More discussion is set to take place over the decision to move Ulverston Library to the Coronation Hall.
Members of the communities and environment scrutiny committee for Westmorland and Furness Council will discuss the decision taken by the cabinet to permanently relocate the town’s library service from the King’s Road building to the Coronation Hall after it was called in.
At the committee meeting, set to take place on October 8 at the Coronation Hall, councillors will decide whether to uphold the initial decision or recommend for the decision to be reconsidered by the cabinet.
Councillors may also uphold the initial decision but make recommendations to the cabinet in respect of future actions going forward.
In September, the cabinet approved a recommendation which declared the currently closed Ulverston Library building on King’s Road surplus to existing operational needs with the future options for the asset to be assessed.
Cabinet member for sustainable communities and localities councillor Virginia Taylor previously said the council had taken time to carefully consider all the options and described co-locating the library service into the Coro as the only viable option.
However, five councillors have called in the decision and stated before the decision was taken, Michelle Scrogham MP for Barrow and Furness, communicated to cabinet the night before its meeting that she had secured funding to make the relevant renovations to the original library building and requested a deferral of the decision.
The call-in request by councillor Beverly Morgan (Ormsgill and Parkside, Labour) said: “In light of new and additional information a deferral seemed like a reasonable request. Cabinet opted not to explore the deferral option available to them in light of this request before taking the decision.”
Following the cabinet meeting, Ms Scrogham claimed in a Facebook post the authority refused to defer a decision to relocate the library service so a £2 million offer to refurbish the closed down facility could be discussed.
However, a spokesman for Westmorland and Furness Council previously said in a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “At no point did the council refuse anything.”
“The council can confirm a short email was received from the MP at 8.15pm on Monday.
“The email referenced a meeting the MP had been in where an ‘offer’ of funding had been made towards refurbishment of the King’s Road building.
“No further detail was provided about the source of the funding or the amount. There was no mention in the email of £2 million.
“The leader of the council responded that same evening to ask for further details and information, so this could be evaluated and considered as part of the discussions at the following morning’s cabinet meeting.
“No response was received to this request for further information ahead of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting. At no point did the council refuse’anything.
Cllr Morgan also pointed out community concerns regarding the appropriateness and transparency of the consultation exercise undertaken by the council.
“An additional recommendation included in the report to cabinet to institute collaborative systems with Ulverston stakeholders and communities, in order to agree arts and culture programmes and other development initiatives focused on the Coronation Hall appears patronising at least and too late at worst, considering the concerns raised about the original consultation”, Cllr Morgan added.
In the consultation carried out by the council, some respondents questioned why they had only been asked about one option.
In response, the council said it commissioned independent research experts to carry out an assessment of eight options against a set of objectives for reinstating a permanent library service in Ulverston.
Council documents said: “The evidence from those assessments was clear that the only option that met the majority of those objectives – and was both affordable and delivered value for money for the taxpayer – was the preferred option that was subject to the consultation.”
