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ePetition details

Full Council discussion of Library Service proposals

We, the undersigned, petition the Council to The West Berkshire Council Executive is proposing radical changes to the library service. We ask the Council to: 1. Publish the full Libraries’ Needs Assessment Report in the interests of transparency of decision making 2. Consult with stakeholder groups on proposals resulting from the Needs Assessment in order to allow co-creation of practical joint solutions 3. Discuss and decide on the proposals in Full Council so that all Members can participate

Cllr. Hilary Cole, the Executive Member responsible for libraries, will receive the Libraries' Needs Assessment Report from RedQuadrant by the end of August. Cllr. Cole and her team will then look at the RedQuadrant recommendations and put forward proposals on the future of West Berkshire's Library Service to the 10-member West Berkshire Executive. The Executive, not the Full Council, will decide which proposal to accept.

This process does not allow any public scrutiny of the full Needs Assessment Report (Cllr. Cole has said a "summary" will be published) or of the way in which the Executive's proposals have been prepared. Stakeholders, such as Parish and Town Councils and Friends Groups, who may be expected to work with WBC and contribute to any future plans, will not have sufficient information on which base their decisions. e.g. a stakeholder group may suggest a solution which the Report gives good reasons not to adopt. It wastes everyone's time if early, full disclosure is not made.

By debating the proposals in Full Council, all Members of both Parties have an opportunity to participate in decisions which affect all their constituents. The decision-making process on such an important issue as the future of West Berkshire's Library Service should be transparent, cooperative and public.

This ePetition ran from 07/07/2016 to 31/08/2016 and has now finished.

100 people signed this ePetition.