Agenda item

5.1

Jennie Van Tinteren, Chair of the Stannington and District Library Group (STAND), requested that the Council give consideration to removing the obstacles in respect of the Library’s 25-year lease.  She stated that if the voluntary libraries were to survive beyond three years, they needed to be sustainable and innovative, and with funding for running and capital costs.  At the present time, the Property and Facilities Management Service was indicating that library groups could only obtain 25-year leases, at its discretion, which meant that the groups could not apply to funding bodies without the leases and security of tenure.  This placed the groups in a ‘Catch 22’ situation, and Ms Van Tinteren stated that STAND wanted to apply for, and be granted, a 25-year lease at their discretion, at the time the Group needed the lease. 

5.2

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health, stated that it had always been the intention to make it as easy as possible for the voluntary groups to run the libraries, and to remove any unnecessary bureaucracy and burden.  It had been considered that granting a 25-year lease would be the most suitable option in terms of ensuring that the voluntary groups were sustainable.  It was accepted, however, that this arrangement may not be suitable for all the voluntary groups and for this reason, officers were meeting with the groups to discuss the most suitable arrangements which would enable them to be able to proceed on a sustainable basis. Cllr Iqbal added that he would be happy to provide letters of support to those groups bidding for funding.

5.3

The Chair stated that the arrangement would be determined based on the individual merits of each case, with every effort being made to support the voluntary groups.  She added that the Authority would also provide assistance to the Groups in terms of bids for funding.