County chief proposes £200k from libraries budget

HAMPSHIRE’S children’s services boss has argued that cutting £200,000 from the library budget for new stock will not have a ”significantly detrimental” impact.

One of the 13 proposals to generate £17.5m to fill Hampshire County Council’s projected budget deficit of £175m was discussed at a meeting of the children and young people select committee, which focused on the savings proposals programme.

Councillors heard the cost of running the library service for 2023/24 is £12.6m, with £9.9m coming from core funding and £2.7 million income from additional library services.

Some £1.2m is dedicated to buying new stock, with £900,000 spent on physical items and £300,000 on digital resources such as eBooks and eAudiobooks.

Despite the funding cut, Stuart Ashley, director of children’s services, said the impact wouldn’t be “significantly detrimental” to any particular group, considering that the reduction would allow the council to prioritise core services.

Mr Ashley said: “I can’t pretend that the public won’t notice the difference because when reducing something, there will be an impact. We’ve done the qualities impact assessment, and we don’t consider that to be significantly detrimental to any particular group.

“But I would say if a member of the public has to wait a little longer for the latest edition of a Grisham novel, for example, in the scheme of making and finding £175 million in savings, is that proportionate?

“And I suggest to this committee that it is proportionate if that means we can keep our frontline social care teams keeping children safe and protecting vulnerable adults, along with the other core services this council needs to prioritise.

“So yes, there will be a moderate impact, but I don’t think it would be significant.”

Due to the proposal, the county council is also exploring implementing a policy on what donations can be accepted since the administration is not currently allowed to accept donated books.

Mr Ashley said: “Most donations we get offered are physical, such as books and other items, and we’ve had a long-standing policy of being unable to accept them.

“The reason for that is because they need to be in good condition. However, in light of the working group’s recommendations, I’ve asked the service to review and implement a policy that we can accept donations.

“Financially donations are very welcome, of course, but physical donations would be the most likely source we would receive.”