Libraries (Hansard, 26 May 1988)

§ Mr. Fisher
To ask the Minister for the Arts how many representations he has received during the past 12 months by members of the public, asking to pay to borrow more books than the rules of the basic library service allow, as proposed in paragraph 5.11 of the public libraries Green Paper.

§ Mr. Luce
I have received no direct representations about this from members of the public in the last 12 months.

§ Mr. Fisher
To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will list the library authorities who presently do not charge commercial companies for their use of the authority's(a) reference, (b) information and (c) lending services.

§ Mr. Luce
This is a matter for local authorities' discretion. No central record of this information is kept.

§ Mr. Fisher
To ask the Minister for the Arts what was the cost of(a) producing and (b) printing the public libraries Green Paper.

§ Mr. Luce
The cost to my office of producing the Green Paper was about £9,000.
The costs of printing, publishing and distributing it are borne by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, which recovers its costs from sales revenue.

§ Mr. Fisher
To ask the Minister for the Arts on what occasions in the last 10 years a Minister for the Arts has used his statutory powers to ensure that a library authority provided a free and comprehensive basic service under the 1964 Act.

§ Mr. Luce
No Minister responsible for the public library service in England has used his statutory powers under the 1964 Act to direct an authority.

§ Mr. Fisher
To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish the detailed figures which led him to set an initial target of £50 million gross income a year for charged services in his Green Paper on public libraries.

§ Mr. Luce
The £50 million is a cautious assessment of the gross income which library authorities in England could earn if they used the full range of means proposed in the Green Paper. The figure is based on projections using the amount which the higher earning authorities now raise.
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§ Mr. Fisher
To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish tables which show the rate at which each public library authority in England and Wales charges for(a) notifying library users that reserved books are available for borrowing and (b) failure to return borrowed books on time.

§ Mr. Luce
This information is published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in "Public Library Statistics", copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.

§ Mr. Fisher
To ask the Minister for the Arts what criteria he used in coming to the conclusion that public libraries could be more cost-effective.

§ Mr. Luce
I have not reached any firm conclusions that public libraries could be more cost-effective. However, all library authorities should test regularly that their services are cost-effective and delivering value for money. My Green Paper, "Financing our public library service: four subjects for debate," seeks to explore ways in which public library services may be made more cost-effective.
In my answer to an earlier question from the hon. Member today, I referred to a costing model published by my office. In addition, I am currently funding, through the British Library, the production of a manual of performance indicators for public libraries. Both these initiatives will, I hope, provide authorities with useful management tools.