Agenda Item No.7
THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN COUNCIL
CABINET MEETING: 24 OCTOBER 2007
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
PROGRESS REPORT ON PERFORMANCE IN RELATION TO THE WELSH
PUBLIC LIBRARIES STANDARDS
Purpose of Report
1. To update
Members on the Library and Information Service’s progress in the
context of the Welsh Public Libraries Standards.
2. To inform
Members of the feedback from the Welsh Assembly Government on the
Annual Report submitted for 2006-7
Background
3. The Welsh Public
Libraries Standards were introduced in September 2001 in order to
define the requirement placed on local authorities under the Public
Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to ‘provide a comprehensive and
efficient library service for all persons desiring to make use
thereof’. The Standards Framework was also intended to
encourage and facilitate a development strategy for public library
services in Wales.
4. The second Three
Year Plan for 2005-8 submitted to the Welsh Assembly Government by
the Vale of Glamorgan Council outlined the position of its Library
and Information Service in relation to the Standards at April 2005
and detailed anticipated progress in performance over the three
year period from 2005 to 2008.
Relevant Issues and Options
6. There are 22
Standards and they measure performance in a number of key areas of
the Library and Information Service:
·
Location and accessibility of libraries
·
Availability and use of information technology
·
Effectiveness of systems for reserving and supplying items for
customers
·
Use made of the service
·
User satisfaction
·
Staffing
·
Quality of library resources provided for customers
·
Suitability and quality of library spaces
8. The areas where
performance was below the Standard were:
·
visitor numbers
· IT
facilities on mobile libraries
·
website visits
·
opening hours
· staff
qualifications
·
provision of Welsh language resources
·
library floor space available
We expect further progress to be made in some
of these areas during 2007/8 and are on target to achieve a further
three of the Standards by the end of March 2008.
9.
A number of our targets have been revised to reflect the
anticipated impact of efficiency savings. Further
improvements in opening hours will not now be implemented and it is
possible that reductions in expenditure on library resources will
impact on our performance in a number of Standards relating to the
range and quality of resources available to customers. The
service is committed to seek to minimise the impact of such
measures on user satisfaction levels and visitor numbers.
10. It should be
noted that the current framework of performance assessment comes to
an end in March 2008 and that the next Three Year Framework
(2008-11) is currently being finalised. This incorporates a
number of anticipated changes, the key ones being:
· a
broader range of assessment tools
· more
emphasis on service effectiveness and efficiency
· a
better balance between input and output measures
· more
emphasis on demonstrating the links between corporate and library
priorities
· no
requirement for a Three Year Plan, but more reliance on the Annual
Return for assessing performance and progress
Resource Implications (Financial and
Employment)
11.
Performance in a number of areas is directly related to the level
of investment in the service. These include the quality of
library resources and IT services available for customers, opening
hours, staffing levels and expertise, and the standard of our
library buildings. Others correlate more indirectly including
customer satisfaction levels, visitor numbers, and the number of
website visits.
Legal Implications (to include Human Rights
Implications)
Crime and Disorder Implications
14. There are no direct
implications arising from this report
Equal Opportunities Implications (to include
Welsh Language Issues)
15. The
Standards address issues relating to equality of access to the
Library and Information service, compliance with the Disability
Discrimination Act, and the provision of books and other materials
in the Welsh Language
Corporate/Service Objectives
16.
Continued progress towards achievement of the Public Library
Standards is identified as a key service objective in the Council’s
Corporate Plan 2006-2010
Policy Framework and Budget
17.
Actions would fall within the Policy Framework, with budget
implications a matter for executive decision
Consultation (Including Ward Member
Consultation)
Appropriate Scrutiny Committee
19.
Lifelong Learning
RECOMMENDATIONS
Reasons for recommendations
(1) To
keep Members informed of progress
Background Papers
Report to Cabinet 14th December
2005 ‘Welsh Public Library Standards:Three Year Plan 2005-8’
Annual Report 2006/7
Welsh Assembly Government, 2005
‘Comprehensive, Efficient and Modern Public Libraries for Wales –
Promoting Higher Service Standards 2005-6’
Contact Officer – Sian Jones, Chief
Librarian
Officers Consulted – Head of Lifelong
Learning
B.Jeffreys
Director of Learning &
Development
Appendix 1
SUMMARY TABLE 2006/07
The new standards are numbered from WPLS 24
onwards in order to avoid confusion with the first set of
Standards. Keeping the original numbering of those standards is
necessary where the Standard itself is to be retained in the
Continuing Performance Checklist. It is necessary
to ensure that performance Standards that were met by library
authorities in the first framework are not allowed to decline, and
that library authorities should be asked to confirm in future
Annual Reports up to March 2008, that Standards achieved in the
first
three-year cycle are still being met and
levels of performance sustained. The standards to be included in
the Continuing Performance Checklist are:
WPLS 2 emergency non-opening
hours of central and branch libraries will be no more than 2½% of
total planned opening hours in any year.
WPLS 3 Welsh public library
authorities will ensure that mobile library visits/stops missed or
cancelled will be no more than 2½% of the total planned number of
visits/stops in any year.
WPLS 7 Welsh public library
authorities will ensure that the total number of workstations
(including those for online catalogues) which are available for
public use should be no less than 7 per 10,000 resident population,
and that every service point will have free public Internet access.
The importance of reviewing the provision of assistive technologies
for those with special needs will also continue.
WPLS 8 Welsh public library
authorities will ensure that their normal issue periods for books
will be not less than three weeks.
WPLS 9 Welsh public library
authorities will ensure that the number of books that library users
are normally allowed to have on loan at any time shall be at least
8.
|
8
|
Standard
|
Status
|
|
24
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
|
Either
In those authorities whose resident population
density is 20 or more persons per hectare, public library
authorities shall ensure that the proportion of households living
within 2 miles distance of a static library will be 85%
Or
In those authorities whose resident population
density is 19.9 persons per hectare or less, public library
authorities shall ensure that the proportion of households living
within 2 miles of a static service point will be 72%
The hours of opening for static libraries will
also be convenient hours, defined as including at least five hours
per week outside 9am to 5pm on weekdays. For static libraries open
for fewer than 10 hours per week, opening hours should be at the
discretion of the library authority.
|
Achieved in 2006/7
|
|
25
|
Welsh public library authorities will ensure
that the aggregate annual opening hours per 1,000 population for
all service points administered by the authority will be no less
than 159 hours per 1,000 resident population
|
Not achieved in 2006/7
|
|
26
|
Welsh public library authorities will provide
more service points selected to be open for more hours per week by
March 2008, together with a selected programme of more frequent
mobile library visits by March 2008
|
Partly achieved in 2006/7
|
|
27
|
Welsh public library authorities will ensure
that all service points that are providing a service for 10 hours
or more per week, provide access to an on-line catalogue for the
whole authority by March 2008. They will also ensure that all
mobile libraries will provide access to a catalogue for the whole
authority by March 2008.
|
Partly achieved in 2006/7
|
|
28
(i)
(ii)
|
Welsh public library authorities will ensure
that all static service points open for 10 hours or more per week,
shall provide by March 2008 via the already existing free access to
the Internet facility:
Provision for laptop use by members of the
public
Scanning, printing and faxing facilities
Facilities on public access PCs to office
software
Free e-mail facilities for users
Free basic support to users in the above range
of core ICT services
Information literacy sessions for users
Welsh public library authorities will ensure
that mobile service points provide by March 2008:
A staff terminal that is linked to the
authority’s library management system that should provide issues
and catalogue information and quick reference and community
information, and wherever possible, staff access to the
Internet.
|
Partly achieved in 2006/7
|
|
29
(i)
(ii)
|
By March 2008 Welsh public library authorities
will ensure that the number of visits to the library service
website per thousand resident population will be within the upper
quartile for all authorities, currently 720. The method of counting
should be based on a count of visits to the library owned or
originated pages of an authority’s site, and should only include
Internet website and Internet visits, and not intranet visits.
Library authorities will also offer to the
public a range of virtual and interactive services and facilities
by March 2008:
Access to Ask Cymru
Access to online community information
services
Access to online catalogues of libraries in
Wales
Access to Wales on the Web, Gathering the
Jewels and other digitised material of Welsh interest
Access to e-government services delivered by
the local authority
Learner support services for e-learning
|
Partly achieved in 2006/7
|
|
30
|
Welsh public library authorities will ensure
that no less than 62% of all requests for materials shall be
supplied within 7 days, 78% within 15 days and 89% within 30 days
from when a request or reservation was made to the time when the
borrower was informed that the book was available.
|
Achieved in 2006/7
|
|
31
|
Welsh public library authorities will ensure
that the number of physical library visits per 1,000 resident
population per year shall be at least 6,144.
|
Not achieved in 2006/7
|
|
32
(i)
(ii)
|
Welsh public library authorities must ensure
that they conduct a Public Library User Survey (PLUS) on one
occasion during the three-year cycle, and that 94% of respondents
aged 15 and over rate the library service as ‘very good’ or
‘good’.
Welsh public library authorities must ensure
that they conduct a Public Library User Survey (PLUS) on one
occasion during the three-year cycle among library users under age
15, and that 77% of respondents rate the library service as
‘good’.
|
Achieved n 2006/7
|
|
33
(i)
(ii)
|
Welsh public library authorities will prepare
and issue a lifelong learning entitlement statement for learners by
March 2006, indicating the services delivered by the authority’s
libraries
specifically for learners, and provide
evidence of dissemination of the Standard.
Welsh public library authorities will work
towards putting policies and facilities in place that would enable
them to participate in a common local authority and an all-Wales
public services smart card scheme for users after March 2008.
|
Achieved in 2006/7
|
|
34
(i)
(ii)
|
Welsh public library authorities shall ensure
that at least 28% of the total staff (full-time equivalent) on the
establishment will be formally qualified (defined according to
returns to CIPFA, namely persons holding formal qualifications in
librarianship or information science or persons who have completed
their qualifying examinations), and
Authorities are asked to compare their total
staffing levels with the following indicative Standard relating to
total establishment staffing levels per 1,000 resident
population.
Lowest quartile 0.40
Median 0.46
Top quartile 0.54
|
Not achieved in 2006/7
|
|
35
|
Welsh Public Library authorities must ensure
that they undertake a ‘stock quality health check’ on one occasion
during the three-year cycle on each of the following categories of
material:
Adult fiction
Also indicate briefly any other collection
management activity undertaken in 2006-07 relating to the overall
quality of your collections.
|
Achieved in 2006/7
|
|
36
|
Welsh library authorities will ensure that
gross items added to book stock per thousand population through
purchase per annum will be at least
Adult fiction 97 per 1,000 population
Adult non-fiction 60 per 1,000 population
Children’s books 76 per 1,000 population (aged
15 and under as indicated in census returns)
Reference materials 11 per 1,000 population in
book format, with additional electronic reference services
purchased or provided to the public identified and listed in the
Annual Report to be submitted by each library authority.
|
Achieved in 2006/7
|
|
37
|
Welsh public library authorities will ensure
that the time taken to replenish the lending stock on open access
is 9.1 years.
|
Achieved in 2006/7
|
|
38
|
Welsh public library authorities shall compare
their expenditure (£ per 1,000 resident population) with the
following indicative Standard, based on expenditure in 2002 –
03.
Lowest Quartile Median Top
Quartile
Books
£1449
£1753 £2027
Other
Materials
£314
£420
£558
Expenditure by authorities will be expected to
be in excess of the median point in both categories by March 2008
if they are to be deemed to be meeting the Standard.
|
Achieved in 2006/7
|
|
39
|
Welsh public library authorities shall ensure
that they spend
Either
A minimum of £1,050 per 1,000 Welsh-speaker
total population (adults and children aged under 15) within their
authority on the purchase, marketing and promotion of
Welsh-language materials
Or
A minimum of 4% of the total library
purchasing fund on the purchase, marketing and promotion of
Welsh-language materials for adults and children aged 15 and
under.
|
Not achieved in 2006/7
|
|
40
|
Welsh public library authorities in their
‘collection quality health check’ processes, are asked to compare
their acquisition performance against an indicative list of Welsh
Writing in English to be circulated to Welsh library authorities,
and to report in the Annual Report on the findings of that
comparison. Authorities will be asked to indicate the percentage of
listed items purchased
or in stock, together with the average number
of copies purchased or in stock.
|
Standard under
development
|
|
41
(i)
(ii)
|
Welsh public library authorities will compare
their performance against an indicative Standard as a minimum
threshold for publicly accessible space allocated to library
provision per 1,000 resident population, namely 28 square metres.
In addition,
authorities are asked to indicate in their
Library Plan for 2005 – 08, their intentions with regard to a
library buildings/facilities programme for the period (including
new build, refurbishment,
shared facilities and acquisition/renewal of
mobile libraries), and to indicate the actual budget allocation for
the programme and its source.
|
Not achieved in 2006/7
|
Appendix 2
Adroddiad Blynyddol SLlCC Bro
Morgannwg 2006/07
Vale of Glamorgan WPLS Annual Report
2006/07
The authority has submitted an Annual Report
for 2006/07 that complies with the stated requirements, and offers
comprehensive and clear explanations. It conveys through realistic
planning and evidence of grounded real action, the authority’s
intentions to meet the requirements of the Standards by March 2008,
except in those areas where the stipulated levels are deemed beyond
the authority’s resources or capacity within the stated three-year
period. The Annual Report received formal approval by the Director
of Learning & Development on 7th September
2007.
It is clear from the assessment process that
the library service now receives considerable support from the
Council through corporate initiatives together with the necessary
resource to support those initiatives. Assessments of Annual
Reports and Library Plans are routinely submitted to Cabinet /
Scrutiny Committee as part of the Council’s performance management
framework, and as a result of this practice of scrutiny and
awareness-raising, additional revenue funding of £120,000 was made
available to the library service specifically for continued
development of work
relating to the Standards. This aspect of the
overall management of the library service in relation to the
Standards is commendable. Internal capital funding has also been
invested in the library service, and it is noted that during
2006-07, the new County Library was opened in Barry, mobile library
provision was increased, and opening hours were extended at Rhoose
Library. Continuing its commitment to the library service, the
Council also granted a further £130,000 for additional costs
relating to the operation of the new County Library, together with
additional funding for a Learning Officer. The community will have
gained a significant amount from the investment in its library
services by this authority, and it would be beneficial to its
residents if it were possible to sustain improved levels of
investment. However, a cautionary note regarding the Council’s
efficiency savings and its potential impact on the authority’s
ability to meet the Standards is apparent in the Report.
In line with the assessment of the Annual
Report for 2005/06, unless an authority achieves at least half of
the elements of a Standard, it will be deemed not to have met the
requirements of that Standard. If half or more of the elements are
met, but not the whole Standard, then the authority will be deemed
to have partly met a Standard. In view of the revised nature of
WPLS 35 (Stock Quality Health Check), and in spite of it being
listed as a ‘Standard under Development’, it has been decided to
consider the achievements of the authority and the comments made
against this Standard, and to judge whether or not an authority has
met these revised stipulated
requirements. Therefore according to our
calculations, the authority
• meets 8 of the substantive Welsh
Public Library Standards on 31 March 2007. Those Standards are
numbers 24, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37 and 38.
The number of convenient opening hours
provided by the authority (WPLS 24 (iii)) has been increased, and
overall the level of achievement is very close to the Standard.
This assessment notes that during 2007/08 the library service plans
to consult with the communities that use the two libraries that
narrowly miss the stipulated level. It has been therefore been
decided to regard this whole Standard as being met. The authority’s
increased expenditure on library resources correlates directly with
improved performances in services to users, particularly in
relation to the
supply of requests (WPLS 30), additions to
stock (WPLS 36), replenishment of stock (WPLS 37), and user
satisfaction (WPLS 32), and increases to public access to both
static and mobile services over a three year period have been
notable. It is clear that some of the additional expenditure on
library materials is connected with the opening of the new County
Library, and targets for the purchase of resources in 2007/08 have
been revised downwards to reflect efficiency savings planned by the
Council. However, the revised target still meets the UK median for
WPLS 38. Work undertaken in the continuing development and
dissemination of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement Statement (WPLS
33 (i)) is to be commended. Adult fiction health checks
(WPLS 35) were carried out in 2004/05 and
2005/06, and a more general stock assessment was undertaken in
2006/07 in preparation for the opening of the County Library. The
assessment notes the prominence given to stock management within
the library service. In particular a trial change in the selection
process for adult fiction, which has followed on from information
gleaned from various sources, and the intention to subscribe to a
loan collection service in 2007/08 in order to offer a changing
supply of books in key languages is an innovative and
commendable
practice.
• partly meets the requirements of 4
Standards – WPLS 26, 27, 28 and 29.
Although the overall increase in opening hours
for static libraries is likely to fall short of the target given
for the framework’s particular three-year period, a significant
increase in mobile library provision has been implemented, and has
enable the authority to improve its performance against WPLS 26.
The authority only narrowly misses meeting the Standard relating to
access to online catalogues (WPLS 27), and this is due to
connectivity problems on some mobile library routes. It was
suggested to library services this year that where such
connectivity problems exist, frequent,
regular offline updates would be acceptable,
and this course of action is to be considered in the Vale.
Similarly, services to mobile libraries required to meet WPLS 28
may be augmented by an improved downloaded library management
system. Together with an additional £10,000 of internal revenue
funding to sustain IT equipment, this means that the authority is
on target to fully meet this Standard by March 2008. There is again
some ambiguity in the data presented in WPLS 29 (i) (virtual
visits), and a change to the statistical package used by the
council to calculate website use means that an indicator for
2006/07 cannot be given. However, a trend showing increased use has
encouraged the authority to increase its target for March 2008. The
assessment notes that the authority has invested an additional
£20,000 in online resources, and that a range of activities and
services to its users will follow. The authority should achieve
these Standards by March 2008 unless there should be unanticipated
or unforeseen difficulties and problems.
• is not meeting the requirements of 5
Standards – WPLS 25, 31, 34, 39 and 41.
It had been anticipated by the authority that
the opening of the new County Library and the increase in opening
hours at Rhoose Library would significantly increase aggregate
opening hours (WPLS 25). However, slippages in timescales and the
temporary closures of the libraries have meant that this did not
happen. Furthermore, it is reported that planned additional opening
hours will not be implemented because of anticipated efficiency
savings, and targets for March 2008 have been revised downwards to
reflect this. If the anticipated efficiency savings are carried
out, it is unlikely that the authority will be able to meet this
Standard within the three-year period. Additional internal and
external revenue funding for promotional activities have resulted
in increased numbers of physical visits to the authority’s
libraries (WPLS 31), although the target for March 2008, which
reflects anticipated improvement in numbers of visits to the new
Barry Library, has been increased, it is slightly disappointing to
note that it still falls some way short of the Standard. Perhaps
the new target is a little modest and tentative bearing in mind
enthusiastic user response to the new Barry facility There has also
been an encouraging increase in qualified staffing levels, but this
still falls some way short of the Standard (WPLS 34). It was
reported last year that expenditure on Welsh language materials
(WPLS 39) had been temporarily adversely affected by the purchase
of stock for the new County Library. It is disappointing that the
situation has, in fact, worsened slightly in 2006/07. However, it
noted that the authority is still on schedule to meet the Standard
by March 2008.
• The remaining Standard – WPLS 40
(Welsh Writing in English)- is still under
development.
The library service reports a lower level of
acquisition of titles this year, and a more realistic target for
March 2008. However, it is encouraging to note that the authority
intends to make more proactive use of the Gwales website to improve
the situation.
By way of comparison we thought that you would
wish to know that the average number of Standards met by all
authorities in Wales as at 31 March 2007 is 7.8 out of 17 (nearly
46%), the highest being 12 (71%) and the lowest being 3 (18%).
During the year under review one authority’s overall performance
declined, four achieved no additional Standards compared to
2005/06, but the average increase in the number of Standards
achieved among other library authorities in Wales was 2.6
(15%).
Performance in the Standards listed in the
Continuing Performance Checklist is again this
year to be commended. All Standards have been met or exceeded, and
the authority is building on the Standards themselves.
One upward movement and no downward movements
were noted in the Standard framework, as compared to last year’s
performance. The great majority of the targets set by the authority
have been met or exceeded. Only two were missed. The authority is
continuing to use the framework of the three-year Library Plan and
Annual Reports as living documents, adapting and revising them as
necessary according to Corporate developments and changes within
the library service itself.
The authority has made commendable progress
against its locally designated service priority areas, meeting or
exceeding the great majority of the targets set. Justifications
have been offered for the small number that were missed, including
the effect on additions to children’s stock of the purchase of
stock for the new Barry library.
A clear baseline for the second framework of
Welsh Public Library Standards was set out in the Vale of
Glamorgan’s Library Plan for 2005-08, and the Annual Report for
2005/06 confirmed the authority’s resolution to continue its
planned progress. The Annual Report for 2006/07 has described the
culmination of many of those planned targets and objectives, and
the many benefits that have resulted from them for the libraries’
communities are already apparent. Following the significant
investment made by the Council in the library service, there are
now anticipated
efficiency savings, which will affect areas
such as planned increased opening hours. However, the authority is
now on a much-improved baseline and is still on target to achieve
further Standards by March 2008. It is possible that the service
could join a group of high performing authorities in Wales, but
that is very dependent on the impact of efficiency savings in the
short term. From the overall picture gleaned by the assessors, such
savings may have a disproportionate adverse impact on library
services, and this is regrettable.