Hampshire County Council are reviewing all of their services to find savings on some to help fund rising costs in others, for example, Adult Social care. The consultation runs until Wednesday 18th March 2020 and details on how to respond are in the link at the end of this article. There is also a consultation event at Horndean Library on Monday 10th February from 2pm to 6pm where the consultation information is available to view and you can leave your views there and then.
As well as responding to changing needs, the library service is looking to make savings of £1.76 million. All areas of work across the County Council are being looked at to find savings needed to bridge the current funding gap faced by local authorities across the country, as demands for council services grow.
Options include the following:
• change how council-run library services are delivered, including:
• closing up to 10 libraries; and/ or
• reducing and standardising staffed opening hours;
• deliver library services differently within local communities, through:
• transitioning Tier Four council-supported, community-managed libraries into
independent community-managed libraries; and
• exploring better ways to deliver library services in Hampshire’s most deprived
communities;
• make further efficiencies; and
• generate additional income.
Horndean is on the short list of ten libraries to close as with the HCC scoring method it is ranked at number 46 out of the 48 libraries in Hampshire with the other 9 being equally spread throught the County. this will save £37,000 – which does not seem like a lot considering the value that HCC need to find.
To view the consultation details and give feedback please click on this link HERE
To view the consultation document please click on this link HCC Libraries Consultation
You can also contact Cllr Marge Harvey as the HCC County Councillor
