Please find below a copy of the Open Letter, sent to Leader of Ealing Council, Councillor, Julian Bell, on 17th April 2018, which included 50 signatures from local residents. After the Open Letter I have included Councillor's Bell's response, which was sent to me on Friday, 20th April 2018. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Councillor Julian Bell, On 22nd January 2018, Professor Benjamin Zephaniah wrote: "Ealing Library is not just another business on the high street, it is a sanctuary, a safe place, and a place of learning. It is a place that has turned lives around and saved lives. It should never be left to companies who are motivated by financial profit. The jobs of the people that work at this library must be protected. The people who have dedicated so much of their lives to this place must be respected. I have always received a wonderful welcome when I visit this library, and I know how much it means to the community. Save it, and you’ll save us.” The Public Meeting held on 5th April 2018 endorsed the above statement. It was agreed that we need a new vision for Ealing’s Library Service, which properly assesses its importance of libraries in the lives of residents, especially vulnerable ones and understands the way in which library use has changed in recent years. It would be sad to see Ealing’s libraries wither and die because appropriate investment is not made in them. Investment in libraries is our future and not to invest would be a crime against its citizens! Strong words, but the 3369 people who have signed the petition, Save Ealing Libraries from Being Outsourced & Save Library Jobs, so far agree that this is an important issue. It is essential that we have premises in the centre of Ealing. It is crucial that we stop privatisation and outsourcing. Recent experience, for example, the collapse of Carillion in January 2018, has shown that with the private sector, we have a different ethos leading to worse terms and conditions for staff, the risk of collapse and a lack of accountability. Petitioners have expressed widespread concern for the quality of the current service for local residents. For example, librarians have not received any new books for many months and no foreign language books have been received for years as previous contracts with suppliers were stopped by Carillion. This is also true of revision guides for Key Stages, GCSE'S and A' Levels. Across the board the needs of different communities and young people are not being met. The quality of the library service is intrinsically linked with having proper levels of trained staff to provide an efficient service to the community and vulnerable groups, whose safety will be compromised using a library without staff and/or staff who are insufficiently trained. This is a fundamental concern expressed by many of the petitioners. We need to recognise that libraries are vital hubs which help to harness cultural capital and could ensure that the 30% of the population, who have no access to the internet, are given the opportunity to enter the internet age. We cannot ignore the issue of class and poverty and how that reduces the ability of sections of population to thrive; in particular, vulnerable groups of people such as the disabled, the elderly or the unemployed. Libraries can play a critical role in getting children and young people to access books to read and engage in a whole range of community learning and cultural facilities. This is absolutely essential against the backdrop of the rising wave of youth crime in Ealing as with other parts of London. We further believe that properly resourced libraries can work with schools to ensure that children benefit from intergenerational input in their lives. Encouraging our senior citizens to share experiences with younger people will have the double benefit of passing on learning and community memories but could also help to reduce isolation and loneliness. The catastrophic collapse of Carillion in January, Capita’s issue of a profit warning, the G4S Olympic Security failure, the demise of Southern Cross, the withdrawal of Circle from the Hinchingbrooke contract, were signs that all is not rosy with the Private Sector and should have made everyone rethink the mantra of privatisation and outsourcing as the only way to deliver services. The refusal to consider anything other than outsourcing or privatisation is probably due to “Procurement and Prejudice” (paraphrase of Jane Austen used by Rupa Huq MP during our Public Meeting). The Library Service is best delivered by the public sector and we hope you will listen to the thousands of local people who signed the Petition and commit to running the Libraries as an in-house service for the next ten years at the very least. A firm commitment is needed, with appropriate investment in staff, books, IT and premises so that Ealing benefits from development of Libraries as social centres, renewed skills and capacity in the public sector, stability in the Library workforce, a reduction in loneliness, increasing young people’s engagement and social cohesion, and the development of a 21st Century Library Service able to meet the needs of Ealing. Signed Grace Quansah On behalf of the An End to Outsourcing Campaign Group ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20th April 2018 Dear Grace, Thank you for sending me the letter signed by yourself and fifty other residents regarding Ealing's library service. I strongly agree with you that there is an important role for libraries in our borough and more widely, both as places for learning, studying and enjoyment, but also as social hubs for the whole community, including vulnerable groups. I am pleased that — while many boroughs in London and beyond have made significant cuts to their library services — we will be ending this four-year council term with the same number of libraries as we started it with. Given the scale of cuts that Ealing has experienced — losing nearly two-thirds of its central government funding — I believe this demonstrates the importance we have attached to our library service. We have also set out plans for a brand new, high-quality central library for Ealing as part of the redevelopment of the council's headquarters at Perceval House. As you will be aware, following the collapse of Carillion, we acted swiftly to bring our library service back into an in-house operation, in order to secure the service for library users and protect library employees. While this has incurred some additional costs to the Council — including in some cases increasing salaries to meet the London Living Wage - I believe it was the right thing to do so there was no disruption to the library service. The council will be making a decision on the longer-term means of providing the library service later in the year, but I can assure you that continuing to provide the service in-house will be firmly on the agenda. The experience of operating the service in-house since February will provide us with clear evidence of the costs and opportunities that come from an in-house operation so that councillors will be able to make a clear judgement. The collapse of Carillion and has demonstrated clearly that out-sourcing is not a panacea to the financial issues and other pressures facing councils — and there will certainly be no presumption in favour of out-sourcing under my leadership. Where private companies are failing to provide the level of service we and our resident expect, we will have no hesitation about bringing services inhouse: we have demonstrated this in recent weeks with the announcement that Ealing will be exiting its waste and recycling contract with Amey and in future providing the service either inhouse or through a wholly council-owned company. Thank you again for writing to me on this issue. Kind regards, Cllr Julian Bell Leader, LB Ealing ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19:00 19:15 Council Chambers, Ealing Town Hall, New Broadway, Ealing, London, W5 2BY Scheduled Thank you again to all of you who have been supporting the Save Ealing Libraries from Being Outsourced campaign, through Change.Org. and via the Open Letter Petition, if it applies. I think Councillor Bell provides a welcomed but measured response. The campaign continues, as specified by the terms of reference outlined in the Open Letter, until the Council provides a firm decision. Councillor Bell assures us that the "Council will be making a decision on the longer-term means of providing the library service later in the year,". In the meantime we press on.... All the best, Grace Quansah (Akuba)