Found: Q150 Baroness Sanderson of Welton: Thanks for coming today.

Found: Q150 Baroness Sanderson of Welton: Thanks for coming today.

Found: Sanderson of Welton; Lord Wallace of Tankerness.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to commission research into the value of mobile libraries to ensure changing usage patterns keep up with the rise of digital resources.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The dataset for 2022 shows the number of libraries in England (both statutory and non-statutory) from April 2010 to 31 December 2022, and includes information on the number of mobile vehicles operating. It can be found here.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service, and each local authority is responsible for determining how best to meet the needs of its communities, including the appropriateness of mobile library provision. The funding and costs of providing mobile library provision is a matter for individual local authorities; therefore, no such data are held by DCMS.

The Government’s Libraries Improvement Fund is investing £20.5 million in over 90 library services to upgrade their buildings and technology to reflect the changing needs of users. This funding includes supporting the purchase of a new mobile library vehicle in North Yorkshire and also in Warwickshire to deliver the first sensory mobile public library in the UK.

We will be publishing a refreshed Government strategy for public libraries later this year, informed by the independent review of English public libraries conducted by Baroness Sanderson of Welton. The forthcoming strategy will set out our plans to ensure that people across the country can benefit from excellent library services, and HM Government will explore opportunities to increase library use and engagement in line with Baroness Sanderson’s independent review recommendations.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what funding and support is currently given to mobile libraries that service remote or under-served communities.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The dataset for 2022 shows the number of libraries in England (both statutory and non-statutory) from April 2010 to 31 December 2022, and includes information on the number of mobile vehicles operating. It can be found here.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service, and each local authority is responsible for determining how best to meet the needs of its communities, including the appropriateness of mobile library provision. The funding and costs of providing mobile library provision is a matter for individual local authorities; therefore, no such data are held by DCMS.

The Government’s Libraries Improvement Fund is investing £20.5 million in over 90 library services to upgrade their buildings and technology to reflect the changing needs of users. This funding includes supporting the purchase of a new mobile library vehicle in North Yorkshire and also in Warwickshire to deliver the first sensory mobile public library in the UK.

We will be publishing a refreshed Government strategy for public libraries later this year, informed by the independent review of English public libraries conducted by Baroness Sanderson of Welton. The forthcoming strategy will set out our plans to ensure that people across the country can benefit from excellent library services, and HM Government will explore opportunities to increase library use and engagement in line with Baroness Sanderson’s independent review recommendations.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) total, and (2) regional, cost of providing mobile libraries; how are those figures split between capital and running costs; and what are the comparable figures for each year since 2009.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The dataset for 2022 shows the number of libraries in England (both statutory and non-statutory) from April 2010 to 31 December 2022, and includes information on the number of mobile vehicles operating. It can be found here.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service, and each local authority is responsible for determining how best to meet the needs of its communities, including the appropriateness of mobile library provision. The funding and costs of providing mobile library provision is a matter for individual local authorities; therefore, no such data are held by DCMS.

The Government’s Libraries Improvement Fund is investing £20.5 million in over 90 library services to upgrade their buildings and technology to reflect the changing needs of users. This funding includes supporting the purchase of a new mobile library vehicle in North Yorkshire and also in Warwickshire to deliver the first sensory mobile public library in the UK.

We will be publishing a refreshed Government strategy for public libraries later this year, informed by the independent review of English public libraries conducted by Baroness Sanderson of Welton. The forthcoming strategy will set out our plans to ensure that people across the country can benefit from excellent library services, and HM Government will explore opportunities to increase library use and engagement in line with Baroness Sanderson’s independent review recommendations.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) total, and (2) regional, number of mobile libraries currently in operation; and what are the comparable figures for each year since 2009.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay

Arts Council England collects data from local authorities and publishes a basic dataset of information on public libraries in England. The dataset for 2022 shows the number of libraries in England (both statutory and non-statutory) from April 2010 to 31 December 2022, and includes information on the number of mobile vehicles operating. It can be found here.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service, and each local authority is responsible for determining how best to meet the needs of its communities, including the appropriateness of mobile library provision. The funding and costs of providing mobile library provision is a matter for individual local authorities; therefore, no such data are held by DCMS.

The Government’s Libraries Improvement Fund is investing £20.5 million in over 90 library services to upgrade their buildings and technology to reflect the changing needs of users. This funding includes supporting the purchase of a new mobile library vehicle in North Yorkshire and also in Warwickshire to deliver the first sensory mobile public library in the UK.

We will be publishing a refreshed Government strategy for public libraries later this year, informed by the independent review of English public libraries conducted by Baroness Sanderson of Welton. The forthcoming strategy will set out our plans to ensure that people across the country can benefit from excellent library services, and HM Government will explore opportunities to increase library use and engagement in line with Baroness Sanderson’s independent review recommendations.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the sustainability of library services.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all upper-tier local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. It is for local authorities to identify the needs of local residents and to fund and provide a library service that meets those needs.

His Majesty’s Government has provided an additional £600 million on top of the £64 billion Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 — an increase of 7.5% in cash terms. This uplift will help to reduce pressure on councils’ budgets, and protect services including public libraries.

We will be publishing a refreshed Government strategy for public libraries later this year, informed by the independent review of English public libraries conducted by Baroness Sanderson of Welton, which was published in January here. The forthcoming strategy will set out our plans to ensure that people across the country can benefit from excellent library services, and HM Government will explore opportunities to increase library use and engagement in line with the recommendations made in Baroness Sanderson’s independent review.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help encourage visitors to libraries.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

We will be publishing a refreshed Government strategy for public libraries later this year, informed by the independent review of English public libraries conducted by Baroness Sanderson of Welton which engaged with a wide range of interested parties, including through the series of roundtable meetings she held across the country.

One of the recommendations of Baroness Sanderson’s review was that Libraries Week be moved from October, which often clashes with the party conference season, to a time in the year when MPs and peers can more easily engage with it and promote the work of libraries in their local area. We are delighted that, from this year, Libraries Week will take place at the end of June (this year, 24–30 June).

The forthcoming strategy will set out our plans to ensure that people across the country can benefit from excellent library services, and HM Government will explore opportunities to increase library use and engagement especially by children in line with Baroness Sanderson’s independent review recommendations.

In addition, the £20.5 million, DCMS-funded Libraries Improvement Fund is supporting public library services across England. The fund is supporting 95 projects to enable library services to upgrade their buildings and improve digital infrastructure, increasing their potential to develop more flexible spaces and improving digital access, thereby increasing library access and use.