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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to allow local authorities to charge for membership of public libraries.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 restricts local authorities in England and Wales from charging for library facilities made available by the authority unless permitted by the Library Charges (England and Wales) Regulations 1991. These regulations empower local authorities in England and Wales to make certain charges for the provision of library facilities but this does not include charging for ordinary library membership.

The Government has no plans to amend the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to allow local authorities to specifically charge for ordinary membership of public libraries..