Council set to choose private firm to run libraries

Published 24 Feb 2012 17:30 2 Comments

LIBRARIES across the Wokingham borough have moved a step closer to privatisation.

Wokingham Borough Council voted in favour last Thursday [23] of moving to the tendering stage of the process after more than 20 companies submitted bids in June last year to take control.

Four shortlisted companies have already presented ideas on how they would improve the library service if they were successful in their bid for the five-year contract.

Cllr Ullakarin Clark, executive member for internal services, told the full council meeting: "We believe people in the borough deserve to have access to a library service that is fit for the 21st century and this will allow us to provide great value for money."

It is hoped that the partnership will save the council £170,000 each year, but the plans led to uproar from residents who feared library closures, job losses and cuts in services.

Lib Dem councillor Kay Gilder said: "This has got to be one of the most contentious issues of the past year and the budget passes over it without any explanation.

"No financial information about it. No way to identify how much libraries cost at the moment. No nothing."

But finance leader, Cllr Anthony Pollock, said: "You will find the library plan in the budget papers, it is not that difficult to find the answer when you know where to look."

The ruling Conservatives approved proposals to move forward with the tender process, which will close in May, before a final decision on whether to proceed is made by the executive committee in June.

Tweet

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

• 

  Tahir
  16 posts
  Feb 26, 19:46
  Report comment

  The title of this article is "Council set to choose private firm to run libraries" we have had Tory cllr's for the last year saying that they are not privatising the library by making condescending semantic arguments rather than dealing with the issue in hand – i.e. they were privatising the libraries and they were doing it without asking / telling the residents of Wokingham. Deliberate misdirection and undemocratic action – this is how this has been handled. The people of Wokingham deserve better than this.
  
  Cllr. Tahir Maher, Earley
  
  Recommend?   Yes 4     No 0

• 

  G O D
  Unregistered User
  Feb 29, 17:31
  Report comment

  Considering the roaring "success" Dave's media darlings A4E have enjoyed this past fortnight is this a wise move? Smirk.
  
  Recommend?   Yes 8     No 0

Post a comment

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

If you are registered with us, you can login here. If you are not registered, do so now.
Once logged in you wont have to complete word verification each time you post.

Prefer not to register?

Screen Name *required

Email (not displayed) *required

Usernames must be 4 - 20 characters. Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users can also take part in competitions and other features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.

Follow @rdgchronicle