The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The campaigners behind Save Lincolnshire Libraries want to know why an MP is asking questions about Sheffield’s libraries but not Lincolnshire’s.
Maurice Nauta has written to Ed Vaizey, the minister most in charge of public libraries, to ask why he is asking questions about Sheffield libraries but not Lincolnshire’s, despite being directly asked to by the Lincolnshire campaigners.
In a press statement released this week, campaigners said: “Vaizey has so far taken no action on the mass of library cuts that have happened on his watch, so why Sheffield, why now and why not Lincolnshire?”
Mr Nauta, who was a senior manager in the library service and several other frontline services in the county, from 1988 to 2002, has written an open letter to Mr Vaizey saying that the Lincolnshire campaigners welcome the fact that he is asking questions of Sheffield City Council but requests that the actions and influence are extended elsewhere in the country.
The letter says: “I wrote to you and the two Secretaries of State several times in 2013 and maintain that, had you intervened at that time, you might have halted legal proceedings and prevented the current adverse outcomes which include drastically reduced library opening hours; a reduction in mobile library provision; a large number of staff redundancies and further costs to taxpayers and residents.
“You will also have noted that over 23,000 people signed a petition to express their dissatisfaction about our county council’s proposals which affect all areas of Lincolnshire.
“Why did you not ask questions of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat-led county council?
“I actually sent you a detailed list of appropriate questions in October last year and, when your Department responded in January, you stated that you were aware of the proposals for Lincolnshire and would continue ‘to consider the representations made’.
“Now, residents of Lincolnshire are faced with a much reduced service, despite the judge having quashed the county council’s proposals (dictionary definition of to quash – to declare null and void).
“Are you content with this state of affairs? Are you keeping in touch with the council’s plans for a second consultation? Are you watching how Lincolnshire is dealing with the bid from Greenwich Leisure Limited?”
