Content

DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST MADE FOR THIS ITEM:
 
None
 
RESOLVED:
 
That the Cabinet Member Culture and
Leisure:
 

1.   
Confirmed approval to implement the variation to libraries’
operating hours originally approved by Cabinet on 10 December 2024,
following the conclusion of staff consultation and the development
and testing of a revised staffing structure.
 
Reasons for
decision
 
The council had a statutory duty under the
Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to provide a
‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service for those
who lived, worked or studied in the borough. The duty was
supplemented by government guidance, which although not statutory,
still had to be taken into account. The
guidance advised that changes to library services should be based
on strategic plans and consideration of alternative delivery
models, and on careful assessment of needs and consideration of
impacts and mitigations. This was all carried out to inform the
original decision taken by Cabinet in December 2024.
 
To address how it would continue to deliver
the library service in the context of both this duty and the
council’s challenging financial position, officers undertook
a detailed Needs Assessment and Equalities Impact Assessment to
inform the proposal agreed by Cabinet in December 2024. The public
consultation that was carried out between August and October 2024
provided vital feedback on how consultees used the libraries and
what they most valued about them. Following that consultation,
Cabinet adopted Option 3, which mitigated the impact of reducing
library hours, specifically including the impact on those with
protected characteristics.
 
The changes approved in Option 3 included
maintaining lunchtime opening to enable continuous access to all
library services without midday interruptions. For this to be
possible, the library service had to increase existing lone-working
practices, and this was a particular focus of the consultation with
staff and Trade Unions. Advice was also sought from the
Council’s Health & Safety team
and a number of measures were
implemented, including staff training, provision of lone-working
devices and coverage of all libraries with CCTV, to ensure staff
and customer safety. Lessons were also drawn from other boroughs
with experience of significantly more lone working than was
proposed to be implemented in Haringey.
 
Library staff were engaged throughout the
development of the proposals and formal staff consultation took
place, with the final proposed staffing structure incorporating
changes to individual job titles, roles and reporting arrangements,
based on staff and trade union feedback. However, the operating
hours and other arrangements set out in Option 3 in the Cabinet
report in December 2024 remained unchanged.
 
The proposals did not therefore need to return
to Cabinet for further consideration, and following a
‘soft’ go-live on 29 September 2025 and a transitional
arrangement between then and now, to ensure there were no
unforeseen issues or problems, this report requested that the
Cabinet member confirmed the original decision as set out at
recommendation 3.1.5 in the December report. The service then
confirmed the revised staffing structure in the Council workforce
and payroll system, approved formally by officers under their
delegated authority subject to this decision.

Alternative options
considered
 
Take no action – The new structure and
opening hours were required to deliver the library service savings,
so not taking the decision was not an option and was
discounted.
 
Alternative proposals – Some
alternatives were put forward during the staff consultation and these were considered in full.
Where these could be incorporated while still maintaining the hours
and overall financial envelope agreed in the December 2024 Cabinet
report, these were adopted, such as retention of the Library
Development function and Home Library Service. Others, such as
concerns over lone working, were considered carefully and
mitigations to identified risks were found.