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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support Lancashire County Council in (a) keeping library buildings open and (b) sustaining the function of those buildings as libraries.

Public libraries are funded and run by local authorities and it is a matter for local authorities to determine how best to provide a comprehensive and efficient public library service to their local community, within available resources.

Lancashire County Council has a Core Spending Power per dwelling of £1321 for 2016-17 rising to £1392 per dwelling by 2019-20.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport, together with the Local Government Association, has set up a Leadership for Libraries Taskforce to help public libraries in England build on good practice and add value for the communities they serve. The Taskforce is currently consulting on the attached document at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/libraries-deliver-ambition-for-publiclibraries-in-england-2016-2021 which sets out the ambition for public libraries in the future. Furthermore, thanks to Government funding, free Wi-Fi is available to 99% of public libraries in England.