Decision to scrap Devon's mobile library service challenged

Last week the county council’s ruling Conservative cabinet voted to close the service after hearing user numbers are down and three of its four mobile libraries are coming to the end of their “serviceable lives.”

But several opposition councillors criticised the plans, urging the cabinet to delay a decision, and now the Liberal Democrats have ‘called-in’ the move for further examination.

It means no decision will be taken until October. Before then, the council’s scrutiny committee will consider the plans in further detail and could call on the council’s leadership to change its mind.

Explaining why the service was closing last week, Devon’s cabinet member for communities, Cllr Roger Croad (Conservative, Ivybridge), admitted it was a “sad day” but “inevitable,” explaining that it would cost between £600,000 and £800,000 to replace the three vehicles.

In the last decade, the number of books being borrowed has also fallen, although the fleet has been reduced from eight to four vehicles in this time.

It led the council to conclude mobile libraries are no longer “cost-effective” and “not sustainable”.

The annual £217,000 cost of providing the mobile service would go to Libraries Unlimited, a charity that runs the library service across Devon and Torbay, to help sustain existing services amid cost increases in recent months.

A one-off £25,000 for “transition support” would also be spent by the council so that current mobile library users can access alternative library services.

Cllr Alan Connett has spoken out against a decision to cut Devon's mobile libraries. (Image: Cllr Alan Connett)

However, Cllr Alan Connett (Lib Dem, Exminster & Haldon), who spoke against the cuts when the cabinet met last Wednesday, July 12, has questioned the authority’s decision-making process.

“A key part of the decision to axe the libraries was that the cabinet said the council could not afford the costs of buying four new vans, said to be up to £800,000,” he said.

“We highlighted that the council could have looked at leasing vans which may have been cheaper.

“Then council officers announced they had considered that, but there was no mention of it in the report.

“So how could the cabinet have considered all the options? They did not have all the facts in front of them.

“There is an appearance that a decision had been made to axe the mobile libraries and the arguments then marshalled in favour of that outcome.”

He added: “We have called in the decision because we believe there are several aspects of the information used in the decision making which need further examination and scrutiny.”

Cllr Connett's group thinks the £25,000 support fund is “too vague”.

A petition calling for a rethink on the plans was also presented to cabinet by Torridge district councillor Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin (Lib Dem), who said more marketing and sponsorship would help keep it going.

Green councillor Henry Gent (Broadclyst) was critical too, calling it a “strange decision when the whole economy is moving towards mobile delivery-based services”.

But speaking at the meeting, cabinet member Andrew Saywell (Conservative, Torrington Rural), said: “The trend is very clear, unfortunately, that less and less people are using this service.

“And so, we have to look at how we deliver this differently.”

Meanwhile, fellow cabinet member Rufus Gilbert (Conservative, Salcombe) said it was an “incredibly expensive subsidy per head,” adding: “It’d be better to buy the books and post them to them, quite frankly.”

The council says ending the mobile library service is a “reasonable solution to reducing costs” and “will help to secure the wider sustainability of library services in Devon”.

The last journeys by Devon’s mobile libraries are currently expected to be made at the end of December.

Devon’s corporate infrastructure and regulatory services scrutiny committee will examine the closure plans on Thursday, September 28.