Agenda and minutes
PDF 177 KBVenue: Walton Library, 54 The Heart (off Hepworth Way), Walton on Thames, Surrey KT12 1GH
Contact: Andrew Spragg, Room 122, County Hall, Penrhyn Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2DN. Email: andrew.spragg@surreycc.gov.uk
Media
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Yvonna Lay and Karan Persand.
Richard Wilson attended as a substitute. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 13 JANUARY 2016
To agree the minutes as a true record of the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.
Notes: · In line with the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the member is aware they have the interest. · Members need only disclose interests not currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests. · Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be added to the Register. · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.
Additional documents: Minutes: The following Declarations of Interest were noted: 1. John Orrick and Richard Walsh informed the group that their wives are employed by the Library Service. 2. Saj Hussain informed the Board that he is the landlord of Knaphill Library. |
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes: 1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Friday 11 March 2016). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (Thursday 10 March 2016). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.
Additional documents: Minutes: None were received. |
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RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE
There are no responses to report. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no responses to report. |
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RECOMMENDATION TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME
The Board is asked to monitor progress on the implementation of recommendations from previous meetings, and to review its Forward Work Programme. Additional documents: Minutes: Key points raised during the discussion: 1. The Board was informed that an extra Surrey Fire and Rescue (SFRS) task group meeting had been scheduled for June to coincide with the Public Safety Plan (PSP) work. 2. A Member suggested that more future meetings take place around the County instead of County Hall. |
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EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
Recommendation:
That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act. Additional documents: |
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SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL'S LIBRARY SERVICE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FUTURE STRATEGY
To review what the library service currently provides for Surrey’s residents and to discuss the requirement of a new strategy for the provision of library services in the county.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest:
Declaration of Interests made by Members are detailed under item 3.
Witnesses:
Ann Charlton, Strategic Director for Cultural, Legal and Democratic Services Rose Wilson, Head of Library Service Peter Milton, Head of Cultural Services Kelly Saini Badwal, Senior Manager - Customer Network John Case, Senior Manager - Stock Development & Design Katie Kinnear, Senior Manager - Project, Innovation, Design & Delivery Chris Ganderton, Senior Manager – Systems Support Janet Thomas, Senior Manager – Community Connections
Key points raised during the discussion: 1. The Cabinet Member for Localities and Community Wellbeing expressed to the Board that Libraries was a valued service but future budget pressures would mean the current logistics were unsustainable. In order to maintain physical Libraries, firm asset management, public service transformation and technology advances would be required. It was added that £90,000 worth of savings was required from the Library Service each financial year. 2. Members expressed that it was important for services users to feedback how they would like the Library Service to run by 2020, bearing in mind financial pressures. The service would be proactive and communicate back to residents what services the Libraries can offer and be a signpost to access further information. 3. The Board was informed that more partnership within the service was required; to support this Members suggested engaging apprentices, business networks and Parish Councils. A Member noted that a vision should first be produced before establishing a strategy, on this point it was emphasised that social inclusion matters should be taken into account; matters such as technological usage would affect how some users access the Library Service. 4. There was a discussion around using charging options; officers noted that the National Library Service does not currently use this, implementing this within Surrey’s Library Service would prove challenging. 5. Members expressed that the Library Service should always remain safe, knowledgeable and accessible to all service users. 6. Enforcement was discussed and it was noted that the approach to enforcement needed to be more consistent, implementing this would save money. A 20p charge for books lent out for more than one week was discussed. Officers informed the Board that the service had recently reduced the amount of permitted renewals, started charging people over 70 for overdue books and were currently looking at options of different areas to introduce charging. Members noted that charging need to be carefully considered, as charging in some areas could discourage people from using the library. The introduction of ‘enhanced memberships’ was also suggested. 7. The Board was informed that the first two hours of computer usage in libraries was free, and a small charge was payable for any time above two hours. 8. A Member informed the Board that in one Borough there were currently seven libraries, these could be reduced and a central library introduced. However concern was raised at this suggestion as certain service users are only able to access specific libraries. 9. The Board agreed the arrangements for the establishment of ... view the full minutes text for item 40/16 |
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PUBLICITY OF PART 2 ITEMS
To consider whether the item considered under Part 2 of the agenda should be made available to the press and public.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Board decided that points raised under the Part 2 item would not be made available to the public. |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Board will be held at 10.30am on Monday 9 May 2016. Additional documents: Minutes: The next Resident Experience Board will take place on 19 May 2016 at 10.30am at County Hall. |