Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

Lynda James – Personal interest item 6

To approve & sign the Notes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Approved

Questions must relate to matters on the open part of the Agenda of the meeting, and will be dealt with within a 10 minute period

None

Ben Smith - Head of Financial Services & Service Centre

·         The overspend scale is improving, however the whole of the contingency fund will be spent

·         67% of savings proposals have been met

·         Things are getting tight across all local authorities

·         If suggested savings are not made by the end of the year, it compounds the impact on future budgets

·         There are difficult decisions for Cabinet and Council

·         Any non-savings will have to be met elsewhere as we are not drawing from general reserves

·         Still working through full settlements regarding grants

·         Reductions in grants will impact services

·         This can disproportionally impact some services over others

·         Very little unencumbered money comes to the Council

·         The enhanced ER/VR rate is for a limited time and is an invest to save approach

·         Karen Gibbins - Principal Librarian

·         Frances Jenkins – Strategic Manager Tourism Marketing and Events

·         Councillor Robert Francis-Davies – Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Major Projects

·         The quality framework for libraries ensures that libraries meet certain standards

·         There are 17 libraries in Swansea

·         Housebound services for those who can’t access libraries

·         The libraries are spread throughout the authority

·         Over 1.1 million people used the libraries in 16/17

·         Link in with council priorities

·         There are 18 core entitlements and 16 quality indicators to meet

·         There are a couple of areas for improvement but overall the libraries perform very well

·         6^th in Wales for physical visits despite the fact that buildings are stand alone and not bringing footfall in from multiuse buildings

·         3^rd in Wales for regular and active borrowing

·         2^nd highest in Wales for audio-visual and electronic borrowing

·         There are high levels of customer satisfaction within the library service

·         Reservations and requests are improving

·         All libraries have wifi

·         There is a new framework for 2017/2020 with an emphasis on health and wellbeing targeting people in the community with specific needs

·         There are more targeted services and evaluations

·         Cabinet Member noted that the libraries are now multi use and people are accessing them for a range of reasons and to access services which are being provided. This includes social interaction and helping tackle loneliness

·         The Panel thanked the staff for their service in light of consistent cuts

·         Cabinet member and head of service thanked the team for their contributions and hard work in difficult staffing circumstances

·         The next meeting on 12^th February at 10.30am will be a pre-scrutiny of the Highways and Transportation Commissioning Review

·         The meeting on 14^th February at 10am and will look at the budget