Outsourcing Fundamentalism, Hasn't Herts heard of Carillion? and SCL/Taskforce backed vol-led 'libraries' conference comes to Sheffield.

Northamptonshire, along with Barnet one of the Tory outsourcing flagships, has had a Section 114 order slapped on it which basically means it can't spend any more money on public services except apparently on crucial statutory services which apparently doesn't include libraries! A Tory council collapsing under Tory austerity cuts, who would have thunk it!!
Oh and I forgot to mention that the ex-CEO of Northamptonshire CC is Dr Paul Blantern who just happens also to be the ex-Chair of the government's Libraries Taskforce. Paul is a bit of an outsourcing fundamentalist, who planned to shrink his council workforce from 4000 to 150 core staff by 2020 by outsourcing services to 4 'Next Generation' social enterprises. His council had previously moved libraries into a 'Wellbeing Community Interest Company' but also more recently had planned to cut/close libraries and hand over many of them to volunteers. When I asked him at a Speak up for Libraries conference a few years ago whether he thought that an outsourcing fundamentalist was a good choice to chair a Taskforce on public libraries he just laughed it off, hope he's stopped laughing although the £100k pay off he received from Northamptonshire might help lighten his mood.

Hertfordshire are 'consulting' on their libraries again and in the spirit of the government's 'Digital by Default' agenda misspelled 'consultation' in the link meaning that you got 'page not found' when you clicked on it, it has I'm glad to report now been fixed. Oh and the 'consultation' asks folks whether they want their libraries to be privatised or cut/closed and apparently doesn't mention that libraries are a statutory service, wonder why?

The 'Community Managed Libraries Peer Network', "a network of peers from the full spectrum of community managed libraries from independently funded libraries to those who receive local authority support" is holding its first national conference in Sheffield on 20/3/18. The network is funded by 'Power to Change', "an independent charitable trust that supports and develops community businesses in England", it's so independent that it lists DCLG & 'Big Society Capital' as partners! Basically it's just another front for the government's 'Localism' agenda, an ideological agenda that seeks to offload public services to suspect SocEnts and volunteers.
The network is not only supported by Locality (the armed wing of the DCLG and the Localism movement) and the Upper Norwood Library Trust but also by the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) and the Libraries Taskforce! Some see the involvement of the SCL and Taskforce as a pragmatic move but i think it's absolutely shameful and indicative of the ethical void at the upper echelons of our library establishment.
Oh and holding their first conference in Sheffield is a little ironic considering that volunteer-led 'libraries' there have seen a huge drop in usage!

Unscheduled closures, paying twice & a critical report; Embarrassing for the Chair of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce?

More worrying news from Northamptonshire Libraries.

A recent report by ‘Healthwatch Northamptonshire’ has raised concerns regarding the library service delivering U5/family sessions originally delivered by Children’s Centres;

“The key findings in the report are:

* Although libraries are welcoming to families, they do not have the space, facilities, staff, volunteers or expertise to run open access family services.

* Staffing levels are low across all the libraries Healthwatch visited, given the additional functions for libraries.

* Volunteers to run the children’s sessions are difficult to recruit.

* Families that may need help do not appear to be going to either libraries or children’s centres.”

http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/local/special-report-children-s-centres-fear-lost-generation-of-families-after-loss-of-kids-sessions-in-northamptonshire-1-6998500

Now this isn’t the first time that concerns have been raised about this, in 2013 the issues of safeguarding and confidentiality popped up;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-24430974

"libraries aren't the right environment for young family activities (including safeguarding concerns relating to full public access and confidentiality issues)", and some raised worries about accessibility and location.”

and some residents/service users were so concerned about the cuts/changes that they started a petition;

http://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/top-stories/fears-over-changes-to-rushden-area-children-s-services-1-6401234

“They fear fewer services provided by children’s centres and more by library staff will leave more families at risk of needing specific help.”

Northamptonshire Libraries have experienced staffing & funding problems over the last 2-3 years with many hours lost to unscheduled closures  and the 'trust' set up to "support" libraries being accused of asking people to pay twice for the service through the introduction of a premium library membership scheme.

“People already have to pay for things twice with the council such as registrations, adult care, now they are being made to pay for libraries twice."

All in all potentially very worrying, and embarrassing, for the Chair of the Leadership for Libraries Taskforce who just happens to be Paul Blantern, the CEO of Northamptonshire County Council!

when Paul was asked on Twitter about the report he replied;

“bluntly this was a report that neither my politicians, children's nor library service give any credence to at all!” 

Ed pops up!

Just when we were thinking (or hoping) that Ed had washed his hands off libraries he pops up all over the place, first in Corby, visits a couple of libraries, with Cllrs Savage (very apt!) and Harker in tow and then declares that;

“The library service in Northamptonshire has been designed with a clear focus on the needs of their communities, with Sunday opening and innovative use of volunteers helping to ensure that all their libraries remain open and provide wide range of support and services for the community,” Mr Vaizey said. “It’s an example from which others can learn. I know they are active in collaborating with other public library authorities and I want to see this continue and grow in the future.”

 

Northamptonshire CC calls its service ‘Library Plus’, operates within it a number of ‘Enterprise Hubs’ and relies heavily on volunteers to run the whole shebang. Just the kind of entrepreneurial, shared services, collocated and ‘Localism’ style service that Ed and the DCMS are striving towards, so it was really lucky that he just happened to be in the area!

 

But what Ed, the press and the councillors didn’t mention was the unscheduled closures, redundancies, budget cuts, thefall in visitor figures and the use of volunteers not only to prop the service up but also to substitute paid staff. Concernshave also been raised about collocating ‘children’s centres’ with libraries;

 

“expressed concerns that "libraries aren't the right environment for young family activities (including safeguarding concerns relating to full public access and confidentiality issues)", and some raised worries about accessibility and location.”

John Wignall has very kindly allowed me to publish his comment about Ed’s visit;

“I find the report on Ed Vaizey’s visit to Northants depressing and distressing. It is not at all in tune with what I hear from former colleagues who have nearly all lost their jobs. The report from 2013 presents a truer picture of the situation”

Ed then, just to show that he really cares about libraries, pops up on National Libraries Day in Kent, at Deal Library. Kent is becoming a ‘commissioning council’, a local authority that doesn’t run its own services, including libraries, but outsources them to private firms and other providers. So just the kind of privatising model that the government likes, Ed really is good at picking his library visits isn’t he?