Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take joint steps with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Northamptonshire County Council to facilitate active engagement between Northamptonshire County Council and the Government Libraries Task Force on developing a plan to keep open all Northamptonshire publicly-funded libraries.

The Libraries Taskforce, which reports to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Local Government Association, plays an important role in promoting good practice and leadership across the public libraries sector in England.

The Department encourages all councils, including Northamptonshire County Council, to make use of the information and guidance made available by the Taskforce. This includes toolkits published by the Taskforce on alternative delivery models and longer term evidence based sustainable planning, to support councils as they plan their future library provision to make sure that it is sustainable, and meets the needs of local residents.