Bath & North East Somerset Council
MEETING:	Council	PAPER NUMBER
DATE:	14th October 2004
TITLE:	Libraries Position Statement for submission to Department of Culture Media and Sport.	EXECUTIVE FORWARD PLAN REF:	E660
WARD:	"All"
AN OPEN PUBLIC ITEM
List of attachments to this report: Libraries Position Statement 2004. Index to position statement

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) requires each authority to submit a position statement demonstrating how they intend to shape and deliver library services in line with themes within "Framework for the Future" and to give an indication of current service levels. "Framework for the Future" is a DCMS document providing a ten year vision for Libraries.

2 RECOMMENDATION

The Council is asked to :

2.1 Approve the Position Statement, as a Policy and Budget Framework item, for submission to DCMS.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 There are no financial implications other than those previously identified in service plans and Best Value Action Plan.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The DCMS position statement is written to a DCMS formula, asking us to address our Vision and ambition for the library service, our response to "Framework for the Future" focusing on books, reading and learning, digital citizenship, community and civic values, and building capacity to deliver transformation. We are also asked to provide information relating to how well we meet the DCMS public library standards plus local targets to which we aspire. Finally, we have to comment on resources in relation to spaces, staffing, stock and ICT.

4.2 The Position Statement demonstrates progress the service has made over the last 12 months, since the last position statement was submitted in September 2003. A staff restructure has taken place, a business manager has been appointed to target external funds, People's Network continues to run successfully, staff training is on going and we are actively developing co-location opportunities. We still face challenges in terms of resources and capacity, but have strategies for dealing with these. We do not meet all of the DCMS targets for libraries but are addressing these.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

A risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations has been undertaken, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

6 RATIONALE

6.1 Submittance of the Position Statement is a mandatory requirement placed on all library authorities in England and Wales by the DCMS

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 None.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 This document is a summary of Bath and North East Somerset documents, now collated and provided for DCMS. Therefore no specific consultation has been undertaken for this document, as much consultation has been done with customers, non customers, partners, staff, Councillors unions in creating the Vision for libraries and the Best value report. This document reiterates those aspirations and plans

8.2 Document was viewed by the EYCL Overview and Scrutiny Panel on September 6th

Contact person	Julia Fieldhouse. Head of Service ,CSLI. 01225 396404 Julia Burton. Libraries and Information Manager. 01225 787423
Background papers	Library Vision Best Value Report "Culture and Leisure Services"