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September 10, 2006
Shakespeare writes from Buckinghamshire
Sir David Shakespeare is the leader of Buckinghamshire County Council where the library service has been melting down all year. If you enter Buckinghamshire in the 'Search' box in the right hand column you will get the story.
When the BBC came to Little Chalfont the senior library manager of the council told them that the council had decided 8 libraries must close to save 220 thousand pounds and his job was to carry out their instructions. Any attempt to re-examine the figures and search for the missing 4 million pounds lost in council overhead was not going to happen
However, in a response to a letter from a resident, Sir David Shakespeare this week blames the library service for putting up the plan in the first place.
'the proposals to close several of our smaller libraries is a plan coming forward from the Library Service itself to re-invest the money being spent on libraries under-used by the public and recycle that money into improvements to the libraries that the public does use and support in sufficient numbers to make them viable. This is not an exercise to save money, it is an exercise in making the most efficient use that we can of the Council taxpayer's money.'
I just wish, as I have said over and over again, that we could get one meeting with senior council officers- finance officers- and I know we would be able to show not only how the service can be improved, but also why there is no need to close any of the 8 libraries at all. I hear that the MP John Bercow is getting involved and that is good news - I'm sure that he would be supported by Mark Field.
Don't close the libraries
Posted by Tim Coates at September 10, 2006 9:36 AM
Comments
You need the "head bod", Tim. That's the CEO or equivalent - the accountant "reports the results " and pulls the purse strings, but has little to do with operational DECISIONS! He/she may be called upon, but in my experience, the finance bods never determine strategy. That's up to the CEO/head bod, and doesn't he know it? (Even if he/she hasn't a clue about how to formulate a strategy in that brave new world within the public sector...)
Posted by: crimeficreader at September 14, 2006 8:56 PM