CPLUG Research
Report No.3
CAMDEN'S USE of CIPFA LIBRARY STATISTICS
Prepared by A. Templeton
12th June 1999
1.
Introduction
Much
of the information contained in this report has already appeared in other,
restricted circulation documents. These were written in connection with CPLUG's
defence of the Camden Library Service from the determined and continual assault
of an influential section of Camden Council. It is believed that a wider circulation
would help to promote a better understanding within Camden of the true state
of the Library Service and, hopefully, aid future Council decision making.
2.
Best Value Comparison Activity
The
government's Best Value white paper has stated that "a
rigorous comparative approach" is required in formulating a Best
Value Strategy. The Camden Library Best Value Report, para. 2.3 implied that
this has been met by the use of CIPFA** statistics. However, CIPFA has warned
against such use. Specifically, page 5 of CIPFA Public Library Statistics
1997/98 Actuals ( the latest document of this type) states:
"Use of Statistics
Users of these statistics are advised to exercise caution
when making comparisons between authorities, since there are many local factors
which could render such comparisons invalid."
As
convenient, unquestioning acceptance of CIPFA statistics has occurred, it
is clear that the required rigorous approach has not been used in formulating
the Camden Libraries Best Value Strategy. Further, it can be argued that,
in failing to include within the Best Value Report any warning on the accuracy
of the CIPFA statistics, the Council Officers seriously misled Council Members.
Whilst
some Council Members on the Leisure and Community Services Committee have
expressed suspicion of the statistics used within the Best Value Report, the
vast majority of the overall Council accepted the statistics as accurate.
Had they been aware of the CIPFA warning, it is very probable that many councillors
would not have voted for the adoption of the Library Strategy proposed in
February 1999..
As
an illustration of just how flawed is the Camden uncritical use of CIPFA statistics,
the assumption that the population of Camden is 189,700 has been investigated.
3.
Camden's Daytime Population
The
population figure used by CIPFA in their Library Statistics document is derived
from the 1991 Census with an adjustment to bring it up to mid 1997. Part 2
of the 1991 Census Analysis states that the figure for residents which excludes
students will be used in all subsequent analyses. Using the 1991 figures,
inclusion of the student population will increase the total population of
Camden by 2.2%. Thus the actual number of residents in mid 1997 should be
approximately 193,873.
Of
far greater importance is the total neglect by CIPFA of the large number of
commuters who populate Camden for most of the time its libraries are open.
Camden has a statutory obligation to provide library services for people who
work in the borough as well as those who live in it. Therefore, any rigorous
analysis of Camden's Library Service in the real world must include those
services for commuters.
*ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ DCMS = Department of Culture, Media and Sport (the government department responsible for public libraries).
**ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ CIPFA = Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Using
the Focus on London 98 document compiled by the Government Statistical Service,
the Government Office for London and the London Research Centre, the inner
London borough daytime populations can be adjusted as follows:
ￜￜ Boroughￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ CIPFA 1997/98ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Net Commuter ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Total Daytime
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ Populationￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜ Populationￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ ￜPopulation
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 189,700ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 127,100ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 316,800
Greenwichￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 213,600ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ -15,800ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 197,800
Hackneyￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 191,700ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ -19,100ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 172,600
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ H'smith & Fulhamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜ 156,900ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜ 15,500ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜ 172,400ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ
Islingtonￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 176,800ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 46,300ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 223,100
Ken. & Chelseaￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 164,000ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 29,800ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 193,800
Lambethￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 265,000ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 6,000ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 271,000
Lewishamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 241,400ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ -34,500ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 206,900
Southwarkￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 230,500ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 45,000ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 275,500
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Tower Hamlets
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ179,800ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜ 53,800ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜ 233,600
Wandsworthￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜ 265,500ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ -27,200ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ 238,300
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜWestminsterￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜ ￜￜￜ212,300ￜￜￜￜ ￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜ356,800ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ ￜￜￜ569,100
Not
surprisingly, the effect of the commuter adjustment is most marked for the
boroughs of Westminster and Camden. This, of course, will be reflected in
the parameters used to judge the Library Service.
4.
Cost of the Library Service
A
persistent claim of the controlling political party in Camden and senior officers
in the Leisure & Community Services Dept. has been that Camden spends
significantly more than the average inner London borough on its Library Service.
Using this claim as its justification, expenditure on the Service has been
cut again and again since 1971 (ref. CPLUG Research Report No. 1). No mention
is ever made of the Council's obligations to workers in the borough in calculating
the inner London comparative costs. If Camden had acknowledged this duty,
it would have found the comparison changed as follows:
Boroughￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Net Cost of Library Service ￜ /
Head of Population
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜ CIPFA Figureￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜ Commuter Adjusted
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 27.91ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 16.71
Greenwichￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18.63ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 20.12
Hackneyￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 22.71ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 25.22
H'smith
& Fulhamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18.59ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 16.92
Islingtonￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 29.39ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 23.29
Ken.
& Chelseaￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 27.71ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 23.45
Lambethￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 15.04ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14.71
Lewishamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 15.75ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18.38
Southwarkￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 22.40ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18.74
Tower
Hamletsￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14.67ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 11.29
Wandsworthￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18.01ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 20.07
Westminsterￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 31.69ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 11.82
Averageￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 21.9ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18.4
Camden
(year 4 of Best V. Strategy)ￜￜￜ 24.48ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14.66
The
dramatic change in Camden's ranking is obvious. It has changed from the third
highest spender in inner London to the fourth lowest spender. A significantly
higher than average expenditure has been transformed into an expenditure well
below average. The effect of implementing the proposed Best Value Strategy
is to reduce Camden's real world expenditure to a level even further below
average.
5.
Camden's Book Fund
It
is usual to consider the provision of lending and reference books to be the
prime activity of any public library. Therefore, the magnitude of the book
fund is a critical parameter in determining the success or failure of a library
service.
.
Boroughￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
Expenditure on Books ￜ / Head of Population
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜ CIPFA Figureￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Commuter Adjusted
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.03*ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.21
Greenwichￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.09ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.26
Hackneyￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.27ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.52
H'smith
& Fulhamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.46ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.33
Islingtonￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.34ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.85
Ken.
& Chelseaￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.55ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.16
Lambethￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.03ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.01
Lewishamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.00ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.33
Southwarkￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.92ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.44
Tower
Hamletsￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.91ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.70
Wandsworthￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.08ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.32
Westminsterￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 4.28ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.60
*
Camden's Best Value Report incorrectly claimed an expenditure of ￜ3.02 / Head
of Population. The detailed expenditure was: ref. books = ￜ0.389, adult fiction
= ￜ0.511, adult non-fiction = ￜ0.766 & children's books = ￜ0.364 (all
per head of the CIPFA defined population).
Camden
has accepted that it has been underfunding the book budget. Its lowly ranking
in the CIPFA book expenditure list confirms this. Adjustment for the commuter
population simply transforms a poor performance into an extremely bad performance.
The only positive thing that can be said for Camden is that it has not yet
sunk to the depths of Tower Hamlets or Lambeth.
6.
Camden's Library Buildings
The
main element in the Camden Library Best Value Strategy is the reduction in
the number of libraries within the borough. It is therefore important to obtain
an accurate comparison with other inner London boroughs of the level of provision
of this type of asset.
In
its compilation of library statistics, CIPFA has used two methods of comparing
the adequacy of library building provision. These are the size of the population
served per library and the net public area floor space per head of population.
The first measure provides an indication of the ease with which a library
can be reached in a borough and the second gives a measure of the average
quality of the those buildings with respect to crowding and, possibly, facilities.
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜ Service
Points*ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜ Population per Service Point
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜ @ 31/03/98ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜￜ CIPFA Figureￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜ Commuter
Adjusted
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
13,550ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 22,629
Greenwichￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 15ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14,240ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 13,187ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
Hackneyￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ 9ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
21,300ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 19,178
H'smith
& Fulhamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ 7ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
22,414ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 24,628
Islingtonￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 11ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 16,073ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 20,282
Ken.
& Chelseaￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ 7ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
23,429ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 27,693
Lambethￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18,943ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 19,372
Lewishamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 13ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18,569ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 15,915
Southwarkￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 16,464ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 19,678
Tower
Hamletsￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 14ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
12,843ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
16,686
Wandsworthￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 13ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 20,423ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 18,331
Westminsterￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 13ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 16,331ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 43,778
Averageￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 12ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 17,274ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 21,770
Camden
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 11ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 17,245ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 28,800
(year
4 of Best V. Strategy)
*
Service Points include both library buildings and mobile libraries.
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜ ￜNet Floor Space sq. m. per 1000 Population
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜCIPFA Figureￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Commuter Adjusted
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 35ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 21
Greenwichￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
no dataￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
no data
Hackneyￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
no dataￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
no data
H'smith
& Fulhamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ no
dataￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ no
data
Islingtonￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
30ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 24
Ken.
& Chelseaￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 39ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
33
Lambethￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
no dataￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
no data
Lewishamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
23ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 27
Southwarkￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
16ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 13
Tower
Hamletsￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 29ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
22
Wandsworthￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ no
dataￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ no
data
Westminsterￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 31ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 12
Averageￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
28ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 22
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 33 *ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 20 *
(year
4 of Best V. Strategy)
*ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ In calculating the Library Net Floor Space after implementation
of the Best Value Strategy, it has ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ been necessary to make assumptions on the size of the new
libraries to be sited in Kilburn and ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
Kingsway College. The assumption made was that the only loss of space
would be due to the ￜￜ closure of Belsize
and Chalk Farm libraries. Thus the before / after space equation becomes:
Old Kilburn + Holborn + St. Pancras = New
Kilburn + Kingsway
The
two tables above reveal the strategy behind the Best Value Strategy. This
appears to be to reduce Camden's libraries to the inner London average as
defined by a careful interpretation of CIPFA data. The careful interpretation
being that no adjustment should be made to take into account the actual statutory
obligations on the Library Service. These real world responsibilities seem
to have been discarded as inconvenient.
The
assumption made for the calculation of the post Best Value Strategy floor
space, i.e. no additional reduction beyond Belsize & Chalk Farm closures,
is highly optimistic. If the Leisure & Community Services Dept. target
is to reduce Camden's libraries to their version of the inner London average,
another 950 sq. m. will be lost from the total floor space. This is equivalent
to approximately three neighbourhood libraries. The real world provision of
floor space would fall to 17 sq. m. per 1000 people, a further significant
fall from the already below average level. Overcrowding is guaranteed and
public safety may become an issue.
ￜ7. Staff Levels
Yearly
strikes by library staff give a clear signal that all is not well in this
area. This does not augur well for the Library Service, as staff morale has
been found to be an accurate indicator of the future success of an organisation.
Whilst
management / staff relationships cannot be the direct concern of library users,
the level of service that the staff is able to provide is a legitimate concern.
The
following CIPFA statistics relate to a period prior to the implementation
of a staff reduction policy.
Boroughￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜTotal Staff (fte)ￜￜￜￜ ￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Staff
in Post (fte) / 1000 Population
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜ CIPFA Figureￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜ Commuter
Adjusted
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 157.5ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.83ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.50
Greenwichￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ 87.4ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
0.41ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.443ￜￜ
Hackneyￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 118.5ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.62ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.689
H'smith
& Fulhamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ 88.0ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
0.56ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.51
Islingtonￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 148.1ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.84ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.666
Ken.
& Chelseaￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 135.5ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.83ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.702
Lambethￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ 77.8ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
0.29ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.284
Lewishamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 109.0ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.45ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.525
Southwarkￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 138.3ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.60ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.502
Tower
Hamletsￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ94.4ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
0.53ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.408
Wandsworthￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 111.1ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.42ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.468
Westminsterￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 210.3ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.99ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.369
Averageￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 123.0ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.59ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.505
Camden
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 132.34ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.70ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.418 *
(year
4 of Best V. Strategy)
*ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Establishment
The
puzzling contradiction of the Leisure & Community Services Dept. claim
that the Library Service is overstaffed and the fact that staff do seem to
be working quite hard appears to have been explained. The data used by the
Leisure & Community & Services Dept. is simply not applicable to the
Camden situation without adjustment.
In
seeking to reduce staff levels and costs, the library management has several
options. It can:
Try to make the remaining members of staff work harder
OR
Reduce the level of service provided
OR
Improve working practices
OR
Invest in labour saving equipment
It
would be an unusually courageous management which announced that it intended
to adopt either of the first two options. Often, these options are implemented,
intentionally or accidentally, by an over optimistic assessment of the benefits
derived from either or both of the last two options.
Undoubtedly,
in this case it will be claimed that improvements in working practices will
allow staff reductions without any deleterious effect. Camden's past history
and the above analysis indicate that this is probably optimistic.
ￜ8. Camden Library Central Support Costs
There
is one performance measure in the 1997 / 98 CIPFA document where Camden has
claimed the top position over all other inner London boroughs. It can proudly
boast that it has the highest library central support costs of anywhere in
inner London.
This
situation is only slightly changed when the commuter adjustment is introduced.
It falls to third place and is still found to spend well above average.
Boroughￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ
ￜￜￜￜￜￜ Library Central Support Costs ￜ / Head
of Population
ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜ CIPFA Figureￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ Commuter Adjusted
Camdenￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 4.331ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.59
Greenwichￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 3.020ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 3.26
Hackneyￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.946ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.16
H'smith
& Fulhamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.746ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.59
Islingtonￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 3.176ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.52
Ken.
& Chelseaￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 4.012ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 3.39
Lambethￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.080ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.03
Lewishamￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 0.944ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.10
Southwarkￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.026ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.89
Tower
Hamletsￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ no dataￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ no data
Wandsworthￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.043ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.16
Westminsterￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 4.264ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 1.59
Averageￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.60ￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜￜ 2.12
Using
Camden's preferred CIPFA statistics: if Camden reduced its library central
support costs to the inner London average, a saving of ￜ1.73 / resident would
result. This would release ￜ328,577 / year, at mid 1997 level, for use in
direct service delivery. So, at 1999 levels, approximately ￜ345,000 / year
could be spent on improving the library service.
Using
the adjusted figures, the release of funds for improved service would be smaller
but still significant i.e. ￜ157,000 / year at 1999 levels.
A
cautious interpretation of the above calculations would be to regard the two
sums of money as the extremes of the probable range of saving which would
result from the Camden Library Service merely achieving an average efficiency.
It is not unreasonable to expect the saving to reach ￜ250,000. If Camden really
became a Best Value Authority, far greater sums would be delivered for direct
service to the community.
With
the very restricted amount of data available, it is difficult to isolate the
cause(s) of the poor efficiency which has been demonstrated above. However,
the attached chart would suggest that the diversion of resources to the Leisure
& Community Services Dept. Directorate contributes to this unfortunate
situation. Only by detailed analysis of the department's finances can it be
established exactly what has gone wrong.
9.
Conclusions
Camden
has accepted that its Library Service is failing.
The
above data shows clearly that a large underestimate has been made of the actual
magnitude of the tasks undertaken by the service. The resulting high degree
of underfunding together with a grossly inefficient central management funding
structure have been shown to be the prime causes of Camden's present problems.
The
number of libraries within the system has been found to be no more than adequate
for the real obligations which have to be met and the proposed reduction appears
to be merely a mechanism to further accentuate the underfunding situation.
Councillors
have been misled into believing that the data quoted in the Camden Libraries
Best Value Report was accurate rather than something which must be treated
with caution, especially in the case of Camden and Westminster.
The
statement within the Best Value Report that "Officers
have concluded that the consultation undertaken to date has provided all possible
relevant information necessary to inform the review process and enable a reasonable
conclusion to be reached on the steps to be taken to achieve Best Value in
the library service" has been shown to be incorrect. This error has,
unfortunately, led directly to a damaging confrontation between the Council
and the community it serves.
There
may be a case for suggesting to central government that the special situation
in which Camden and Westminster find themselves, with respect to their responsibilities
to commuters, warrants some extra financial aid.
Addendum
After
the analysis described in this report was completed, a paper written by a
former Camden Director of Libraries and Arts came to hand. This paper covers
many of the points raised in this report, suggesting that they were well known
to Camden's library managers at that time. The paper was:
"How
to spend ￜ10 million without really trying: financial control and resource
management." by Christine M. Wares. Presented at the 59th ASLIB Annual
Conference at University of Sussex, 17-20 March 1987.
