Readers may remember we reported last week that council leader, David Pugh, has been called to give evidence at a Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing on changes to the library service.
Cllr Pugh was not the only person on the Island to provide written evidence to the Committee, but the other two who did, library campaigners, Dave and June Quigley, have not been called to speak to the Committee.
Upon hearing the news, Dave wrote to the Committee Secretary requesting that his letter be circulated to members of the committee to ensure a balanced view of the situation on the Island.
Ensuring a balanced view
Below is his email to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee Secretary.
I understand that Cllr Pugh of the IW Council has been invited to present oral evidence to the committee regarding library closures, I feel that this could be a very one sided view of the situation on the Isle of Wight as no members of the public have been asked to attend.
Both my wife and I have had our submissions accepted as written evidence, this is fine as my wife would be incapable of attending as she is terminally ill and I would find it very difficult as I am her full time carer. In order to help present a more balanced view can I request that this letter is circulated to all members of the committee prior to Cllr Pugh giving his evidence.
During and after the so called “consultation” when over 9,000 signatures were obtained against the IWCs library plans, many of us asked Cllr Pugh to meet us to try and sort out a way forward that would satisfy both sides. I was told simply “No” whilst others received varying responses, one campaigner emailed Cllr Pugh seven times and was totally ignored. The end result was that Cllr Pugh refused to meet any of the campaigners!
The so called voluntary libraries are a farce, Cllr Pugh has, during the last few days, been quoted in the local press as saying that he is a volunteer at the Shanklin Library – the library has been volunteer run since July last year and as yet he has not carried out one single shift as a volunteer! The volunteers are supposed to fund the premises themselves, including rent, although the buildings are IWC owned.
Why have the Parish Councils in the areas where Cllr Pugh’s volunteer libraries are situated been asked by the IW Council to raise the parish precept to pay for this “free library service”? In the case of East Cowes a 21% increase in the current years precept!
There has been NO real impact assessment done, the eventual assessments were done by staff at county hall with no input whatsoever from those who were going to feel the impact, in fact at a meeting of the volunteer steering groups, attended by Cllr Pugh, the steering groups were asked by a council officer to do the Impact Assessments for her, two of the five refused and her comment was heard by all at the meeting “In that case I will have to make one up”. Is this democracy? or even Is it legal?
Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s reply
The CMS’s reply explained that local authorities rather than campaigners were being called to the Committee hearing on the 21st.
They go on to say that library campaigners who had already been called to give oral evidence had been chosen from national groups.
The Committee will be taking evidence from Councillor David Pugh on 21 Feb, along with two other witnesses from different local authorities. The purpose of this session will be for the Committee to question Councillor Pugh, and the other witnesses, about the decisions they have made and how they made them. The Committee is not in a position, however, to examine individual cases of library closures, nor does it have the power to intervene in any.
You will no doubt have noticed that this week the Committee heard evidence from three library campaigners who put across their views about closures, many of which echoed your comments below. The library campaigners were chosen from national campaign groups, as the Committee decided this would be fairer than trying to select specific witnesses from the many campaign groups across the country.
This is a relatively short inquiry, as the Committee has a very tight schedule at the moment, and so there are limited opportunities to call witnesses. I can assure you, however, that the same weight is given to written evidence as oral evidence. The Committee will be taking into account both when it drafts its final report.
For those interested in the library service, there is an interesting article on The Bookseller today in relation to volunteer-led libraries.
Update 20.02.12:
Following publication of Dave Quigley’s letter to the Select Committee, Cllr Pugh got in touch with VB. He disputed some of the facts raised in Dave Quigley’s letter.
He told us, “Shanklin Community Library transferred to local funding and support on at the beginning of October 2011, like all other libraries. Shanklin Town Council funded the provision of IW Council staff and resources between the beginning of October 2011 and the end of January 2012, during which time volunteers joined the library from December 2011 onwards.
“I did my first shift in the library on Friday 21st December and am due to do another one later this month.”
Image: Ginnerobot under CC BY 2.0
