Brighton and Hove mobile library service faces fresh threat

The mobile library service in Brighton and Hove will be cut by half if fresh proposals about its future are agreed next week.

A report sets out seven potential options. One option involves running the mobile library for three days a week instead of six.

Another option would mean that the mobile library had fewer stops – 11 instead of 24.

The service was earmarked for the axe in the Green Party’s budget for Brighton and Hove City Council this year as a money-saving measure.

It costs about £84,000 a year to run but, the council said, only 250 borrowers use it as their sole library service.

The vehicle housing the mobile library was near the end of its service life and was expected to need expensive repairs or replacement.

The opposition Labour and Conservative groups voted to keep the service in March – and again in September when the Green administration offered to replace with a door-to-door service.

Councillor Geoffrey Bowden

The latest proposals will be discussed at the council’s Economic Development and Culture Committee meeting on Thursday 15 November.

The report said that retaining the mobile library would mean running a reduced service while still having to find savings elsewhere in the council’s budget.

The door-to-door service proposed in September would have saved £73,000 a year, officials said, while providing a more personalised service to disabled or housebound people.

When councillors rejected the door-to-door idea, they also asked officials to work out how to meet a shortfall of £17,000 to keep the service funded in this financial year.

The money looks likely to come from the council’s emergency funds.

The seven latest options all leave the council short of funds, which would mean that savings had to be made elsewhere.

Councillor Geoffrey Bowden, chairman of the Economic Development and Culture Committee, said: “Facing such large cuts in our funding from central government, it is impossible to eliminate impact on services but we will strive hard to reduce it.

“I felt the door-to-door service was an innovative and modern solution, providing a superior service, giving borrowers access to half a million books and all for less money – particularly for housebound people.

“But if councillors want to keep an expensive traditional lorry-based service we’ll need to fund that with other savings and decide where those should be made.”

The report setting out the latest options can be found here.