Express & Star

Fears of library closures in Dudley as almost £1.5 million in savings rubber-stamped

Fears have been raised over the future of Dudley's libraries after council chiefs proposed savings of almost £1.5 million over the next few years in the sector.

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Dudley Library

Dudley Council rubber-stamped the proposals which would see £380,000 of savings in 2024/2025 and a further £1.08m of cutbacks planned for 2025/2026.

It has led to concerns the budget reductions could only be achieved with borough-wide library closures, which have been branded potentially "devastating".

Finance chief Councillor Steve Clark said although he could not be certain how the savings would be made, he could guarantee that "we'll have a first-class library service at the end of the whole process".

Councillor Adam Aston, who raised concerns over potential cuts, said: "Our libraries are incredibly important and should be cherished as community assets, they are gateways to knowledge and fundamental to a civilised society, such huge cuts equate to almost a third of the entire libraries budget, I can’t see how this can be achieved without borough-wide library closures, which would be devastating for library users and staff."

Dudley’s libraries were outsourced to the social enterprise Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) in 2017 and the contract ends in 2024.

Theresa Kelly, branch secretary at the Dudley general branch of Unison, said: “Dudley’s library contract needs reviewing without further delay. The service was outsourced on the basis that the council stood to save £600k in costs.

"Prior to this, our libraries were identified as an ‘exemplar service’ but the one with the lowest potential savings, so it is questionable as to why this service got chosen to be outsourced over services that offered higher savings.

"With the additional £1 million paid to GLL in 2021, the library contract has cost the council £4,230,000 since 2017, but it has not achieved the projected savings and the number of library users have declined significantly due to GLL’s mismanagement."

Unison also estimates that library staff pay is 12 per cent below what it would have been if the service had stayed in-house with the council. In response, Dudley Council says it will be reviewing the service when the contract ends.

Councillor Laura Taylor-Childs, cabinet member for housing and communities, added: “The value of the contract was £3.3 million each year but this figure was always subject to change due to factors such as inflation.

"For this financial year, the council will pay GLL £3.6 million. This reflects the significant increase in inflation. As we approach the end of the contract with GLL, we are conducting a full review of the library service."