Saving Barnet Libraries

We seek to challenge the unfair way the Council has proposed wholesale removal of staff from Barnet libraries, a step which, if taken, will unlawfully discriminate against the young, disabled, and other legally protected groups who will no longer have proper access to their local libraries.

Barnet are proposing to:

• cut £2.27 million (50% of the existing library budget);

• cut staffed hours from 634.5 to 188, making 46% of staff redundant;

• spend £6.56 million making the cuts and installing highly risky 'Open Library' technology intended to open and close branches by computer, no responsible adult on site, unmonitored CCTV providing the only security; and

• Make a massive reduction in floor space

We aim to challenge these proposals by judicial review.

There is presently a second, unfair consultation process which cannot lead to a properly informed, non discriminatory decision on the future of Barnet’s libraries. We aim to challenge this process by sending a letter before action to Barnet Council demanding that they rethink their proposals and requiring a formal response.

Why should you help?

Barnet's proposals will impact particularly on the vulnerable members of our community:

• Children under 16 will not be allowed to access the library without an accompanying adult, formative independent reading and studying opportunities will be lost.

• Elderly and disabled residents, anyone who would feel unsafe in a completely unstaffed library will be badly affected.

• There will no access to toilets during unstaffed hours, with a particular impact on children, pregnant women, older and disabled people

• Students of all ages wishing to study for exams will be denied study space as former library rooms are leased out for commercial hire.

• Jobseekers will be denied the opportunity to apply for work online without which many will be denied benefits.

Barnet is the first area to propose such a wholesale use of ‘Open Access Technology’. If we don’t challenge this now, we risk this technology being adopted by other places.

How much we are raising and what it is for

We need £2400 to pay for a solicitor (John Halford, partner at Bindmans LLP) with great expertise in this field to gather and analyse the evidence, advise us and to write a letter before action, as a first step towards judicial review. We are raising £1200 as a first step to our full £2400 stretch target, so anything you can give will be very gratefully received!

About the claimant

Save Barnet Libraries brings together library support groups from across Barnet. We are a non-party political group fighting to preserve our library service.

Fast facts

### Name of our case: Save Barnet Libraries v Barnet Council ### What’s at stake Preventing Barnet Council from unfairly deciding to cut half the staff, replacing them with unstaffed and volunteer libraries, drastically reducing the space available in each branch and commercially exploiting the non-library space without using the income from this to subsidise the library service ### The next step: To fund preparatory legal work and the writing of a Letter Before Action - the first step towards applying for Judicial Review of the council's decision ### Our legal team John Halford, Partner, Bindmans Solicitors