Agenda item

(To receive a report by Louise Egan, Library and Heritage Client Lead, which provides an update of the contract performance information to enable the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee to fulfil its role in scrutinising performance the of the first year of the out-sourced Library Contract to Greenwich Leisure Limited)

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update of the contract performance information to enable the Committee to fulfil its role in scrutinising performance of the first year of the outsourced Library Contract to Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL).  It was noted that the Council was now entering its second year of the GLL contract, and during the transition period and first year of operation officers had found working with GLL to be positive and beneficial.

Joseph Rham and Nicola Rogers from Greenwich Leisure Ltd were also in attendance in order to provide an update and answer questions from members of the Committee.  Some of the points highlighted to the Committee included the following:

·         It had been a successful year, and had been a very positive year in terms of working with existing staff.

·         In terms of entering year 2 of the contract, GLL would continue to look at the service, and it was noted that changes would be made to mobile routes.

·         Challenges continued in terms of Lexicon House

·         A programme of physical improvements had been embarked upon, and more people were being attracted to Lincoln Central Library which was becoming more of a centre for events for children and families.  A huge amount of work had also been put into redeveloping Stamford Library.

·         It was noted that it had not just been about physical improvements but there had also been improvements around services for customers.  For example, stock was an area where a large amount of work had been carried out including how stock was purchased, how it was allocated and the usage analysed so that the right stock could be targeted to the local community.

·         The annual user survey had been carried out in Lincolnshire for the first time 6 months earlier, and the highest levels of satisfaction had been recorded for all of the 50 contracts that GLL managed, overall satisfaction had been rated at 99%.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         Appreciation and congratulations were expressed towards Cllr Worth, Executive Councillor for Culture and Emergency Services, for his work in the transformation of the libraries, and it was commented that this showed that the right decision had been made.

·         It was queried what the current situation was with Grantham Library and where the library would be relocated to.  Members were advised that this continued to remain a concern as the Council was unable to transfer the library to GLL due to the lease which did not allow it to be sub-let as the Council paid a peppercorn rent.  The Council continued to look for alternative accommodation through the property team, as well as working with South Kesteven District Council to locate short term premises.  The search had also widened out to other areas of the public sector to look for opportunities for any shared services or buildings suitable for change of use.   Members were reassured that work to resolve this situation was ongoing, however, it was frustratingly slow.  Members were also advised that there was no danger of the service being withdrawn from the area.  Officers thanked GLL for their continued support of this situation.  It was hoped that a resolution would be found for Grantham Library within 12-18 months.

·         Members congratulated GLL for achieving all but one of the KPI's and queried what scope there was to increase the challenge and increase the targets in future years.  Members were advised that this was built into the contract, and the targets would increase for the consecutive four years to ensure that there was the competitive nature in the service for continued improvement.

·         Members were advised that the staff turnover for the last year had been below the threshold of 5%, primarily the team had remained the same but some individual had had the opportunity to gain new roles as well as promotions.

·         Thanks were given to the Library Development Officers, as footfall in one of the non-core libraries (Sutton Bridge) had increased by nearly 30% in the past year, and the library had people who came in regularly and was a valued facility in the local community.

·         It was clarified that ACE was the Arts Council England.

·         The Committee thanked all officers for attending, in particular the representatives from GLL.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee support the ongoing development and proposed 'Year 2 Developments' highlighted in the report.

2.    That the Committee receive annual performance updates on the Library Service Contract going forward.