Issue - meetings

Having considered an officer report, and presentations by Mr Peter

Richardson (Friends of Manor House Library) and by the Cabinet Member for

Health, Well-Being & Older People, Councillor Chris Best, the Mayor agreed

that

(1) V22 be approved as the preferred partner for Forest Hill and authority be

delegated to the Executive Director for Regeneration, in consultation with the

Executive Director for Community Services and the Head of Law, to negotiate

the terms of a lease for the Forest Hill Library building with V22 for a minimum

term of 25 years at a nil rent to enable the provision of a community library in

partnership with Lewisham Council;

(2) The Archibald Corbett Society working with the Corbett Residents

Association be approved as the preferred partners for Torridon Road Library

building and authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Community

Services to negotiate the terms of a premises management agreement for an

interim period whilst their business plan for the building is further developed in

order to be considered for a lease;

(3) Officers be instructed to carry out a further exercise, to identify a suitable

partner organisation for Manor House Library and that interim arrangements

for the management of the building be put in place, as described;

(4) an update on progress of the exercise for Manor House Library be

reported to Safer Stronger Select Committee in September 2016 and the

final outcome be reported back to Mayor and Cabinet for approval;

(5) the proposed arrangement for the provision of library services in Laurence

House, Catford be noted;

(6) the Executive Director for Community Services be asked to prepare a

response to the referral from the Safer Stronger Communities Select

Committee on the Library Savings Programme Update; and

(7) the Executive Director for Community Services be asked to prepare a

response to the referral from the Safer Stronger Communities Select

Committee on DBS checks for library staff.

The Mayor reported he had received a late submission from Councillor Paul

Upex expressing full support for the recommendation concerning Forest Hill

Library.

The Mayor was first addressed by Councillor Best who set the context of a

library service forced to make £1m cuts. She then advised the Mayor that she

was able to make positive recommendations about partners to run Forest Hill

and Torridon libraries but that before proposals for Manor House Library could

be considered, a further exercise was required. She further asked the Mayor

to note the proposals for Catford Library with the deployment of two qualified

library assistants.

The Mayor was next addressed by Mr Peter Richardson, Chair of the Friends

of Manor House Library. He said major concerns still existed about the future

of Manor House Library and that he was not surprised that the original

proposals considered for the future of the library had not yielded any positive

results. Mr Richardson raised a number of detailed questions about the future

of Manor House Library and in response received an assurance from Cllr Best

that there was no current intention to close Manor House Library and that any

negative speculation to that effect was not helpful. The Executive Director for

Community Service’s representative confirmed that the next step would be a

report to the Safer, Stronger Communities Select Committee in September.

The Mayor concluded by stressing his belief that libraries were important and

highly regarded but were set in a context of a Council facing massive public

spending reductions. He noted Forest Hill and Torridon Road were at different

stages in the progress of a partnership but that he was happy to endorse both

proposals. For Manor House Library he endorsed the further efforts that still

needed to be made by Councillor Best and officers to find alternative

interested parties.

The Mayor also referred to two referrals from the Safer, Stronger

Communities Select Committee and asked the Executive Director for

Community Services to prepare responses.

Having considered an officer report, and presentations by Mr Peter

Richardson (Friends of Manor House Library) and by the Cabinet Member for

Health, Well-Being & Older People, Councillor Chris Best, the Mayor, for the reasons set out in the report:

RESOLVED that:

(1) V22 be approved as the preferred partner for Forest Hill and authority be

delegated to the Executive Director for Regeneration, in consultation with the

Executive Director for Community Services and the Head of Law, to negotiate

the terms of a lease for the Forest Hill Library building with V22 for a minimum

term of 25 years at a nil rent to enable the provision of a community library in

partnership with Lewisham Council;

(2) The Archibald Corbett Society working with the Corbett Residents

Association be approved as the preferred partners for Torridon Road Library

building and authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Community

Services to negotiate the terms of a premises management agreement for an

interim period whilst their business plan for the building is further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 457