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Libraries across Bristol could close due to budget cuts
Libraries across Bristol are facing closure after the city council unveiled plans to cut the service’s budget in half.
The council is proposing to slash up to £2.4m from the existing £4.7m that libraries receive a year, although it has not yet said what this will mean.
But it is very unlikely that all 27 branches will remain open if councillors approve the current proposals.
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Labour has criticised the idea, saying the impact will be “devastating” and that libraries should be a “red line” that must not be crossed before savings are made elsewhere.
The Liberal Democrats have also said that closing libraries “would be a very bad choice”.
The library service was previously threatened with swingeing cuts in 2018 and 2022 but on both occasions council leaders dropped the plans amid huge public opposition.
Now they are back on the table and will be considered by the cross-party finance sub-committee on January 15, which will make its budget recommendations to the strategy and resources policy committee before the final vote at full council next month.
Labour group leader, Tom Renhard, said: “Libraries are a vital service for Bristol and should be a red line for their budget cuts.
“The Greens promised to ‘get the basics right’. Cuts to a crucial, well-loved service that the council is legally required to provide flies in the face of that commitment.
“This will have a devastating effect on all corners of our city.
“Cutting up to £2.4m from a budget of £4.66m will surely mean permanent closures.
“The Greens and their Liberal Democrat coalition partners need to come clean about which libraries they plan to close, and not leave residents and ‘friends of’ groups in limbo.”
It is understood that one of the options rejected in 2022 to cut the libraries budget by £1.5m – less than currently proposed – would have resulted in 14 permanent branch closures.
Budget papers to the sub-committee include a line titled ‘Future of Bristol’s library service’ which says there are options to reduce the service, although they do not say what these are.
They include a figure of £2m of cuts, although the document also says these could be between zero and £2.4m.
The Junction 3 Library in Easton is Bristol’s newest library – photo: Mia Vines Booth
In a statement to the finance sub-committee, Lib Dem councillor Tim Kent said that the proposed cuts to the library service are “staggering and takes us back to the bad days of the Labour mayor’s proposals when he tried to slash the library service”.
Kent said: “It is unimaginable that the council would implement such a cut which would see the majority of our branch libraries closed.
“I hope the committee will oppose such a proposal…
“I realise the council has been left in a dire financial situation due to the very poor financial management of the previous Labour mayoral administration and the continued pressures on local government services with limited support from government.
“But we can choose to not make very bad choices. Cutting our libraries and school crossing staff would be a very bad choice.”
Central Library is likely to escape closure but nothing is certain – photo: Martin Booth
Council leader Tony Dyer said that a crisis in local government finances had been driven by rising costs, a lack of government funding, a national failure to reform the country’s health and care system, a national housing crisis, and a growing need for vital safeguarding services for vulnerable children and adults.
He said: “Bristol is no exception and will face bankruptcy if we can’t close a £52m funding gap over the next five years. This needs to start straight away.
“There is no doubt that it means difficult choices, more taxes and charges, and we recognise that the money we raise does not go as far as it once did.
“We don’t like that any more than local taxpayers do, but it is the reality we must contend with.
“We need to take a bigger, bolder and more politically courageous approach to our budget.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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