Northamptonshire County Council: Libraries decision ruled unlawful

Children protested outside Desborough Library during a consultation on possible library closures

A crisis-hit council's decision to close 21 of its 38 libraries was made unlawfully, the High Court has ruled.

Two separate legal actions had been lodged by campaigners, who called it a "common sense people's victory".

Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) agreed last week to "radical" cuts in services to try to save £70m by March.

It said it had already decided to delay the decision on libraries to allow more time to talk to community groups who want to take over their running.

The judicial review ruling does not prevent the authority from ultimately closing the libraries but means it will have to reconsider its decision.

Lawyers at the hearing in Birmingham argued the council had failed to properly consider its duty to provide libraries and failed to take into account the impact the closures would have on children's services, as 13 of the libraries have children's centres housed within them.

Chairman of St James' Residents Association, Graham Croucher, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We welcome this judgement, which is a vindication for the overwhelming majority of the 6,000 people who responded to the consultation. This is a common sense people's victory."

The Conservative-run council said it was "continuing to work closely with community groups" following the judgment.

Leader Matthew Golby said: "As we announced earlier this month, we had already made a decision to pause the proposed changes to the local library service for further consideration.

"The judge noted that the county council is continuing these discussions with the community groups.

"The county council is committed to finding a way forward that is satisfactory and achievable for all parties."

Messages of protest were chalked outside a meeting at the council on Thursday

The judicial reviews were lodged by two Northamptonshire residents and funded by legal aid.

One of their lawyers, Michael Imperato, said: "Councils have a difficult job in allocating funding, but we argued that they must still properly balance and weigh up the consequences of closing important services such as libraries according to the law."

The judgement detailing the points of law that the authority failed on will be published later.

On Thursday the council backed an action plan to reduce spending and will now work out what impact this will have on individual services and jobs.

• The story behind the cash-crisis council

Children's services, road maintenance and waste management are among those facing cuts but bosses have vowed to protect vulnerable children and adults.

Communities secretary James Brokenshire said on Monday the authority's financial crisis was of its own making and there had been "specific issues" of poor budget management at the council.

Former council leader Heather Smith, who resigned after a report in March accused leaders of "weak budgetary control", had blamed unfair government funding.

The authority is expected to be replaced with a new unitary council in 2020.

Northamptonshire County Council has approved an action plan for "radical" cuts to services