Council could try to recover £350,000 costs of library court case

Campaigners could face a bill of £350,000 after the council warned it was talking to lawyers about claiming back the cost of going to court.

Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill said he would be seeking legal advice about clawing back the huge sum of taxpayers’ money spent defending plans to change the way the county’s library service is run.
In February, the council’s executive approved a new way of doings things in light of the authority’s substantially reduced budget.
Local campaigners then requested a judicial review of this decision.
This week, the High Court published its full judgement, which Coun Hill said “completely vindicated” the council and said there was effectively no case to answer.
Mr Hill said: “This judgement makes it abundantly clear that the council acted in a legal and proper manner.
“In fact, the judge is pretty damning in her assessment of the campaigners’ case, even going as far as to suggest one of their arguments was ‘hopeless’.
“Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped their two ill-considered challenges resulting in around £350,000 of taxpayers’ money being wasted.
“This is frankly outrageous, and we will certainly be consulting our lawyers regarding the recovery of our costs.
“It also raises rather serious questions about the rules surrounding legal aid and the way in which it can be used for what some might argue are political purposes.”
Under its plans, the council will continue to provide 15 major libraries, along with online services and specialist support for those unable to reach their nearest library.
There will also be around 30 community hubs, including library services developed in partnership with local community groups.
Coun Nick Worth, executive member for Libraries, said: “We continue to work with local groups to get the new community hubs up and running.
“Fourteen have already opened their doors, with some even offering increased hours. A further 11 are set to open by the end of November, and there are plans for ten more as well.
“That means Save Lincolnshire Libraries are now rather ironically campaigning for fewer libraries.
“Perhaps now they will finally have enough shame to admit they got it wrong and apologise to the people of Lincolnshire for this needless waste of money.”