GOVERNMENT POLICY ON TACKLING DISADVANTAGE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL AND THE ROLE OF LIBRARIES
1. The Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion made two key points in his speech to the All-Party Group on Libraries on 8 February 2006: that public libraries can make a valuable contribution to the sustainable communities agenda; and that public libraries need to consider ways to more effectively use the substantial asset base at their disposal.
2. The public library community recognises the need to innovate, modernise and improve the quality and consistency of performance. The successful nationwide implementation of the People’s Network illustrates the capacity of public libraries to deliver change and transform service delivery – as well as helping provide access to ICT for those citizens who might otherwise find themselves excluded by the “digital divide”.
3. Current work to explore better processes of procurement (through the DCMS/MLA Framework for the Future Action Plan) and more efficient methods of
service delivery (through the ex-ODPM Local: vision: developing the Local Government services market project) show that public libraries are seeking
actively to address the agenda of modernisation, greater efficiency, and more shared services. Through their longstanding commitment to community profiling, public libraries seek to identify the real needs of local communities and the best ways of reaching out to local people. The forthcoming BIG Lottery Community Libraries Programme will help to develop this process of local
community engagement.
4. Within government, the public library service is linked with culture (through DCMS) and was previously linked with education (through the DfES). The public library service has both a cultural and an educational dimension.
5. At local level, the service has often been linked organisationally with culture and leisure services – and the contribution of culture/leisure activities to the
agendas of capacity building, inclusion, renewal, and sustainability is well understood. Sports, arts, play – and libraries – can help to improve health and well-being, reduce offending and anti-social behaviour, increase aspiration and foster learning.
6. Libraries are places of lifelong learning as well as being culture/leisure facilities. “Learning through libraries” can contribute to every stage of learning identified in the DfES Five Year Strategy and to the important range of learning (critical to capacity building, community development, and neighbourhood renewal), which
happens outwith traditional educational institutions – early years, skills for life, family and community learning. The success of Bookstart and the involvement
of libraries in the Surestart and Skills for Life programmes – and in the “Change for Children” agenda – are just some examples of this contribution. The connection between personal and community learning and the process of civic renewal is well understood.
7. Libraries are also significant community institutions contributing to a community’s sense of identity, worth, and belonging. They reach into every neighbourhood (through library buildings or mobile services). They are trusted by everyone, neutral spaces, and used by the whole of the community – including vulnerable or disadvantaged people who may have low self-esteem
and who might feel alienated or excluded from other public services. There is a substantial body of evidence from the Beacon Council scheme (Libraries as a
community resource – round three of the scheme) and from the CILIP Libraries change lives awards to illustrate how libraries can help to lift people out of social exclusion and contribute to neighbourhood renewal. Public libraries offer the resources of a national network (with consequent opportunities, potentially,
for improved economies of scale) and the reach of a genuinely neighbourhood based service.
8. This unique combination – culture/leisure facility, place of lifelong learning, trusted, neutral and inclusive community resource, national network and neighbourhood service – gives public libraries a powerful potential to contribute to the Government’s objectives for sustainable communities, neighbourhood
renewal, social inclusion, and better towns and cities in which to live and work. The capacity of public libraries to engage in local community partnerships and involve local volunteers also gives them a powerful potential to contribute to the agenda of community engagement and civic renewal through civil society and
the third sector. The Home Office/ CSV Lending time project has helped to develop the involvement of local volunteers in the delivery of library services.
9. DCLG in general and the Tackling Disadvantage Group in particular cover a wide range of policies and programmes which share the common aims of
helping people lead full and decent lives in strong, safe and sustainable communities. These policies and programmes can be expressed very broadly (for example in the shared priorities of central and local government) and at various levels of detailed granularity (such as the full list of components of a sustainable community as given on the DCLG website). For the purposes of this note these policies and programmes can be distilled into the following statements of objectives and desired outcomes:
- An attractive and safe environment in which to live and work with low levels of crime and where anti-social behaviour is not tolerated
- Good educational opportunities for everyone leading to good levels of attainment and high levels of literacy and skills for life
- A strong business community and a healthy local economy with good job opportunities, high levels of employment, and support for social enterprise
- Decent and affordable homes for everyone and a good local infrastructure of transport, shops, and services
- Good standards of health and of welfare (health care, child care, social care etc)
- Opportunities for cultural and leisure activities for everyone including children, young adults, families, and older people
- Support for potentially vulnerable and disadvantaged / excluded people – such as people with disabilities or low levels of literacy or long-term health problems, people from particular ethnic backgrounds, people who move home frequently, young adults with complex needs, older people who may feel forgotten etc
- Respect for diversity and with similar life opportunities for everyone regardless of their background – including access to trusted sources of information and advice; and widely available access to ICT
- A strong sense of community identity – of place and belonging – supported by strong civic leadership, effective partnership working, a thriving third sector, a sense of civil values, and productive engagement with the community at neighbourhood levels
- Effective public services and attractive public spaces
10. Public libraries can make a contribution to each of these outcomes. With this in mind it would be helpful if public libraries could have a voice in the continuing
dialogue around sustainable communities, neighbourhood renewal, social exclusion, and civic renewal. Specifically:
- Guidance from government (for example, on LSPs, Sustainable Community Strategies, and LAAs) should include reference to the potential contribution of public libraries
- Relevant programmes should include reference where applicable, to the potential contribution of public libraries. Examples might include: New Deal for Communities; the Mixed Communities initiative; the Stronger and Safer Communities Fund; the Single Community Programme; the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and Neighbourhood Renewal strategies; Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships; Business Improvement Districts; the Growth Area Fund and Community Infrastructure Fund; the Excellence in Cities programme; and the Better Government for Older People programme
- The forthcoming Action Plan on Social Exclusion (being developed through the SEU) should make reference to the potential contribution of public libraries.
- Crosscutting mechanisms within government (such as the Neighbour-hood Renewal Interdepartmental Group) should include a link with libraries.
- Relevant advisory and executive bodies established by government should include a link with libraries.
11. The purpose of the meeting with representatives of the All-Party Group and CILIP is to explore – at headline level – the contribution which libraries can make to the DCLG and Tackling Disadvantage agendas; and to identify mechanisms, and further work, which might help to strengthen the connection between the library community and the agendas outlined in this note. DCLG is focused on sustainable communities. Libraries have a part to play in delivering the outcomes which DCLG is seeking to achieve.
Updated: 19 December 2006