Issue - meetings

To assist Members, the following documents are attached:-

·         Copy of the report of the Chief Officer (Organisational Change) – Medium Term Plan for Libraries – proposal to develop a new hub library at Deeside Leisure Centre and relocate Hawarden, Mancot and Queensferry libraries

·         Copy of the Record of Decision

·         Copy of the Call In Notice

That having considered the decision, the Overview & Scrutiny Committee was satisfied with the explanation that it had received and therefore the decision could be implemented. 

The Member Engagement Manager referred to the Call-in to the decision of the Cabinet from its meeting held on 19 May 2015 relating to Medium Term Plan for Libraries – proposal to develop a new hub library at Deeside Leisure Centre and re-locate Hawarden, Mancot and Queensferry libraries.  The Call-In notice had been signed by five Members of the Council.  To assist Members, the following documents had been circulated with the agenda:-

                        (a)       A copy of the procedure for dealing with a called-in item.

(b)       A copy of the report considered by Cabinet on 19 May 2015

(c)        A copy of the Cabinet Record of Decision No. 3173

(d)       A copy of the Call-in notice signed by Councillors Clive Carver, Alison Halford, Adele Davies-Cooke, Dave Mackie, and Glenys Diskin.

The Member Engagement Manager explained the procedure for a Call-in meeting and detailed the four options available to the Committee.

The Chair invited the Call-in signatories to address the Committee.  Councillor Clive Carver, as the first of the signatories, detailed the reasons for the Call-in.  He explained that the decision had been called-in as the signatories felt that the Medium Term Plan for libraries did not take into account the impact of the Hawarden and Mancot library closures on the existing and prospective users.  The signatories also felt that it did not show the future plans for the Flintshire Record Office which is co-located with Hawarden Library, and did not take into account the closeness of the existing Connah’s Quay Hub with the proposed new Hub within the Deeside Leisure Centre.

Councillor Carver outlined his concerns, citing a number of legal precedents and interpretations and expressed the view that the consultation which had taken place regarding the closure of Hawarden, Mancot and Queensferry libraries could not be described as “fair” or as required by law.  He said that the face-to-face consultation exercise had only involved a limited number of users at Hawarden library and there had not been a fact finding exercise as required.  The same process had been applied to the Mancot and existing Queensferry library.  He said that consultation must take place when the proposal was still at a formative stage. 

Councillor Carver referred to the decision taken by Cabinet at the meeting on 19 May 2015 which stated that the Council should work with  the three communities to address the concerns raised about the Deeside location, plan community library services for each of these areas and identify if a community asset transfer was feasible and could be supported. He commented that the decision was not helpful as it appeared to request consultation after agreement had been made to the development of a library at Deeside Leisure Centre and re-location of services from Hawarden, Mancot and Queensferry libraries.

Councillor Carver reported that many residents at Hawarden and Mancot had stated that they would experience difficulty travelling to Deeside Leisure Centre.  He also referred to the suggestion that a  mobile library service be provided for Hawarden as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5

As detailed in the recommendations.

The Cabinet Member for Education explained that a report had been considered at Cabinet in March 2015 which outlined a medium term plan for libraries.  Following that report, a consultation exercise had been carried out and views of the Lifelong Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been sought.  A copy of the draft minute of that meeting was appended to the report.

A summary of the discussion and recommendations from the Lifelong Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee was also appended to the report and focussed on the following four main areas:

·         The location of Deeside Leisure Centre and whether this should be the preferred location;

·         The robustness of the consultation exercise;

·         The clarity of the options over community asset transfer; and

·         Detailed work such as design of the library and the resources that would be available.

It had been claimed that the Council had not fully consulted; the Cabinet Member explained that the Council followed best practice on consultation and always avoided pre-determination.  A full consultation exercise had taken place with users, community representatives, young people and the equality assurance group which provided the results detailed in the report.  Additional correspondence had been received, such as petitions.

Ultimately it was the consultation, the future vision for the library services, and the budgetary constraints that were informing the development of a final set of options that were for consideration.

On Community Asset Transfer (CAT), the Council would consider for a locally run bookstock and IT provision either in the existing library buildings or other locations identified by the community as having the potential for CAT.  The community of Mancot had expressed a strong preference for this.

After the original proposal had been re-assessed, consultation had been completed, the discussion at Lifelong Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the final options appraisal, it was proposed to proceed with the development of a library at Deeside Leisure Centre and to re-locate services from Hawarden, Mancot and Queensferry.  Specific work would then be undertaken with the three communities to:

1.    Address the concerns raised about the Deeside location

2.    Plan community library services for each of these areas

3.    Identify if a CAT was feasible and could be supported

4.    Work with communities to finalise the design and resources available for the new library at Deeside Leisure Centre

The Chief Executive added that a balance needed to be achieved between an affordable model and the national Public Library Standard which was for access to a library within 2.5 miles.  If the second phase of library reviews was then approved, the Council would have a sustainable model.  Welsh Government (WG) would need to be aware that the Council could not then revisit the model and carry out a third review to still balance affordability and meeting the Standards.

The Member Engagement Manager said Councillor Clive Carver had suggested an amendment to the Lifelong Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee minutes on his comments to read “Councillor Carver stated that although against the overall re-location of Hawarden  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3