Why it matters: The official opposition at Suffolk County Council has formally requested that portfolio holder Cllr Philip Faircloth-Mutton conduct "urgent talks" with Suffolk Libraries to resolve the contract dispute before the scheduled March 18 vote.
The big picture: This intervention follows last week's article detailing how Suffolk Libraries challenged the council's decision to bring services back in-house, releasing data disputing the council's claims about management costs and proposed cuts.
The details: In a formal request sent to Cllr Faircloth-Mutton, opposition councillors stated:
"We believe we are speaking for the people of Suffolk, as the recent support for Suffolk Libraries and the petition on Change.org shows – at the time of writing this has now been signed by over 14,000 people, almost 2% of the county population."
The councillors noted that this significantly exceeds the 0.5% threshold for petitions to be considered by the council.
Note that the petition has since reached over 18,000 signatures, now totalling 2.4% of the population of Suffolk
What they're saying: "Respectfully, it's time to put the animosity aside and for us to try and work out a way for Suffolk Libraries to have a chance to deliver a new contract, harnessing the wealth of volunteer support, under close scrutiny of the county council," the opposition councillors wrote.
They expressed concern about potential damage to "volunteer morale" and "as yet unquantified cost to the council" if the situation remains unresolved.
Cllr Faircloth-Mutton declined to comment but a spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: “We are in contact with Suffolk Libraries, and we will be publishing our cabinet paper on Monday which will have further details on our proposals to protect library services in Suffolk.”
For context: Suffolk Libraries has operated the county's 45 libraries since 2012, when services were transferred to the charity following public outcry over planned library closures.
The charity's CEO Bruce Leeke previously stated they were given less than 15 minutes' notice before the council announced its plan to take the service back in-house.
What's next: The council's cabinet is still scheduled to vote on March 18 on whether to proceed with bringing library services back under council control when the current contract expires in May 2025.
The bottom line: With growing political pressure and strong public support for Suffolk Libraries, the council faces increasing calls to reconsider its position before making a final decision on the future of the county's library services.
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