A fresh chapter for libraries, but have we gained?

Many view the Council magazine, Your Croydon, as a waste of time but it comes in handy to remind us what messages and promises were promoted.  Here’s the text from August/September issue, 2013.

“A fresh chapter is about to begin in the history book of the borough’s library
service – and residents stand to gain. 

Increased flexibility and innovation are two of the improvements that library users will notice following changes to be introduced later this year. 

In October, John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS) takes over the management of the libraries from the council, and, although the changes might not be immediately obvious, behind the scenes lots will be happening. 

Most importantly, the new contract guarantees value for money that, in addition to substantial cost savings, will see none of the borough’s libraries facing closure. 

In the short term, people will see improvements to the public computers, and the introduction of wi-fi networks and new self service systems, enabling staff to do more productive work. 

Over time, the changes will allow Croydon’s libraries to become more flexible and innovative – opening times could change to improve access for customers, and some branches might provide a wider range of services to appeal to a larger audience. 

This approach was adopted following cuts in government funding that could have left the council unable to run the current number of branches. Residents, however, made it plain that they valued their libraries too much to let any go. 

The solution to the problem was to use a model that has worked for other formerly council-run services. 

From bin collections to leisure centres, experience has shown that residents can enjoy continued levels of service while, at the same time, the council saves substantial sums of taxpayers’ money. And, although JLIS will be handling the day-to-day management of the service, the council will remain in control, ensuring that planned changes are real improvements that will benefit residents.

And, where are we in May of 2014?

Promised:  

“increased flexibility and innovation”

” improvements to the public computers, and the introduction of wi-fi networks and new self service systems, enabling staff to do more productive work.”

“the council will remain in control, ensuring that planned changes are real improvements that will benefit residents.”

“value for money”

And the reality

• Laing passing the contract to Carillion at a very early stage. In addition to the depleted book stock and the loss of the purpose build library in New Addington, we have:

• far fewer staff, including a further reduction in staffing after Laing & then Carillion took over

• less access to information about the service

• more temporary staff to plug the gaps, often ill-equipped to carry out the job as unaware of information requested

• a major reshuffle of staff, moving staff to areas they are unfamiliar with, and breaking up working teams.

• no increase in self-serve, and none in Central Library where self-serve might help alleviate the long queues due to far fewer staff now man a tiny section of the extensive counter area which was fully manned in previous years.

• loss of phone access to branch libraries, only just reinstated but poorly advertised so most are unaware
•  time-intensive and prescriptive study pass system in Central Library, where students must register each day for a pass, seek a pass for breaks (half-hour max), and queue for access to colour-coded tables. ‘Yellow tables’ are out of bounds for studying, ‘blue tables’ are for studying and ‘red tables’ are the most prized of all – giving access to a plug socket!
• faltering IT. The new PCs installed are often out of service. The library loans system even broke down for a week at one stage, leaving branch libraries piled high with books awaiting scanning back in and leaving staff to manual record loans. The system often freezes. Paid late fees do not clear, and so on. Wi-fi access installed but little advertised, leaving some unaware.

It is hard to see any improvements other than access to Wi-fi so far but easy to see the further deterioration in the library service.

From this:

To this

And from this

To scenes like these

A lot was promised and assurances were given that the contract would be monitored stringently.

When Croydon Labour gain access to the books next Wednesday it will be interesting to see what they find and what steps they will put in place to correct the situation.

Watch this space!

JLIS, now Carillion. What next?

The saga of Croydon Libraries continues…

The background

Croydon outsource libraries, without consulting properly and ignoring the responses of those consulted.

The service in libraries was cut to the bone, before outsourcing, through a major reduction of experience library staff and librarians, major book cull, reduced promotion of events, limited access to working PCs and a system for loans, returns and reservations that has seen library users unable to get access to the books they want or left with heavy fines for books returned but not processed on the system.

The procurement process faltered. The companies applying were all asked to re-tender, adding to the delay and the expense. As predicted, JLIS won the contract, though quite how this win was achieved when Wandsworth chose GLL to run their libraries in this joint procurement process.

Private Eye, 10th January, 2013

The future?

Despite JLIS fighting hard to win the contract, just three weeks in, it came to light that Carillion have taken control of Croydon Libraries, outlined here.

Staff were unaware,

“…members of staff at the libraries were not informed of the sale and only realised a change had taken place after they noticed their emails had changed…” 

John Laing no longer sees libraries as core business,

“Adrian Ewer, chief executive of John Laing, said running libraries no longer fitted the company’s core strategy.”

And Carillion, who have no history of running library services, are trying to get to grips with what it means to run a library service.

 “A spokesman from Carillion said they are undertaking an operational review to gain an understanding of the library service and it will ensure all staff are kept fully informed of any future developments.” 

In the meantime, Croydon residents and the staff in Croydon libraries are left with the shambles.

Private Eye, Issue 1352, 1-12 Nov. 2013

What next?

Campaigners fear for future of Croydon libraries uncertain after facilities outsourced | SW Londoner

Laing (JLIS) have taken over the running of Croydon Libraries, a story picked up here:

Campaigners fear for future of Croydon libraries uncertain after facilities outsourced | SW Londoner

Have you noticed a change?

Hopefully this will mean a refresh of IT facilities across the network, something that Croydon Council failed to do in recent years, leading to people frustrated when faced with PCs that crashed over and over again or banks of PCs lying idle and out of action in Croydon libraries.

There are still grumbles on Twitter that PCs are slow to load and not a comment about the wifi. As one Croydon resident quipped, Computer says no!

Hopefully it will mean proper promotion of libraries

Although @CroydonLibs has sprung into life on Twitter the advertising of events are late in the day, often tweeted the day of the event and sometimes at odds with the details being given out in Croydon Libraries.

Did anyone meet Floella Benjamin, for example?

She tweeted about her appearance at Croydon Library,

yet the publicity materials produce advertised her appearing at Croydon Council’s Community Space, aka Bernard Weatherill House.

and

Find the full programme for Black History Month here.

Then there was confusion over an event advertised in a library for young people from 4 – 4.30pm, specifically stating it was not suitable for very young children yet promoted on Twitter as running 4-5pm and as bedtime stories which clerarly pitches it at an audience for littlies.

Hopefully JLIS will not be taking the council’s lead and start promoting libraries properly.  Although they are not answering queries regarding the confusion, which is not helpful, but it is early days.

Let’s watch this space.

And hopefully it will mean improved book stock in our libraries

Let’s face it.  It would be hard not to improve on scenes like these.

And the erratic book selection will hopefully be addressed too, likened by one avid library user to the bargain book pack at the end of a bookseller’s clearance sale rather than the careful selection of stock to meet Croydon’s needs.

Let’s watch this space!

Feel free to leave a comment – We encourage the signing of posts please.

Or pass on comments in confidence to savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com

JLIS exposed in Private Eye

See the latest  Private Eye, page 28 for this report on JLIS and Croydon Libraries…

“THE public get more for less,” claimed Tim Grier, managing director of John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS), speaking at the recent Conservative Way Forward Local Government conference. 

JLIS takes over the running of library services in Ealing, Harrow and Croydon later this year, but Grier focused on how marvellous things are in Hounslow, where JLIS took over in 2008 and “all 11 libraries remain open and for longer hours” while buildings have had “significant refurbishment” thanks to outsourcing. 

Hold on.  The refurbishment was fully paid for by council taxpayers, with £5m given to JLIS by Hounslow in 2009 to tackle things like leaky roofs and faulty lifts.  And it may not have closed a library, but in 2010 JLIS did close Hounslow library service’s Skills Suite for teaching people to use computers, with 12 job cuts. 

Libraries campaigner Ian Anstice points out that, as JLIS’s first library service takeover, Hounslow has acted as a loss leader to convince other local authorities to hand over their library services.  In both Harrow and Ealing significant job cuts in the library service have already been announced in advance of the September takeover.

Source: PRIVATE EYE | Library News
            Issue No. 1347
            23 Aug – 5 Sept 2013 

And, as library users in Croydon know, Croydon Council have already cut library opening hours, reduced staffing and stock in Croydon libraries ready for the JLIS takeover. 

Contract with JLIS is signed for Croydon libraries

A press release has appeared on the council website today, as follows:

“The future of the borough’s libraries is assured with the signing of an eight-year contract by Croydon Council and John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS).

The new arrangements start on 1 October, when JLIS will take over the running of the service. It represents good value for taxpayers as it will save the authority significant amounts of money at the same time as ensuring all of the council’s 13 libraries remain open and face no reductions in opening hours. 

The contract will see the service undergo a major modernisation programme, involving the introduction of new technology for the benefit of both staff and customers. This will include self-service, wi-fi and the very latest innovations in online resources and e-books. 

JLIS will work closely with local communities to improve the way library services are delivered. There will also be new local business opportunities and good prospects for employment, volunteering and apprenticeships. 

Councillor Tim Pollard, cabinet member for children, families and learning, said: “Signing this contract means that Croydon’s libraries are now safe for the foreseeable future. At a time when all council services are coming under financial scrutiny, it’s great to have negotiated an arrangement that not only keeps all our branches open, but will also see modernisation through the investment that is now planned.” 

Tim Grier, JLIS managing director, said: “I’m delighted that JLIS has secured its second London library contract. This is a fantastic milestone in developing our presence in the library services market and brings the number of library sites managed by JLIS to 24. We look forward to working with the council and local organisations to provide an excellent library service for the benefit of the Croydon community.”“

This decision was taken without a mandate, against the wishes of Croydon residents who responded in huge numbers.

The question now is:

Will JLIS reinstate the service that Croydon Council has systematically eroded over the past two years? For example,

• Will the book stock be replenished and restored to at least the level of two years ago? 

• Will staffing levels be restored, including employing sufficient professional librarians and experienced library staff to see the service on offer back to what it was?  This question is in no way a criticism of the current staff, but made in support of them. Many have struggled to cope with so few colleagues on hand to run the service.

• Will events be promoted?  Only today the council is sending out incorrect posts about the delayed launch of Summer Reading Challenge, totally misleading residents.
  
  This implies the schemes is for children only when the leaflet some have seen makes clear it is for 4 to 19 year olds. And it is not just run on three Mondays in August in Central Library, as per this listing, but every day a library is open and it started today, 29th July, 2013.  For full details please see the full details listed here:

#Croydon gets reading with the Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge!

• Will JLIS put right the poor IT equipment that residents have struggled with for years?

Let’s face it. It couldn’t get much worse!

• And will JLIS reinstate the opening hours reduced in Croydon libraries over the past few years?

The only saving grace is that JLIS say they are keen to work with local communities.  Let’s see if there is any truth in this as the council have so far ignored the Croydon community altogether.

And just what might we expect from JLIS run l.ibraries?  If Hounslow is anything to go by, see this report by a library professional and this report by a library user, the fight for our libraries will go on!

No to Privatisation of Croydon’s Libraries!

A petition has been launched at 38 DEGREES.

You can add your voice by signing and help by sharing this petition:
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-to-privatisation-of-croydon-s-libraries
and feel free to add your comments here.

We are calling on Croydon Council to halt the privatisation of Croydon’s libraries.

A public consultation on these plans has never been held and the decision has been forced through behind closed doors without proper scrutiny or transparency.

When library closures were originally proposed just six libraries were under threat. The people of Croydon rallied together against the plans and more than twenty thousand people spoke out in support of our libraries through a public consultation.

Residents’ views were ignored and the Council forged ahead with plans to privatise, slashing the library service via back door cuts to prepare for this process.  The original divisive consultation made no mention of privatisation or outsourcing the library service. It only consulted on the closure of six rather than the whole network of 13 libraries.  The public have never been consulted on the outsourcing of our library service, which is due to go through imminently.

Serious concerns have been raised about the tendering process and the company which is due to run the libraries. Repeated requests for information have been refused.

We have to let Croydon Council know that they cannot and must not ignore the wishes of the residents that they serve.  If enough of us sign the petition we can force them to hold a debate on this issue so we can expose the truth and foster proper engagement and accountability: something sorely lacking in Croydon.

The Council claims no buildings have or will be closed BUT a library is so much more than just a building.

If we want our voice heard we must act NOW!

Can we take much more of this,

Row upon row of empty shelves across the borough’s libraries

this,

Staffing cuts, meaning some libraries couldn’t even open due to staff shortages or that staff are pushed to cope

this,

PCs, vital for residents to study, for homework, research, to fill in online applications, to seek employment, to keep in touch  laying idle for months, awaiting repair

or this?

Much loved purpose-built New Addington Library now closed.

And did we turn out in number, time and time again,

 only to be defeated at the final hurdle?

The REAL cost of Privatisation

Thanks to library campaigner Alan Wylie for the following link.  It certainly puts the risks of library privatisation in perspective.
http://www.calaborfed.org/userfiles/doc/2011/blog/LibraryPrivatizations.pdf

Is this really a risk worth taking?

With Croydon Labour already threatening to cancel the JLIS deal and with Croydon Conservatives potentially only having a year left in control, the fall out from this deal on the taxpayer is potentially enormous.

This will affect us all – library user, library supporter or not.

Surely it is time to pause for thought or we may all be paying the price for an ill-considered decision for years to come.

Cllr Pollard doubts his own decision on #Croydon libraries

According to a press release that was only uploaded over the bank holiday weekend, Cllr Tim Pollard is calling his own decision in for scrutiny. 

“Yeah but, no but” decisions

The press release reads, 

“Savings and improvements to services will result from a fresh recommendation to appoint John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS) as preferred bidder to run the council’s library service.
The decision to go with the firm is now to be examined by Croydon Council’s scrutiny committee. 

JLIS was originally chosen as the authority’s preferred library-operating partner after its bid was judged to have been the best, based on an assessment of price and quality. However, the company made a request for a last-minute variation to its obligations concerning employer pension contributions. 

In line with EU contract tendering rules, the council therefore reopened bidding to other final-stage bidders. 

Two revised bids were subsequently received and carefully assessed. As a result, the council will secure the most economically advantageous terms while, at the same time, protecting the quality of services currently on offer. 

Councillor Tim Pollard, the cabinet member responsible for the service, will be ensuring that there is an examination by the cross-party scrutiny committee of how the council reached this decision. This will enable those with an interest in the project to fully understand how the evaluation team reached its conclusions.

The council undertook the tendering project after a public consultation exercise that came at a time when libraries across the country were coming under increasing threat of closures.
The move continues to be seen as the best means of ensuring there will be no risk of Croydon losing any of its libraries. 

Councillor Pollard said: “I’m very pleased that we’ve reached this point so quickly after the recent delay. My intention now is to ensure that the basis of my decision is examined fully, and that’s why I’ll be ensuring this matter is taken to our scrutiny committee. 

“This will give councillors from both parties the opportunity to understand how we’ve arrived at this point and what the benefits will be of entering into this new contract.” 

Subject to the decision-making process reaching its conclusion, it is anticipated that the new service will start from the beginning of October.”


Having raised questions as to  why Cllr Pollard was so shy to announce his decision, taken late before a bank holiday weekend at the start of Croydon school’s half-term break,  with local residents also raising questions  and Croydon Labour threatening to cancel the contract should they gain power in 2014,  it seems even Cllr Pollard has lost his nerve and called his own decision in for scrutiny.

You really could not make it up! 

Cue yet another Private Eye article.

The scrutiny committee failed to take any notice of the body of evidence from the politically neutral Save Croydon Libraries Campaign last time and are likely to do so now, but if Cllr Cummings (who promised to get in touch, but failed to do so) wishes to take this evidence on board, or any other councillor sitting on scrutiny wishes to, please get in touch.  Email us at savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com

Questions posed on #Croydon libraries decision

The following correspondence from Sean Creighton, a resident from Norbury, has been emailed to all Croydon councillors.  It is reproduced here with his permission. Sean raises a number of issues.

Dear Councillor,

I have read the report on the outcome of the re-tendering of the Library Services and Cllr Pollard’s recommendation that the bid from Laing be accepted. 

Those of you who were at the Overview Committee in December may recall that I was given permission to speak to the Committee.

I have a number of questions which seem to me to justify a further meeting of the Oversight Committee to review the report and recommendation. 

1.   Why are the  overall sums of both bids not included – these cannot be regarded as commercially confidential?

2.   Given the Overview Committee decision on 5 December ‘That future commissioning reports should contain as much information in Part A of the agenda as possible in order to allow Members and the public to know whether the commissioning exercise meets the Council’s commissioning strategy’, why has this not be complied with in the report?

3.   Why is there no discussion on the implications of the Social Value Act on assessing the bids which is now in force and which the Council has a policy on?

4.   Why is there no discussion on the outcome of the pensions issue which caused the re-tendering?

5.   Have the union reps. been consulted on the TUPE process under the terms of the revised bid and on the implications for pensions?

6.   Why is there an option to extend the contract for 8 years beyond the initial 8 years?

7.   Is quarterly monitoring sufficient especially in the first year? Would it not be better to monitor monthly and then review frequency after the first 12 months?

8.   How much did the firm of Sharpe Pritchard cost to advise on the procurement process?

9.   How much has the total procurement process cost to-date?

10.  Should an apology be made to staff re-the use of the word ‘stuff’ in describing them? Obviously a typo but one that suggests a degree of contempt?

11.   Given the opposition of local people to outsourcing the Library Service, given the contract start date is thought to be October, and  given the local elections will be in May next year, what is the justification to proceed to outsource, when both political parties can set out their proposals in their manifestos and ask the voters to choose between the two set of proposals?

If you do decide to convene the Overview Committee in order to explore these and other questions, it would be helpful publicly if both bidders were invited to do short presentations and be questioned by Committee members in open session, and that they be asked before hand to agree to lift ‘commercial confidentiality’. The Library Service will need to be run in an open and transparent manner otherwise there will be continuing suspicion about how the service is being run. Therefore for example the monitoring reports should be seen by a Committee on public agendas. 

JLIS’s views (January 21012) on running libraries to the House of Commons Committee looking at Library closures can be seen on http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcumeds/writev/library/lib076.htm

Yours sincerely,

Sean Creighton 

Norbury resident

What are your thought on the matter? Please feel free to leave your comments. 

And please spread the word! 

#Croydon Labour seek views, including on libraries

A day long event was held at Ruskin House last Saturday, to hear views from Labour supporters to help formulate a manifesto for Croydon Labour party. 

Are Croydon Labour forging ahead with their co-operative plans for libraries? 

Not necessarily. 

It’s pleasing to note that a more measured and consultative approach is being taken and Croydon Labour are interested in hearing all views, not just those of Labour supporters.  You can contribute to the manifesto survey here. There is also an event for women, open to all, tomorrow afternoon, entitled “What Do Croydon Women Want?”.

We’d love to hear what you think too so please post your comments on this post so all are aware of your thoughts on libraries. If you would prefer to do this in private please email us at savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com

Given that Croydon’s Conservative Councillor, Tim Pollard,  has taken the decision to outsource our libraries to JLIS what Croydon Labour do now is even more important. The fact that this document containing the decision is buried deep on the council website, the absence of any public announcement and there being no mention of this decision in Croydon libraries  today is a fair indication that Croydon Council want this to go under the radar.

Our very own Bob  Croydon Conservative’s lead on libraries, Cllr Tim Pollard

View the decision documents Cllr Pollard is so shy to share here. 

Does this seem transparent to you?