Library hours could be reduced as St Helens faces up to £50m budget cut (From St Helens Star)

I'm fine with this - as long as it affects all libraries and I wont be reading that the ones in decent and half decent areas will be getting cut and the ones in the same old funding favourite areas wont. Again.

A good decision for once as they could have decided to close some.

It's the cuts in other areas that worry me and who will get the blame? certainly not a Tory/Liedem coalition that is squeezing the public with the "pips" well gone as the current petrol prices are showing. It will be St.Helens Council.
Unemployment going up as another Star headline indicates? many on short term contracts and low pay.

pitbullboxing wrote:
I'm fine with this - as long as it affects all libraries and I wont be reading that the ones in decent and half decent areas will be getting cut and the ones in the same old funding favourite areas wont. Again.

The cabinet report details the following:

The new opening hours pattern creates library tiers as follows.
• Tier one - Central - 47hrs • Tier two - Parr, Thatto Heath, Moss Bank, Haydock, Chester Lane - 36hrs • Tier three - Billinge, Eccleston, Newton, Rainhill - 29hrs •
Tier four - Rainford, Peter St - 22hrs • Tier five Garswood - 19hrs

The tier structure has taken account of the following.
• Levels of existing use
• The need to accommodate different client groups, allowing for access in the morning for older people and parents and carers, and also being available for after school visits
• Community need in terms of deprivation
• Lone use by children and young people – this is a particularly critical factor,contributing significantly to neighbourhood safety and the overall Wellbeing of the community.

The police in Moss Bank attributed much of the 42% reduction in ASB after 6pm to the new library. In all refurbishments we aim to provide a strong offer for young people and this has been successful, Chester Lane for example, regularly attracts 30 – 40 children and young
people each evening in the winter

Thanks Anthony a very good posting which informs and makes excellent points. As I wrote above its avoided closures although workers hours may be reduced.

Ah surprise surprise - scummy Labour hit the decent areas hardest again !

It seems a pragmatic decision. The concern is reduced hours are an eventual road to closure. As for these silly comments about the liecon government what do you expect them to do throw more taxpayers cash at councils ? Councils have for years been hotbeds of inefficiency and wasting money has been an art form. They are sitting on huge cash reserves even today and pay huge salaries to their management on the basis of we need good people. But the good people are the plodders who have worked in local government all their lives and elsewhere would be unemployable. Yet some of them are paid as much as the prime minster. You will never see cutbacks in this area always on the front line with the phase huge cuts attached driven by the nasty liecon s who are doing this
out of spite forgetting of course labour when back in power won't reverse these cuts. Local government has to fundamentally change to meet the challenges it now faces but I don't see this happening just childish whining. It demonstrates clearly how many in the upper strata s of local government and council leaders are completely unfit for office. This does not just apply to St. Helens look at the problems in warrington council.