FOI Request - Future Library Transformation
Request 101003670793
1. the integrated impact assessment and any separate equalities impact assessment completed in respect of the future transformation of the council’s library service as set out in “Library Update” section of the Budget 25/26 page of your website,
2. visitor numbers, broken down in as much detail as you hold, eg visitors per day, for each Moray library in the financial year 2023/2024, and
3. the total operating costs for each Moray library for the financial year 2023/2024. Can you also provide a basic breakdown of these totals where this is available - eg staffing costs, property, utilities etc.
Updated request 18-11-2024:
Could you also provide the following information:
4. visitor numbers, broken down in as much detail as you hold, eg visitors per day, for each Moray library in the current financial year 2024- to date, and
5. the total operating costs for each Moray library for the current financial year 2024- to date. Can you also provide a basic breakdown of these totals where this is available - eg staffing costs, property, utilities etc.
Response 12-12-2024
1. The Council would like to be as open as possible with our budget decision making process, as such we can confirm that Councillors consider, at a formative stage, whether a particular proposal should be taken forward. This takes place in confidence to avoid unnecessary anxiety for those potentially affected if the proposal were not taken forward. Implications, such as potential Equality, Socio Economic, Childrens Rights relating to the proposal are considered by Councillors at this stage in a draft Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA). This document highlights potential considerations, what further information may be required, identifies what consultation is appropriate and with which groups.
The full impact on service users would be fed into the IIA and an updated version of the IIA would be considered by Councillors at the next decision making point. For the libraries proposal we expect this to be in January 2025. The Council has a statutory duty to publish the final IIA within a reasonable time, this aligns with the application of Section 27 as noted below.
In light of this we consider that the IIA is exempt from release at this stage under:
Section 27 – Information intended for future publication Section 30 – Prejudicial to effective conduct of public affairs.
Section 38(1)(b) – Personal Information.
We have further considered the public interest in relation to release of the draft IIA. We accept that, when the main consultation is launched, the confidentiality restrictions that applied to the original committee report and IIA may no longer be applicable. However, we think there is still a public interest that information is released to the public at appropriate points in the process to ensure that feedback is sought in a focused and measured way, and, that affected staff are notified and considered through the standard, established procedures.
2. & 4. Please find the information requested here.
3. & 5. Please find the information requested here.