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Town’s libraries closure shock
Friday 27th February 2009, 11:30AM GMT.
All sixteen libraries in a Black Country borough are to close on Mondays and seven workers axed to help the council claw back £12.8 million.
The closures in Walsall, which include the main town centre branch, are another dramatic step by a council to save money by scaling back.
It comes after Wolverhampton City Council decided to cut five libraries in size despite a backlash from borrowers, while Dudley Council has shut five branches.
Tory-controlled Walsall Council say the move, to be introduced on April 6, will save £130,000 a year for the next three years.
The council’s largest ever money-saving plan also includes axing the Walsall Illuminations, increasing parking charges and upping the price of Meals on Wheels.
But today it was criticised by borrowers and the leader of the opposition, Councillor Tim Oliver, who said he “questioned the wisdom” of the decision makers.
Deputy council leader Adrian Andrew said the decision had been “hard”.
“We have seen libraries closed down completely in neighbouring authorities, and we are not taking a short term view, we are taking a long term view,” he added.
But Councillor Tim Oliver said: “We have to question to the wisdom of this especially at the time when many Walsall residents will have more time on their hands.”
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they want to close them then why are they building a new one in wednesfield then ??
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It’s just to protect the big wigs’ pensions!! Don’t forget that at least 25% of every £1 you pay in council tax goes to pensions!!!!
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I common myth produced by the news media who constantly critise councils roger rabbit. I work for them and your money does not top up council pensions!!! Workers pay into their own scheme as do councillors. Walssll coumcil is like whton and has been in trouble for years. They sacked the last lot if you remember? Don’t beleive all you read about pensions- political propaganda is used well these days!!!
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Just one more comment roger rabbit- Don’t listen to the tax payers alliance as they are definate tory supporters, or what you read in the telegraph. The tax alliance are politically motivated, visit their web site if you don’t beleive me and you’ll soon see why we get crappy pension stories from the medi-they lap it up!!!
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The way Gordon Brown is piling up our national indebtedness it won’t be long before massive cuts in public spending – including local government grants – will be necessary to rebalance the nation’s book. Let’s see how many libraries are still left standing then.
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In days gone past unemployed people went to libaries,swimming pools or down the pub!
The future many,should they still have homes,will do what?
Just it wasn’t Marie-Antoinette who said ”Let them watch video games!”.
As one of those whom nobody wants because 58 years old please note I am in a library and went swimming this morning.As for pubs can’t afford them any more.
Would all these grossly paid administrators just remember that not everybody else has their perks or salary.And that they too could soon be doing the same in a Greater Birmingham with less bureaucrats.I used to joke about tramps.I don’t do that any more !
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i agree with “Chelle”.
It just defies logic. Theres already a perfectly good Library in Wednesfield. Why they had to spend so much money and time, tearing up the roads and pavements is madness?
And then you read something like this! it just shows you, they aint got a clue what their doing.
you have to laugh really, otherwise where would we be? lol
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As a former local government employee (Denbighshire and Walsall) I must take odds with Joe. My three years two months contributions into a local government pension scheme have given me a pension of 20% of the value of twenty one years contributions (at a higher rate) into a non-local government pension scheme. Yes, Joe, you may well pay in and no one argues with that. It was what yuo get out of that those who operate in the wider world get a bit narked about.
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I hope with all this money saving that they can scrape enough money together for some public toilets. Walsall is bad for my bladder.
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I wish roger rabbits figures were correct since added to my own contributions I ought to be on the same pension as “Sir Fred the Shred”
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This decision on partial library closures is disappointing. Walsall Council should be investing in local services, not taking them away.
The lack of public toilets highlighted by Andy, above, is another area where for improvement – many toilets exist in the borough, but are permanently unavailable.
A huge amount of money has been wasted on largely pointless roadbuilding and it seems we’re now paying the price of that in reduced local services.
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If I could just remind ‘chelle and wolvo/bilstoner how long it takes to put together a public sector project like replacing the library in Wednesfield. The decision was probably taken two years ago (when we all thought life was wonderful), the contract was probably signed 6 – 9 months ago (when no-one was certain how bad things would be)and the contractor started work a few months ago.
Do you mean to say you think the project in Wolverhampton (where apparently no libraries have been closed, just reduced in size) should be cancelled because some libraries in Walsall are closing one day a week.
Do you ever think these comments through ?
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IF ONLY I HAD PAID THE FINES ON MY OUTSTANDING LIBARY BOOKS IM SURE A FEW OF THEM WOULD NOW STILL BE OPEN.
CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHY WE NEED ALL THESE MONEY GRABBING COUNCILLORS
LUMPY
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joe the penison creamer,don’t give us that rubbish your bah bah bahing at us,your all creaming of the hardpressed taxpayer,i pay 980 pounds a year to the council what the hell do i get for my money my bins empted once a fortnight,our roads are full of pot holes,half the lights don’t work at night,then when you phone the council they just fob you off with our budget as been spent this term,so out of my 980 pounds at least 250 of that goes to greedy penisons,now for the library’s why build new ones thaen leave them closed half the week crazzzzy.
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Oooooooh if only all you wise and wonderful people would come and actually do something useful with all your pearls of wisdon instead of just moaning and groaning in front of ya PC screens. People work hard for the LA and as the good lord once said, thou without sin cast the first stone!! Now put ya stones down and find something useful to do !!!!
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Calm down besty and think about your £980 ( is that all , I have a 1 infront of that figure so I would swap you tommorow). You forget education, police, fire service and a many more things from your council tax. As an employer, the local council makes a contribution to each employees pension in exactly the same way as your employer does with your pension and on the same percentages that your employer does. Council employees must make their contributions using the same rates as are applied to you. As for Andrews figures as an ex council employee, he makes no comment that his other scheme was no doubt a poorly run private pension using high risk investment, so there is no doubt a huge difference. Nor does he mention how many “extra” years he bought into the scheme.
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Besty-talk what you know mate! We all pay council tax-think i don’t pay taxes as well? We are all hard pressed tax payers. You people have always got some thing to moan about. You get your services like every one else. I doubt the council told you their budgets been spent on the phone. Me thinks you are full of something dark brown! Shame about the libraries they are an important part of our education
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DISGRACEFUL & IT HAS NO VISION !!!!!
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Library closures seems to be a Tory thing at the moment, we’ve lost five libraries in Dudley Borough under a “modernisation” programme. If the Tories can’t even balance the books in pitiful little councils how can they ever hope to run the country? One of the closed libraries was opened in a £50,000 blaze of publicity only two years ago, no wonder the council tax is scheduled to go up by 5%! Cameron tells us we ought to live within our means he should tell that to his councillors!
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Reply to Bob – number 17.
Council employees are immune to investment fluctuations when payouts are caluculated. Any one with any remote knowledge of the investment market will realise that the stickmarked is down from a high of 6,500 to just over 3,800 (close of play last night); property is down and interest rates may as well not be there. Yes, my scheme is probably not well run – it is operated by one of the three largest firms in the UK and is in the top twenty over the 22 years I have been paying in. But, it does not matter how well run a council scheme is – it still pays out and the rest of us pay for it.
As for how many extra years – the answer is none at all. I found the culture of sit on your bum and don’t make a decision all day one that was impossible to remain in (I almost said ‘work in’, but that would imply that most people work). Far better being paid less money with fewer benefits and actually achieve something for the common good – rather that just talk about it. I now work for a charity and we are just about to employ one person to do not that much less than six people did in a local authority.
P
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Reply to Andrew. Thank you for the agreement with my post, your other pension was limited because of market fluctuation as I suggested. You make the point that anyone with the remotest knowledge of investment knows that the stockmarket is down…I doubt there is anyone who is not aware of this. Well lets talk investment…The private scheme is controlled by a company which must make profits, pay its workforce etc and all this is taken from your contributions before any money is invested. There will also be a “commission” payment to the agent. I do not quite follow why you included the last paragraph in you post as it has little to do with my post or the article unless it was to suggest that you were unhappy with your LA pension?
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What wonderful comments you make Bob! Nice to know theres someone out there with a bit of common sense. Yes Andrew Private pension companies pay out the big bonuses to fat cat bosses before you get your reduced pension. Our money pays out in its entiratey!!!!! Plus they are a waste of money. You need to pay out ten times the minimum you pay in to get a half decent pension.
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Joe, Joe Joe, I’m on your side – some of these posters havent doen their research and as usual want to blame ALL council workers for everything that happens. My neighbour actually thinks i dont pay council tax because i work for them!!! HA HA!! we dont even get discounts. And i’m sick of neighbours etc coming up to me and asking me to sort out their drains or sort out a new bin for them or get them a stairlift, when i dont work for those departments. Please before you but ignorant comments on here do your real research. I pay into the LA pension likemost employees. Other employees may have opted out or have their own arrangement – so cut the crap!
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Well this is all typical of a Tory administration.
They cut Council Tax by means of removing public facilities designed to assist, educate and bring together all classes of society – ironically facilities that were set up in the 19th-century by the true philanthropist Tories to help educate the great unwashed and to create a civic identity and pride amongst the citizens of towns and communities.
The likes of Peel, Pitt and Disreali must be turning in their graves at the way their historically rooted one-nation party has been hijacked over the last few decades.
A party built to preserve the nation’s moral standing reduced to uncaring spinelessness. (full pun intended!)
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Here was I thinking that local authority pensions must be administered by some one. Bob – you are living in a strange world where no one administers a pension scheme. As for Joe and his fat cat bonuses – you perhaps ought to look at the performance related pay contracts for senior managers at local authorities. The Chief Exec of Walsall is paid more than the Prime Minister – and that is before the bonus.
And, I am not at all sure that the decision to close libraries for a ful day per week (which is where this post started) was made by a librarian. It would have been made by an accountant.
Just in case any one thinks that I am a raving tory I quite agree with David Hartley. The one nation Tory party was a good thing but was wrecked by thatcher. The removal of credit controls in 1982 started the boom in credit and the de-regulation of banks in 1987 added the fuel.
Joe, you are right in that fat cat bonues should not be paid – and that goes for every occupation.
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Libraries closing?
The solution is simple. Why not charge for the hire of books.
A charge of, say, 50 pence for a month.
Why should this service continue to be “:free:” ?
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