Issue - meetings

1)    Karen Barrett-Ayres for item 9.1 in relation to libraries

2)    Laurie Mackay for item 9.1 in relation to libraries

3)    Alasdair Ross (ACVO) for item 9.2 - to ask members to consider the results of the Third Sector’s recent discussion on the Council’s budget consultation and to accept the conclusions of our report (copy attached)

The Council resolved:-

to note the deputations and thank them for their contributions.

(A)      The Council received a deputation from Karen Barrett-Ayres with regard to agenda item 9.1 - Libraries and Bucksburn Swimming Pool Consultation Results.

Ms Barrett-Ayres reminded the Council of the events that had led to this stage, which included the judicial review. She highlighted a number of deficiencies with the consultation process - it had happened too late, in a hurry and without proper public spaces to host it in (like a library) with limited reach. Reliance on social media excluded much of the public who do not use social media. There was also confusion as it ran in tandem with other library consultations and it required people to provide their full names which put many people off from participating. Despite these issues, Ms Barrett-Ayres highlighted that the consultation had garnered more responses than the budget consultation.

Ms Barrett-Ayres questioned the reliance on consultation responses to characterise local communities and suggested that Councillors should look at census data to determine those figures more accurately. She added that she would welcome if Councillors could re-examine existing data held for each of the closed libraries to assess whether there were more elderly or disabled users for a particular library and use that data to inform the decision.

Ms Barrett-Ayres stated that she had read the revised impact assessment and noted with interest that some protected characteristics had been increased in level from low impact to medium impact. She added that she would like to ask for an outline of what types of mitigations had been put in place that specifically addressed the needs of those with disabilities, mobility issues and the elderly who cannot get to an alternative library that is too far away.

Ms Barrett-Ayres drew on her own experience as a person with a disability who had been a frequent user of Ferryhill Library prior to its closure. She had since tried going to the Central Library with her child but found it too tiring so had registered with the home delivery service. Although the home delivery service was very efficient, it was not the same experience of visiting a library in person and choosing books. Her child’s experience had also been diminished as their school library did not provide access to books and the home library service was not suitable for their needs. Although she was happy to buy books for her child, many children from disadvantaged backgrounds were not in the same position.

Ms Barrett-Ayres referred to research by the Scottish Book Trust, as well as Scottish Government guidance and the city’s Local Outcome Improvement Plan and stated that the Council’s actions did not align with its ambitions.

Ms Barrett-Ayres concluded by questioning why the libraries were being lumped together as a job lot - they should be assessed individually, it should not be all or nothing. Ms Barrett-Ayres also questioned why the decision was being taken at this stage when the more detailed review of future library provision was awaited - the decision should be put on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6