Following the appeal against the loss of legal aid being upheld in the High Court, this in from Leigh Day & Co Solicitors, who are acting on behalf of the Friends of Isle of Wight Libraries. In their own words. Ed
Richard Stein and Rosa Curling in the Human Rights Department at Leigh Day & Co Solicitors are preparing to issue legal proceedings on behalf of a local residents to challenge a decision by the Isle of Wight Council to cut the library service on the island.
The Isle of Wight Council decided to reduce the opening hours of many of the public libraries on the island and confirmed that they would only keep five of them open if the local community took over running them.
Why the decision is unlawful
This decision is unlawful because:
1. it breaches the Council’s duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to provide a “comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons” living on the island;
2. when reaching its decision, the Council failed to act in accordance with its duties to have due regard to the need to tackle discrimination and promote equality, particularly in relation to women, older people and those with disabilities.
Richard Stein and Rosa Curling of Leigh Day & Co said, “Now that legal aid funding has been granted, we are preparing to issue legal proceedings at the High Court in London on behalf of a local resident to challenge the Council’s decision to reduce the opening hours of some libraries and to stop running others. We have advised our client that she has a good case and expect the Court to grant permission for a full judicial review.”
Image: Ben Sutherland under CC BY 2.0
