Decision:
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.
Minutes:
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 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.
Supporting documents: