To receive any questions from the public, notice of which has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule 14.

A petition bearing over 1,000 signatures has been received from Mr K Richards, of Shawbury protesting to Shropshire Council at the planned closure of Shawbury Library.

The petitioner will be allowed 5 minutes to outline their case, after which there may be a debate of up to 15 minutes, maximum.

Petitions

The Speaker advised that a petition bearing more than 1,000 signatures protesting at the planned closure of Shawbury Library had been received from local resident Mr Kevin Richards of Shawbury, requesting a debate.  Mr Richards was given 5 minutes to open the debate and outline his case, which was briefly as follows:

Mr Richards said that he was strongly opposed to the closure of Shawbury Library.  He considered that a mobile service would exclude the majority of local people and that if Shawbury Library was to close the nearest library would be in Harlescott, Shrewsbury, which posed transportation problems for many without access to personal transport.

Local member, Simon Jones commented that following recent consultations, neither the Parish Council nor the Parish Hall Committee had been willing to take on the running of the library.  At a recent drop-in session that had been held to discuss the future of Shawbury Library, only 16 people attended which had been disappointing.

The Deputy Leader, Mr S Charmley thanked Mr Richards for his petition but highlighted that sadly, borrowing figures for books and the level of computer usage were disappointing and showed a downward trend.  In 2009/10 there had been 15,000 visits to Shawbury Library compared to just 4,000 visits in 2014/15.  He commented that use of small libraries as community hubs would be the way forward.  However he did say that consultations were ongoing and that this would continue.

After some debate, the Council decided that no further action should be taken in this matter and that local consultations should continue.

          Public Questions

The Speaker advised that one public question had been received from Mrs J Brand in accordance with Procedure Rule 15 (a copy of the report containing the detail of the question and formal response is attached to the signed minutes):

Received from Mrs Joyce Brand and answered by Mrs Karen Calder, Portfolio Holder for Health, about the position of Shropshire Council in relation to the proposed closure of one of the A&E departments in Shropshire.

By way of a supplementary question Mrs Brand queried how Future Fit was being set up and developed in the light of the current absence of the appointed Lead and Deputy Officer.  She said it was wrong to say that the closure of an A&E department would not affect death rates in the area and she asked for justification about why effort was not being put into trying to preserve the existing A&E service provision in Shrewsbury.

The Leader, Mr Barrow replied on behalf of the Portfolio Holder, who was unable to attend the meeting in person.  He replied that he could not comment on the staffing position of Future Fit officers at the CCG, though he was aware of the problem.  In respect of A&E, he was cautious, especially as consultations were still ongoing.  He commented that his personal view was that if there was to be just one A&E department it should be in Shrewsbury.  In the meantime, he awaited the final announcement regarding Future Fit in Shropshire.