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Proposed changes to the Library Service, Budget Consultation 2025/2026

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This consultation has closed


Have you say on our Library saving proposals for 2025/2026


Introduction

Barnet Council plays a big part in people’s lives. Every year, we spend over £400million providing public services that you, your family and friends use every day.

As well as supporting our communities we are committed to the responsible management of the council’s finances. We are a well-run council and have a tight control on our spending. However, like many local authorities across the country, we are facing unprecedented financial challenges across all areas of our work.

These challenges include increased levels of demand in areas out of the


Have you say on our Library saving proposals for 2025/2026


Introduction

Barnet Council plays a big part in people’s lives. Every year, we spend over £400million providing public services that you, your family and friends use every day.

As well as supporting our communities we are committed to the responsible management of the council’s finances. We are a well-run council and have a tight control on our spending. However, like many local authorities across the country, we are facing unprecedented financial challenges across all areas of our work.

These challenges include increased levels of demand in areas out of the council’s control, such as rising demand for complex and expensive services in children’s and adults’ services, as well as the huge cost of having to place more homeless families into temporary accommodation. The council has also had to deal with rising costs combined with a legacy of decades of austerity resulting from government funding cuts.


Our financial challenge

For the next financial year, the council has already found £23m of efficiency savings, whilst facing a £56m funding gap because of the unprecedented financial crisis facing local government. Over the forthcoming year the council will continue to work hard to identify further saving and income proposals to help meet the remaining budget gap.

All services will need to identify further savings, and as part of this Library Services must find savings of £250,000 from its overall budget of £3.9 million.


What we are seeking your views on:

We have developed a set of proposals to help deliver the Library savings and we would like to hear your views. The proposals are summarised below:

  • to discontinue the mobile library service
  • to cease purchasing hard-copy newspapers
  • to reduce slightly the self-service opening hours at Chipping Barnet, Colindale, Edgware and Finchley Church End libraries.

We are also investigating whether we may be able to increase the number of staffed opening sessions in the future and would like your feedback on this proposal.

To find out more, please read our Library Service budget consultation summary document.

Your views are important to us, and we particularly want to hear from residents and library users as well as people who work or study in the borough and also from community groups and businesses.


How to have your say:

  • Complete our online questionnaire

We are keen to hear your views on our proposals and encourage you to have your say by completing our online questionnaire. 

  • If you would like a paper questionnaire, please ask the library staff or email librariesonlinehelp@barnet.gov.uk
  • If you require the consultation in an alternative format, please email the address above or ask at your local library in staffed hours.

If you would like someone to help you complete the questionnaire or need more information, please contact us using one of the above methods.

 


What happens after the consultation closes?

The council will use the consultation findings to inform our final decision. We will publish the results of the consultation, our decision and how we are acting on the results of the consultation on this web page in May 2025.

This consultation has closed

  • We asked, you said, we did

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    We asked

    We asked for your views on proposals to:

    • discontinue the Mobile Library Service.
    • cease purchasing hard-copy newspapers on a permanent basis.
    • reduce slightly the self-service opening hours at the four Core Plus libraries (Chipping Barnet, Colindale, Edgware and Finchley Church End).
    • investigate increasing the number of staffed opening hours in the future.

    You said

    We received 525 responses to the online consultation and 373 responses from the representative Barnet Citizens’ Panel.

    Proposal to discontinue the Mobile Library Service

    • 70% of Citizens’ Panel respondents and 60% of open-consultation respondents supported the proposal to discontinue the Mobile Library Service but retain the 14 libraries and the Home Library Service.
    • 15% of Citizens’ Panel respondents and 24% of open consultation respondents opposed the proposal to discontinue the Mobile Library Service.

    Proposal to cease purchasing hard-copy newspapers

    • 71% of Citizens’ Panel respondents and 58% of open consultation respondents supported the proposal to permanently remove hard-copy newspapers from Barnet’s libraries.
    • 17% of Citizens’ Panel respondents and 26% of open consultation respondents opposed the proposal.

    Proposal to rduce the self-service opening Hours at Chipping Barnet, Colindale, Edgware and Finchley Church End Libraries

    • 79% of Citizens’ Panel respondents and 61% of open consultation respondents supported the proposal to reduce self-service hours at Core Plus Libraries.
    • 12% of Citizens’ Panel respondents and 21% of open consultation respondents opposed the proposed change in opening hours.

    Support for Additional Proposals

    • The ambition to increase staffed hours was supported by 76% of Citizens’ Panel respondents and 75% of open consultation respondents.

    You can read more detail in the full consultation report.

    We did

    Cabinet approved all four proposals at their meeting on 19 May 2025

    From the week commencing 2 June 2025, opening hours at Chipping Barnet, Colindale, Edgware and Finchley Church End Libraries were amended to 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am – 5pm on Saturday and 10am – 5pm on Sundays.

    The Mobile Library will be decommissioned on Friday 25 July 2025. Information will be provided to residents about alternative library sites and for those wishing to transfer to the Home Library Service.

    Library managers will investigate options to increase the number of staffed opening hours in static libraries in the future.