Sudbury Town Council urges rethink on Suffolk County Council’s library service takeover due to local government reform

The impending county council takeover of Suffolk’s library service is facing opposition in Sudbury, amid concerns there is no long-term certainty due to local government reform.

Sudbury Town Council agreed on Friday to write a formal objection to Suffolk County Council over its decision to take over the running of libraries from June.

The county council divested the library service because of austerity cuts back in 2012 and it has been under control of the Suffolk Libraries charity since then.

But the authority’s cabinet voted last week to bring the service back in house, after talks around renewing the charity’s contract broke down.

However, at a Sudbury Town Council meeting, members argued any decision should be put on hold until there is clarity on devolution in Suffolk.

Former mayor Jan Osborne said: “The council completely lost interest in our libraries in 2012.

“Why are they suddenly interested in taking them back again, when people involved at the time worked so hard to save our libraries, particularly the one in Sudbury?

“I can see us in 12 months’ time, in this room, trying to find a group of people once again who want to save our library.”

Fellow councillor Nigel Bennett added: “What you’re facing is, in June, you take it over, and in September, the Government could say two unitaries and then you’d have to break it all up again.

“Is there no way to have a pause button until September? I cannot believe there is not a pragmatism button, when the Government has thrown something in that blows a hole in lots of councils’ tendering and procurement processes.”

Concerns were also raised by town councillors about the level of consultation before the library takeover decision was made.

In response, Phillip Faircloth-Mutton – a Sudbury councillor who also sits on Suffolk County Council’s cabinet – insisted there had been a consultation on the future of library services last year.

He reported there had been 6,500 responses to this public engagement exercise, with Sudbury having one of the highest response rates.

“People were very clear they wanted to maintain all the sites and keep opening hours as they were,” he told the meeting.

“Unfortunately, Suffolk Libraries was unable to meet our demands to keep all those libraries open and maintain opening hours.

“One of the proposals was to reduce opening hours in Sudbury and, in Great Cornard, they would have reduced the hours by 60 per cent.

“We couldn’t accept that. In a nutshell, what we’ve decided to do is bring certainty for residents.”

Despite this, a long-serving staff member at Sudbury Library told councillors that the lack of a long-term commitment meant they did not have certainty.

“I have been at Sudbury Library since 2008,” she said. “I was working there in 2012, when Suffolk County Council was looking to reduce its spending by cutting libraries.

“I don’t want to see that happen again and I feel uncertain with the statement that this will only last for the duration of the administration.”

Meanwhile, councillor Melanie Barrett suggested bringing the service in-house could offer more security to the Sudbury Library building itself.

“Our library is a Grade II-listed building,” she said. “I feel its future as a building is more secure within Suffolk County Council, rather than an external body.

“I was employed by Suffolk County Council and I have been employed under a service they divested.

“I can tell you that you are much more secure with your services in the council, than when they divest you and start chopping services away.”