§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Education what action has been taken on the Report prepared by the Committee of investigation into the structure of the public library service in England; what recommendations have been implemented; if he is satisfied with the progress made; and what further action is to be taken.
§ Sir E. BoyleThe main recommendations in the Report of the Roberts Committee are that the Minister of Education should have a general responsibility for the oversight of the public library service in England and Wales, and that public library authorities should be required to discharge a statutory duty to provide an efficient service. On the 15th December, 1960, my predecessor informed the House that it was the Government's intention to adopt these recommendations, but that certain problems needed examination by two working parties before legislation could be drafted. The reports of these working parties were published last December, and as I told the House on 5th March, I intend to introduce the necessary legislation as soon as time can be made available.
§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Education if he is satisfied with the public library facilities in the industrial areas and the amount per head spent on books; if staffs are adequate; if salaries are satisfactory in relation to the service and status required; if the allocation of finance by the local authorities is satisfactory; and what action he will take.
§ Sir E. BoyleI published last December the Report of a Working Party on "Standards of Public Library Service in England and Wales". The recommendations in this Report deal with various factors affecting the efficiency of the service, including book supply, staffing and premises. I have no power to prescribe or enforce any standards for this service, but in my foreword to the Report I said that it provides a guide by which all library authorities can102W measure the efficiency of their own libraries.
§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Education if he will set out in tabular form the expenditure per head of population by public libraries and on books only, respectively, in the year 1956 and for the latest year for which the amounts are available in Buckinghamshire, Lancashire, Durham, Cheshire, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Birkenhead, Bolton, Coventry, Preston, Reading, Salford, Stoke-on-Trent, Battersea, Hackney, Burnley, Rochdale, Hampstead, St. Marylebone, Westminster, Leigh, Eccles, Bethnal Green, Newton-le-Willows, Ashton in Makerfield, Knutsford, Nantwich, and Swinton.
§ Sir E. BoyleI receive no returns of expenditure by local authorities on public libraries, but the Library Association publish certain annual "Statistics of Public Libraries in Great Britain and Northern Ireland ", and I am sending the hon. Member a copy of these Statistics for 1961–62, which I think will be helpful to him.