Brent Council Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat research reveals that more than 40 libraries were closed by Conservative and Labour councils last year. In stark contrast, for the second year in a row, no Liberal Democrat-controlled council in England and Wales closed any library.
 
Labour controlled Leeds council closed the most libraries, shutting 13 out of the 53 libraries they control, but Brent Council closed the highest proportion, shutting six out of twelve libraries in the borough.

Liberal Democrat-controlled Cardiff is opening five new libraries and Portsmouth and Bristol are also opening new libraries.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Party President, Tim Farron said:

While Conservatives and Labour councils cut their budgets without regard for the most vulnerable, Liberal Democrat-controlled councils know how to protect essential services.

Encouraging and enabling reading is vital to the development of children and adults alike. If we don’t give our children the opportunity to practice and perfect their reading skills at a young age, they will struggle to catch up later in life.

Cutting services like Labour and Tory councils are doing will do long-term damage. Liberal Democrats are doing the right thing thanks to our financial competency in the councils we run. That is also the reason why not only have Liberal Democrat councils kept libraries open, but councils in England have also frozen council tax and are most likely to be giving the lowest-paid council workers a pay rise.

 Brent Liberal Democrat Group Leader Paul Lorber added:

Libraries are a life-line for local communities – providing access to the internet and study space as well as books. Keeping libraries open was a priority when Liberal Democrats led Brent Council. Local residents won’t forget the damage that Brent’s Labour councillors have done.

A list of library closures is below:

Council        Party    Closures
Leeds          Lab      13
Brent          Lab       6
Bolton         Lab       5
Warwickshire   Con       3
Doncaster      Ind       2
Flintshire     Ind       2
Hartlepool     Lab/Ind   2
Manchester     Lab       2
Waltham Forest Lab       1
Barnet         Con       1
Bradford       Lab       1
Cumbria        Con/Lab   1
Lambeth        Lab       1
Lewisham       Lab       1
North Somerset Con       1
Shropshire     Con       1
Westminster    Con       1

According to the Office of National Statistics, only 77% of households had access to the internet in 2011. Nearly a third of those without internet access, stated that the reason was that access or equipment costs were too high.

All Liberal Democrat Councils in England have frozen their Council Tax and, according to the Local Government Chronicle, Liberal Democrat-run councils were more than twice as likely to give the lowest paid workers a pay rise compared to Labour, and five times more likely than Conservative run councils.