the Council wanted to take the building from them. The situation changed after explaining the background to the consultation and that Lambeth Council wanted their genuine views on the Community Hubs proposals.
Public events Two public consultation events were held on 24 January 2012 and on 16 April 2012. These events took the form of presentations, question and answer sessions and workshops from which each group would come up with a summary of key messages. Approximately a total of 110 people attended the two events.
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Questionnaires Forty-two (47) completed questionnaires were returned. The information gathered through the questionnaires is also used in the analysis of this assessment. We managed to get some responses from organisations that we did not manage to interview. However the majority of responses are from the same organisations that we interviewed. The rest of this assessment is based on the information we got from these sources.
The Vision Face to face interviews and questionnaires have shown that there is an overwhelming support for the vision as a concept. Some have described it as, “the best approach” and one said, “it helps community interactions and integration.” Those without space to work from and those without large enough space to operate from see it as an opportunity to find somewhere big enough to operate from. However the support at face to face interviews was a qualified one, depending on the governance and location.
Three organisations from face to face interviews opposed the vision citing fear of identity loss, funding competing and “an agenda to decimate smaller organisations”. A more robust resistance to the Community Hubs vision came out of the public consultation events where some of the points included the following:
• the proposal seem to be building driven and not community driven; hubs not flexible enough to meet needs of young people; • community assets should benefit all the community; • not clear who will be involved in the delivery of the hubs; • at the moment the underpinning priorities of the vision seem focussed on doing something with existing buildings that the council finds problematic • Lack of capacity for small organisations is seen as a major barrier to their participation.
Some suggested solutions Although there was a huge appreciation of the Community Hubs concept and vision a number of suggestions and conditions were put forward for it to succeed. These were mostly around “Engagement and Involvement”. Other suggestions made were that the hubs must be reflective of community needs where the hub is based; hubs must be community driven; support to smaller organisations as they would risk folding up; multicultural needs and awareness need to be built in the process and small organisations need extra capacity in order to manage this process successfully.
Engagement There were a range of views given about engagement.
• The Council must ensure there is complete transparency and that they are committed to working alongside organisations otherwise people will not want to be involved. • Resources are needed to help people engage. More accessible information that reaches everyone in the community should be developed and disseminated. • Participants stressed that more collaboration is required and made suggestions towards this. Smaller forums should be held to bring people together in different areas and start conversations about how to work together • The need for genuine constructive engagement between the Council and all sections of the community including those who are not in council owned buildings and that this has to be done at the early stage of policy development. • There is a tendency for the same people to be involved in lots of different pieces of work – how do we involve the people who do not usually become involved?
Some suggested solutions
The following are some of the suggestions put forward by the participants: • It is imperative that the community hubs fit in with the environment which they are based and people feel they want to be part of it. • The council must ensure there is complete transparency and that they are committed to working alongside organisations otherwise people won’t want to be involved. • There needs to be smaller forums to bring people together in local areas to start conversations around how to work together and different models. • More collaboration. • Resources needed to help people engage. • There should be a fair and transparent process – organisations/groups/people who wish to run hubs should be judged on their merits and their potential/or demonstrated ability to undertake the task
Location and the building Location has emerged as a critical factor in every response that we got. All responses have location as either
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“essential” or “very important”. What are different are the reasons given for their responses. Some said location was essential due to the geographical location and transport constraints that make it very difficult for users with young children to travel to other areas.
On the other hand there are organisations that view going to another location for services as loss of control and influence and loss of good community relations cultivated over the years. Any development of hubs needs to consider the needs of those smaller community groups, working with specific parts of the community.
Funding competition Most small organisations were dependent on local authority funding. Securing private funding is very difficult for small organisations and the fear is that sharing a building with larger organisation that may be proving similar services will add to this issue. The small organisations also fear that they may lose their cliental base to the bigger organisations. This thinking overshadows the opportunities for growth and financial savings that come with collaborative working. Sharing space, facilities and back office functions could result in huge savings. There is a need for awareness training for organisations to appreciate the benefits of collaborative.
It must be pointed out here that there are already some organisations that are having exploratory discussions on collaborative working.
2.3 Gaps in information What gaps in information In your response please identify: have you identified? • Areas where more information is required and longer term measures to be taken to strengthen data. As with many other services, information on sexual orientation is hard to find mainly because there is no monitoring being carried out. Only one organisation provides services for older LGBT members of the community.
Some of the organisations contacted felt that they needed more information on community hubs, in order to better contribute to the discussions.
A number of organisations displayed a lack of knowledge about disability access and needs. As part of future developments of community buildings, a more detailed focus on accessibility issues is needed.
3. Section 3 – Assessing impact
It is essential to consider not just the intended consequences of the business activity but also any unintended consequence and barriers that might prevent it being effective for certain community groups. Where a business activity is found to have either positive or negative impact on a particular group it will need to be revised or justified within the permits of the law. This section sets out how equality information has been analysed and the likely impact identified.
3.1 Testing for negative impact and positive impact
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From evidence analysed In your response for each equality group please set out: could the business • Access to and potential take up of service, where appropriate activity have differential, • Potential impact of business activity revealed and justification disproportionate or • If differential or disproportionate impact amount to unlawful indirect or direct adverse impact on discrimination how is this justifiable under legislation? equality groups? Race The information gathered from the Community Matters survey and consultations by Lambeth Council shows that the take up of and access to services by BME communities overwhelmingly exceeds the BME demographic representation in Lambeth. There are examples of non BME groups that provide 66% of their service to BME users; there are some BME groups that elected non BME members to their committees.
There is also evidence of cross ethnicity working/networking taking place. Only three organisations from the survey provide services to a specified ethnic group but even they have shown examples of flexible inclusive practices.
Most of the organisations are small and dominated by members of the BME communities. Given this scenario, it becomes apparent that reduction in service centres without a matching increase in capacity in emerging Community Hubs would disproportionately disadvantage BAME communities.
Gender Nurseries, Day Care Centres, Care Homes and Adventure Playgrounds form the majority organisations operating from Lambeth owned buildings. Almost all of these organisations are managed and staffed by women.
Services provided by these organisations are location based. They are either on the estate close to the users or where they are easily accessible or in a park. One organisation has a motorway forming a physical barrier making crossing dangerous for mothers pushing prams. People use these services either because they are close to home, close to work, close to school or they are easily accessible.
Disability A survey carried out has shown that 25% of the buildings have no disabled access. A closer inspection during the recent consultation has shown that the figure is a lot higher as the buildings previously deemed to be accessible are only partially accessible as access is restricted to the ground floor in most cases and there are no disabled toilets.
This information clearly shows that disabled people have a limited access to resources and services.
The opportunity now exists to remedy the situation given that we are now aware of this huge gap in the quality of spaces available. It is also an opportunity to ensure that all the proposed hub centres are fully accessible.
Age All ages are getting services from organisations operating from Lambeth owned properties. Children and young people form the largest age range benefiting from services being provided from the Lambeth owned buildings. Many of the community organisations spoke of the needs of those children and young people who have been excluded from school, or are at risk for other reasons.
Sexual orientation There is lack of information on this particular. Please see the section on “Gaps in Information” for more details and long term measures.
Religion and belief Following recent consultations (April 2012) it has emerged that a number of faith groups are being accommodated in these community centres or Council owned buildings. Most of these groups are from BME communities.
Socio-economic factors The latest deprivation data is the 2010 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). IMD 2010 places Lambeth as the 5th most deprived borough in London and 14th most deprived in England, a relative worsening of position since 2008 when Lambeth was ranked 19th most deprived. This is less deprived than Hackney, Tower Hamlets, and Newham which are the most deprived nationally and similar to boroughs like Southwark (26th), Lewisham (24th) and Haringey (18th).
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Hall and Stockwell are not too far behind Coldharbour ward in deprivation terms. The organisations in these areas are poorly funded and have very limited means of leveraging external funding. It is vital that these areas continue to get access to community hubs in order to provide the needed services.
3.3 Equality impact summary
Potential impact identified – High (H), Medium (M), Low(L) Potential impact Race Gender Disability Age Sexuality Faith or Socio - identified Orientation Belief economic factors Opportunity to High High High High High High High promote equality Risk of differential/ Disproportionate/ Low Low Low High Unknown Low Medium adverse impact
4. Section 4 - Addressing adverse impact and promoting equality This section sets out conclusion and specific actions taken or to be taken to deal with any adverse impact and to promote equality.
4.1 Developing inclusive services and promoting equality
What are the main Please identify: conclusions and the • Changes/adjustments to address impact identified key changes that have • Measures that will require wider decisions been made to address • How the change will meet needs or accommodate difference and diversity adverse impact or to • How the change will promote positive attitudes and good relations between address potential different groups and community relations generally unlawful discrimination, • How the business activity will be implemented and communicated to make it if any, and to promote accessible and transparent equality? Main conclusions: • All but two organisations agreed with the Community Hubs in principle. They reserved their definitive position until issues of governance and coproduction were clarified. For this, they need more time and involvement. • The two who rejected the idea outright cited ‘an agenda to decimate all small community groups’ and ‘loss of identity’ as they would be subsumed by bigger organisations. • Evidence gathered suggests that meaningful engagement with residents will be required in order to ensure the community hub initiative meets the needs of all communities.
Some of the key messages suggested by some organisations include the following :
1. There will be realistic investment in the development of hubs, including resources for capacity building.
2. There will be further engagement at a local level coproduce hubs to meet the needs of all communities.
3. There will be focus on geographical areas, to ensure that the needs of people unable to travel far are considered.
4. There will be a fair and transparent process for working with the community to develop the hubs.
5. There will be formal consultation on any proposals for asset transfer.
Section 5 – Implementation and review At this stage an action plan should be developed to address any additional concerns or issues related to tackling inequality. The plan should include arrangements for monitoring, evaluation and review of the business activity and should be integrated into the appropriate Service of Business Plan. The results of the EIA and action plan must be published as per the council’s EIA guidance. Once the business activity has been implemented, it must be monitored and periodically reviewed to ensure that it has the intended impact and is still appropriate.
Actions Required Timeframe Budget Lead Officer Relevant PI
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Consultation on July – Oct 2012 asset transfer Engagement and July onwards capacity building with local communities Ensure all equalities groups are considered at each stage of the community hub development
EIA publishing date: ______Policy review date: ______
Full assessment sign-off
Name Signature Date
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