5,000 sign petition against planned libraries move

The council plans to bring the service in-house as of 1 June

A petition against a council taking back control of a library service has reached 5,000 signatures.

Suffolk County Council announced the move after it failed to agree terms with its private contractor.

Suffolk Libraries, a charity, has run the service since 2012 and now operates in 45 places.

The council recently posted a video on social media asking people not to sign the petition.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has been looking at contrasting statements from both organisations.

The council said its takeover would guarantee that all 45 sites across Suffolk remained open and would keep their current opening hours.

Suffolk Libraries said no closures of any of the sites were planned, but reducing opening hours was the only way to meet rising costs and ensure the long-term future of the service.

The charity said that even if opening hours were maintained under a return to council control, the services on offer could be reduced. This is because contracts being run with other bodies would not transfer to the council and services including prison libraries and literacy projects could be lost.

The council responded by saying it would apply for the same grants to keep non-core library services open, with the potential of some contracts being replaced.

Suffolk Libraries is set to see all its 45 libraries return to direct county council control

Management costs and possible job losses

The county council said Suffolk Libraries spent a third of its annual bill on its head office, including senior managers.

But Suffolk Libraries stated all the management costs were less than 5%.

It described these claims as "particularly misleading" and said five senior managers who earned more than £50,000 a year were "responsible for generating well over £1m in commercial income, grants and fundraised income every year".

Only its chief executive earned more than £61,000 a year.

In terms of the potential of job losses, the council promised it would protect frontline staff roles but said it was fair to assume some others would go if it took back control of the service.

What are the bosses saying?

Phillip Faircloth-Mutton said the planned change was "the right thing to do"

Phillip Faircloth-Mutton, the council's cabinet member responsible for libraries, said: "We know how important library services are to residents, particularly those who rely on them for education, access to information, support and, of course, books."

Bruce Leeke said he was given only 15 minutes' notice before the plans were made public

Bruce Leeke, chief executive of Suffolk Libraries, said his team was "incredibly shocked" at the news, and he added that the organisation had done "an amazing job" under "very challenging circumstances".

The petition

The petition was launched by Suffolk Libraries patron and former BBC Radio Suffolk broadcaster Lesley Dolphin.

"When I heard this news that the county council, who couldn't afford the libraries 12, 13 years ago, suddenly had found the money and were going to take them back, I was absolutely horrified," she told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"I think what we have is a gold standard service now and I really don't want to lose it."

Her petition asks: "Why 'rock the boat' when the library service is already supporting our communities so well?"

In the social media video encouraging people not to sign the petition, Faircloth-Mutton said: "By signing the Suffolk Libraries petition, all you are demanding is that we keep paying the management cost of Suffolk Libraries."

Broken-down negotiations

There are different accounts of how negotiations between the two organisations progressed and ultimately broke down.

On the one hand, the council says it could not accept the charity's demands, which included the reduction in operating hours and a longer contract.

On the other, the charity says the council has failed to understand what today's library service has to offer, and it stressed that its proposals ensured its viability for the future.

What next?

There has been no indication of any changes to the plans announced by the county council, meaning the return of the libraries to local authority control will be subject to a vote during the 18 March cabinet meeting.