Lead Member – Councillor Stuart West – Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture

Report of the Director of Place and Enterprise

Contact: George Candler   Tel: 01743 255003

            RESOLVED:

i)     That the recommendations be confirmed as set out within section 7.0 of this report to reduce library opening hours for Ludlow, Market Drayton, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, Bayston Hill, Gobowen, Much Wenlock, the Lantern and Wem and delegates to the Director of Place and Enterprise in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure Services all aspects of the detailed implementation of the proposals.

ii)    That the final recommendation to review library opening hours at Bridgnorth be delegated to the Director of Place and Enterprise in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture following consideration of the outcomes of the pubic consultation on Customer Service provision.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture presented the report that set out the progress made in the Council’s redesign of its library services and the future approach to supporting the provision of modern and sustainable library services.        He stressed that the future approach comprised mild savings that resulted in libraries remaining open.  Drawing attention to the analysis of usage and trends for each library, he commented on the individual scheme of opening hours for each library that represented a total of 57 hours’ closure across 11 libraries.

RESOLVED:

i)    That the recommendations be confirmed as set out within section 7.0 of this report to reduce library opening hours for Ludlow, Market Drayton, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, Bayston Hill, Gobowen, Much Wenlock, the Lantern and Wem and delegates to the Director of Place and Enterprise in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure Services all aspects of the detailed implementation of the proposals.

ii)   That the final recommendation to review library opening hours at Bridgnorth be delegated to the Director of Place and Enterprise in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture following consideration of the outcomes of the pubic consultation on Customer Service provision.