by Felicity Collier

LIBRARIES Minister Rob Wilson has been forced to step in over Lancashire County Council’s plans to close 28 libraries after a Tory MP complained about the cuts — which were prompted by his own party’s policies.

The council has already put up six libraries for sale in Barrowford, Bolton-le-Sands, Earby, Freckleton, Fulwood and Whalley, after it failed to find voluntary groups to run them. Three libraries in Crawshawbooth, Oswaldtwistle and Trawden were handed to community organisations last month.

Councillors hope the cuts will save £65 million by 2018 as part of an effort to make inroads into a £265m loss of central government funding.

The council, which is not under any one party’s control, said that next Tuesday’s talks with libraries minister Rob Wilson are only happening because Tory MP Ben Wallace made a formal complaint about the closures.

The minister is obliged to act under the duty for local authorities to provide a “comprehensive and efficient library service for all people that would like to use it” as stipulated in the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

Voices For The Library Campaign’s Laura Swaffield said the council was “demonstrating contempt” in putting the library buildings on sale while the government is supposed to be investigating.

There are also fears that residents will have to foot the bill if the council is forced to reverse its plans.

Ms Swaffield added: “The scale of the devastation planned in Lancashire would have been a sensation a couple of years ago. Now it’s becoming commonplace.

“The council knows that the government’s track record is to ignore any complaint made about library plans, no matter how bad. The ball is now in the [library] minister’s court.

“Closing libraries was not something that we wanted to do but a decision forced on us by the scale of the financial challenge faced by the council.”

Librarian and campaigner Ian Anstice said: “There will be children unable to use their local library, having incalculable impacts on their future life chances.

“There will be adults who have lost the chance to go online to look for jobs.

“And there will be people who will miss their only human contact of the day and the circumstances of that could be terrible for the individuals involved.”

Lancashire County Council leader Jennifer Mein said she was “confident that we will still provide a comprehensive library service.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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