A serious shared lack of judgement or wilfully misleading #Croydon? You decide

Letter to the Editor of the Croydon Guardian on Monday 5th August, 2013:

If New Addington Library is unfit for use, why is it good enough for Salvation Army?

The writer, a Forestdale resident, makes the case that the statements made by key Conservative councillors lead the community to believe that  the old New Addington building is no longer fit for habitation.

He quotes local Councillor, Tony Pearson, who stated that,

"The current library building is old and not really fit for purpose",

 Cllr Sara Bashford stated,

 "We will be moving the library into the Calat, that is the plan at the moment. To shut the current building which is quite old and getting to the end of its useful life".

and added

"The library is currently in a quite old, crumbling building".

And this argument was reinforced by Councillor Tim Pollard, stating,

"We are going to relocate the library for two reasons. One is the existing building is no longer fit for purpose – it is falling to bits. It was built back at a time when building standards weren't great".

Taking all of the above into account, the writer makes the reasonable assumption that that the old New Addington building is in a virtual state of collapse.

So the resident poses a very reasonable question, as follows:

My question is why, if the old library building, which was "not fit for purpose" in 2011 and "getting to the end of it's useful life", "quite old and crumbling" and "falling to bits" in 2012, is it now, and for the next 18 to 24 months, being leased to The Salvation Army, who are using it as a play centre for the children of New Addington? 

Are Croydon Council callously putting money ahead of the safety of the residents of New Addington, or were Councillors Pearson, Bashford and Pollard deliberately lying, so as to smooth the way for Croydon Council to get the green light, as they have done this week, to sell the land to a major supermarket? 

And finally, will Croydon Council assume liability if the building does "crumble" or "fall to pieces" and people are injured or possibly killed, or more to the point, will Councillors Pearson, Bashford and Pollard be reprimanded, dismissed, or even prosecuted, if the building is found to be perfectly safe, and they are found to have been lying, scaremongering and abusing their power when placed into a position of trust?

Thanks to Gary James McIver for exposing this. Please get in touch if you know more. Can this really be true?

Email us at savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com or add a comment below.

You can read the full text of the letter here.

New Addington Library - Seeing through the spin.

The latest news is that New Addington have a new library, according to Cllr Pollard. The "news" was produced in both local papers. The Croydon Advertiser article didn't even make the online listings but is reproduced below.

Strikingly similar? They would be, as the text of both is lifted, almost word for word, from the council's own press release.

So, now to the truth.

What New Addington actually has is a co-located facility, including a library over two floors.

This was achieved by drastically reducing the adult education space in the old CALAT (Adult learning) building, now renamed the New Addington Centre, and locating the library in a shared space, along with other services.

The children have lost access to a secure enclosed garden area off their part of the library in the old library.

The children's area may be larger in the new setting, if you disregard the loss of the garden space, but both articles fail to mention the close proximity to the IT suite used by adults who look on to the children's area, unlike the librarians who have no station in the children's area and are situated at the counter by the main revolving doors, out of sight and ear shot of the children's section.  In the old library the staff were stationed in the centre and were fully accessible to the children using the library.

There was just one PC in the children's section of the new facility when it opened last week and not all PCs were in working order, something this library has in common with many other Croydon libraries.

The article reports,

"There will be a new stock of books as well as DVDs and talking books.
Following a public consultation more historical, crime and adventure novels were purchased."

Indeed there are new books but considering, how low the stock was run down in the original library, it is little wonder.  Take a look.

The before:

A purpose built library with easy access, surrounded by green space, set well back from the road, with ample parking and next door to the leisure centre.

with row upon row of empty shelving before closure ...

Note the seating area at the end,  just one of many dotted around the old library building.

And, the new co-located facility

With some newly purchased books, but hardly brimming with books and, if you take a closer look, the selection is not that great either.

The new books stand out a mile, although many of the older tattier books have been weeded out.

 Front on presentation of books, propped up without support, to fill the space.

And still full rows of empty shelving as book stock is not sufficient to fill the new low level displays in the new facility, that replaced the heigh units in the old library.

And to show how limited the stock is, here is the choice of titles by local children's author, Jean Ure. One new, one old.  Hmmm....Which to pick?

The adult books are housed upstairs, accessed via a lift.

The biggest plus though was that the library was well-staffed and, as always the staff went out of their way to greet visitors, help library users find items they required and to offer help and information.

And quite what the selection of new books was based, who knows.  If it was the survey undertaken some serious questions need to be asked. The survey was apparently available online and hard copy yet the report produced on the outcome is rather scant on detail, particularly number of respondents.

You might like to note, for instance, that the largest number of responses received to any question posed was just 57 adults, who responded to the question regarding which services are important to them.

And, even more stark is the figure for those who responded on behalf of younger library users. Just FOUR, or perhaps just THREE who attend activities responded.

With such a small response rate the other details and percentages are almost meaningless.

Did the council really replenish the now dire book stock that has been run down across the whole network on the thoughts and views of no more than 50 or so individuals? You can access the survey document here.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

Cllr Pollard doubts his own decision on #Croydon libraries

According to a press release that was only uploaded over the bank holiday weekend, Cllr Tim Pollard is calling his own decision in for scrutiny. 

"Yeah but, no but" decisions

The press release reads, 

"Savings and improvements to services will result from a fresh recommendation to appoint John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS) as preferred bidder to run the council's library service.
The decision to go with the firm is now to be examined by Croydon Council's scrutiny committee. 

JLIS was originally chosen as the authority's preferred library-operating partner after its bid was judged to have been the best, based on an assessment of price and quality. However, the company made a request for a last-minute variation to its obligations concerning employer pension contributions. 

In line with EU contract tendering rules, the council therefore reopened bidding to other final-stage bidders. 

Two revised bids were subsequently received and carefully assessed. As a result, the council will secure the most economically advantageous terms while, at the same time, protecting the quality of services currently on offer. 

Councillor Tim Pollard, the cabinet member responsible for the service, will be ensuring that there is an examination by the cross-party scrutiny committee of how the council reached this decision. This will enable those with an interest in the project to fully understand how the evaluation team reached its conclusions.

The council undertook the tendering project after a public consultation exercise that came at a time when libraries across the country were coming under increasing threat of closures.
The move continues to be seen as the best means of ensuring there will be no risk of Croydon losing any of its libraries. 

Councillor Pollard said: "I'm very pleased that we've reached this point so quickly after the recent delay. My intention now is to ensure that the basis of my decision is examined fully, and that's why I'll be ensuring this matter is taken to our scrutiny committee. 

"This will give councillors from both parties the opportunity to understand how we've arrived at this point and what the benefits will be of entering into this new contract." 

Subject to the decision-making process reaching its conclusion, it is anticipated that the new service will start from the beginning of October."


Having raised questions as to  why Cllr Pollard was so shy to announce his decision, taken late before a bank holiday weekend at the start of Croydon school's half-term break,  with local residents also raising questions  and Croydon Labour threatening to cancel the contract should they gain power in 2014,  it seems even Cllr Pollard has lost his nerve and called his own decision in for scrutiny.

You really could not make it up! 

Cue yet another Private Eye article.

The scrutiny committee failed to take any notice of the body of evidence from the politically neutral Save Croydon Libraries Campaign last time and are likely to do so now, but if Cllr Cummings (who promised to get in touch, but failed to do so) wishes to take this evidence on board, or any other councillor sitting on scrutiny wishes to, please get in touch.  Email us at savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com

Questions posed on #Croydon libraries decision

The following correspondence from Sean Creighton, a resident from Norbury, has been emailed to all Croydon councillors.  It is reproduced here with his permission. Sean raises a number of issues.

Dear Councillor,

I have read the report on the outcome of the re-tendering of the Library Services and Cllr Pollard’s recommendation that the bid from Laing be accepted. 

Those of you who were at the Overview Committee in December may recall that I was given permission to speak to the Committee.

I have a number of questions which seem to me to justify a further meeting of the Oversight Committee to review the report and recommendation. 

1.   Why are the  overall sums of both bids not included – these cannot be regarded as commercially confidential?

2.   Given the Overview Committee decision on 5 December ‘That future commissioning reports should contain as much information in Part A of the agenda as possible in order to allow Members and the public to know whether the commissioning exercise meets the Council’s commissioning strategy’, why has this not be complied with in the report?

3.   Why is there no discussion on the implications of the Social Value Act on assessing the bids which is now in force and which the Council has a policy on?

4.   Why is there no discussion on the outcome of the pensions issue which caused the re-tendering?

5.   Have the union reps. been consulted on the TUPE process under the terms of the revised bid and on the implications for pensions?

6.   Why is there an option to extend the contract for 8 years beyond the initial 8 years?

7.   Is quarterly monitoring sufficient especially in the first year? Would it not be better to monitor monthly and then review frequency after the first 12 months?

8.   How much did the firm of Sharpe Pritchard cost to advise on the procurement process?

9.   How much has the total procurement process cost to-date?

10.  Should an apology be made to staff re-the use of the word ‘stuff’ in describing them? Obviously a typo but one that suggests a degree of contempt?

11.   Given the opposition of local people to outsourcing the Library Service, given the contract start date is thought to be October, and  given the local elections will be in May next year, what is the justification to proceed to outsource, when both political parties can set out their proposals in their manifestos and ask the voters to choose between the two set of proposals?

If you do decide to convene the Overview Committee in order to explore these and other questions, it would be helpful publicly if both bidders were invited to do short presentations and be questioned by Committee members in open session, and that they be asked before hand to agree to lift ‘commercial confidentiality’. The Library Service will need to be run in an open and transparent manner otherwise there will be continuing suspicion about how the service is being run. Therefore for example the monitoring reports should be seen by a Committee on public agendas. 

JLIS’s views (January 21012) on running libraries to the House of Commons Committee looking at Library closures can be seen on http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcumeds/writev/library/lib076.htm

Yours sincerely,

Sean Creighton 

Norbury resident

What are your thought on the matter? Please feel free to leave your comments. 

And please spread the word! 

#Croydon Labour seek views, including on libraries

A day long event was held at Ruskin House last Saturday, to hear views from Labour supporters to help formulate a manifesto for Croydon Labour party. 

Are Croydon Labour forging ahead with their co-operative plans for libraries? 

Not necessarily. 

It's pleasing to note that a more measured and consultative approach is being taken and Croydon Labour are interested in hearing all views, not just those of Labour supporters.  You can contribute to the manifesto survey here. There is also an event for women, open to all, tomorrow afternoon, entitled "What Do Croydon Women Want?".

We'd love to hear what you think too so please post your comments on this post so all are aware of your thoughts on libraries. If you would prefer to do this in private please email us at savecroydonlibraries@gmail.com

Given that Croydon's Conservative Councillor, Tim Pollard,  has taken the decision to outsource our libraries to JLIS what Croydon Labour do now is even more important. The fact that this document containing the decision is buried deep on the council website, the absence of any public announcement and there being no mention of this decision in Croydon libraries  today is a fair indication that Croydon Council want this to go under the radar.

Our very own Bob
 Croydon Conservative's lead on libraries,
Cllr Tim Pollard

View the decision documents Cllr Pollard is so shy to share here. 

Does this seem transparent to you?

Shh! Laings win #Croydon Libraries

Buried on the council website is the following key decision document, dated 23rd May, outlining that Cllr Pollard has agreed to accept the refined final tender of JLIS to run Croydon Libraries, commencing 1st October 2013.

The contract is for 8 years with the possibility to extend for another 8 years.

This decision may be implemented after 1700 hrs on 31st May, unless referred to the Scrutiny and Strategic overview committee by 1300hrs on 31st May.

You can find the documents here:

http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/dande/policies/notices-statements/delauthnotices2013

Let's hope this is called in to scrutiny.

Why so shy Cllr Pollard? Buried on the council website and no press release to alert the public. Not a notice in a local library today. Released just before a bank holiday weekend at the start of half term.

It is sickening, but no different to the way the whole matter has been dealt with throughout.

Croydon's Libraries farce

At last night's council meeting Cllr Tim Pollard shocked everyone by announcing that it's back to the drawing board for libraries.  Here is the transcript of his announcement.

"I do have a small announcement. 

(Cheers from the chamber and the public gallery)

Thank you for that warm welcome I thought I should update the chamber on the latest position with regards to our finalisation  of a new libraries service contract. 

Members will recall that in November 2012, on the recommendation of the corporate services committee,  it was agreed that John Laing Integrated services should be appointed as preferred bidder for our libraries management contract, their solution being the highest score on price and the quality criteria we'd set. 

Preferred bidder status  enables the bidder and the council to confirm commitments in the run-up to the formal signing of the contract. However, during the process of clarifying these final terms with with our preferred bidder, they unexpectedly introduced a late amendment relating to capping possible future pensions contributions. 

Although there is only a very small chance of this impacting on future costs it does change the risk profile and the commercial position. When changes of this kind are put forward we have to follow the EU procurement rules and act accordingly. As a result, and to ensure fairness to all of the  bidders, we have to take a step back in the process to allow all the final bidders time to consider this change and to propose any amendments they wish to their final proposals. 

 It is important for Council to understand that all bidders are at liberty to adjust their final bid in any way they choose, subject to the procurement rules, and can adjust bid elements completely unrelated to the material change which triggered this reopening of the bidding stage, if they wish to. 

Two of the three short-listed bidders have confirmed they will be re-entering the procurement dialogue which is likely to lead to a resubmission of their final bids. Those final bids,  including any changes made, will then be evaluated against our original criteria and we will move forward again to the preferred bidder stage with the highest scoring tenderer. This does not necessarily have to be the same  bidder as was previously confirmed as the preferred bidder. 

Although this does mean a short delay before the contract can be agreed and signed it is necessary in the circumstances. 

The council is committed to keeping all the branches of our libraries open and we are determined to secure the best value for all local taxpayers through our financial negotiations. 

Thank you, Mr Mayor."

You can listen for yourself and hear the uproar as a result of Cllr Pollard's "small announcement" here, from 50 minutes in, thanks to Croydon Radio.

After the opposition councillor Timothy Godfrey was denied the right to speak and ejected from the council Chamber his Labour colleagues left, in protest. 

The arrogance of the incumbent administration who begged to serve Croydon is beyond words.

Why so shy, Cllr Pollard?

Cllr Pollard, right, with Croydon Central MP, Gavin Barwell.
Neither have spoken up for residents and our libraries.
Both actively sought volunteers to take on the service
even before the initial consultation had closed.

Cllr Tim Pollard is Croydon Conservative lead on libraries, along with an extensive portfolio including Children, Families and Learning.

He's slipping up, just like his predecessor, Cllr Sara Bashford, who bumbled her way through the sham consultations and then embarked on a procurement process to outsource Croydon libraries, without mandate. She was caught out making announcements throughout the process,  forgetting she wasn't supposed to announce the plan up front. Has Cllr Pollard suffering the same fate?

We reproduce below his statement, published in December 2012, presumably written before the call in of the decision to Scrutiny by not just the opposition but by both political parties.

We reproduce below the text in full from Cllr Pollard's glossy Step-Up document, the new version of Council Member Bulletins. At a time when services are being savagely cut and we face an increase in council tax it is unbelievable that Croydon could add more gloss to their publications.

This one was released in December 2012. You can view the glossy publication here.

"New library contract near to completion
Changes will start to be seen in Croydon libraries from next April, once a new organisation steps in to run the service. 

John Laing Integrated Services Ltd has been agreed by the council as the preferred bidder to run library services, and details of their proposals should be released in the next few weeks. 

The new contract guarantees that the council will retain the freehold of all its library buildings.
Current levels of service will not only be maintained, but, where possible, book stocks will be increased, facilities will be upgraded with (sic) and opportunities will be sought to access a greater range of public services from local libraries. 

There will also be far more possibilities for making links with other organisations and businesses, with the potential to generate income or create training opportunities. 

The library network will continue to look for more opportunities to involve members of the community and create links with the voluntary sector through friends groups, community events and social and learning activities."

So we ask...

Why is it that no details have been released, as promised?  The end of February 2013 is hardly a few weeks on from December 2013.

Is the delay due to legal wrangling? Have GLL challenged the decision? It seems clear that they were not fairly treated and offered best value to Wandsworth.

Are JLIS less than happy with the additional constraints placed on them by the scrutiny process?

And why are Conservative councillors, such as Maria Gatland, so ill-informed that, even having shown enough interest to call the decision into Scrutiny now can't quite muster the effort to ascertain and articulate the outcome?

Not one of Cllr Gatland's colleagues has jumped in to help her out and nearly a month on @ElizCro is still waiting for her councillor to uncover the facts.

And does Cllr Pollard think residents will really be won over by claims of maintaining the current service?

Residents have noticed the huge loss of staff, decline in service and extensive book cull as our library service has been eroded since not long after the initial consultation occurred. And, Cllr Pollard, we'd love to know what libraries will be upgraded with as you fail to say. Dreaded self-service machines, no doubt.


Only a month away from the proposed hand over and  residents and councillors are still kept in the dark over the plans for our libraries.This is certainly giving all the appearances of either a deal that has gone terribly wrong or a deal that Croydon are none too proud of.

Is there anyone who has any real information? Get in touch.  We'd love to share!

Library image used in Croydon Council document -
Certainly not any one of Croydon's 13 libraries

Cllr Pollard's Q&A on Croydon Libraries

The following Q&A was received by a resident from Cllr Tim Pollard in early December and is reproduced here, in full. 

Croydon is reticent to announce that Laings is the preferred bidder and at least one local councillor still feigns ignorance. 

It also worth noting that Cllr Pollard makes another broken promise here.  We've highlighted it in red.  Not only have Croydon not announced the savings they claim this will make they have not announced the bidder publicly. Some suspect this may be because the process is still being challenged.

Have other bidders been treated fairly? If challenged, this could lead to a costly legal challenge.

And how can Croydon really effectively judge the service another provider offers when they are incapable of seeing the deterioration under their control?  

Q&A CROYDON LIBRARY PROCUREMENT

Why couldn't this service continue to be delivered in house?

Croydon Council, like all councils, has seen a significant reduction in its income as a result of the economic climate and the national requirement to reduce the structural budget deficit. Croydon could not continue to deliver a service in house at the same levels as today and make the savings that are necessary to meet

overall council budget requirements.

The alternative to bringing in an external provider would have been to cut services, potentially leading to the closure of branches.

Are you going to be shutting libraries to deliver this service in future?

No: a key objective of the outsourcing of the library service was to maintain of the current network of libraries. This contract will enable us to achieve this objective.

How did the Council choose its Preferred Bidder and why was this different to Wandsworth Borough Council’s Preferred Bidder?

The Council, in conjunction with Wandsworth Borough Council, ran a thorough and rigorous evaluation procedure. It was made clear throughout the procurement process that the two Councils intended to award separate contracts and therefore Bidders bid for each Council’s contract separately submitting two distinct tenders. The tenders submitted by each Bidder differed significantly between the Councils.

The Councils formed a Joint Project Team which included officers from both Councils. This Joint Project Team evaluated each tender received for both boroughs against pre-determined and published evaluation criteria and each sub-criterion was scored. For each borough a separate score was awarded to each Bidder: in other words, it was quite possible for a bidder to score highly for one borough but poorly for the other. As a result of this evaluation process the different preferred bidders were identified for each Council. The Joint Project Team made recommendations based on the results of this process.

The Joint Project Team comprised Officers with a wide range of technical and professional experience and qualifications from both Croydon and Wandsworth including ICT, HR, FM and Legal Services and all the evaluation scores were agreed within the team.

The team also received advice from external specialist advisers throughout the procurement and evaluation phases.

Why don’t you publish bidders’ tenders?

It is standard procurement practice not to publish tenders. There are a number of reasons for this. From the participating organisation’s point of view, participation in the tendering process costs them a great deal of money and their submissions are unique to them and covered by intellectual property law. They would not want their work and ideas to be freely available to their competitors or other potential

customers.

From the council’s point of view, the publishing of tender submissions may impact on the competitiveness of the process as companies may chose not to bid if their tenders would be made public. It may also reduce quality of the tenders proposed, with Bidders less willing to reveal any commercial “edge” because of the risk of this being made available to their competitors. If this were the case it would have a negative effect on any procurement exercise that the council partakes in and result in poorer value to the public.

We are also precluded from making tenders public because of our legal obligation under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) to keep Bidders solutions confidential and not to reveal the information to any other participant or to reveal the information generally. The purpose of this is to keep the integrity of the procurement process and to encourage Bidders to be as open and innovative as possible with their solutions.

Is the preferred bidder the best value for the council and taxpayers?

By “best value” we mean which tender was the “most economically advantageous” to the Council as this was the criteria which were used to evaluate the tenders. The evaluation took into account price, technical, quality and legal proposals. John Laing Integrated Services Limited submitted the most economically advantageous tender for Croydon.

What was the point of running the joint procurement exercise when you have appointed different bidders?

By having officers from two councils assessing the bids jointly we not only brought a wealth of experience and quality assurance to the evaluation, but it also created economies in the process that saved money for each authority. For example, the total bill for external legal advice was roughly the same as it would have been for one borough, but under this procurement it was split between the two boroughs.

Whilst the procurement was run jointly it was made very clear that the councils might not award both contracts to one bidder.

Why was GLL acceptable to Wandsworth and yet you appointed JLIS?

Whilst the procurement was run jointly it was made very clear that the Councils might award the contracts to different bidders. Each tenderer was required to submit a separate bid for Croydon and Wandsworth. GLL’s bid was the most economically advantageous offer for Wandsworth. JLIS submitted the most economically advantageous offer for Croydon.

What were the differences between the bids for London Borough of Wandsworth and London Borough of Croydon?

Because of our legal obligations under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) to keep Bidderssolutions confidential and not to reveal the information to any other participant or to reveal the information generally, we cannot reveal the details of bids nor the major differences. However, we can say that GLL’s bid for Wandsworth’s libraries was compliant and offered the most economically advantageous bid for them in terms of the price and quality standards offered. In the case of Croydon’s libraries, it was the JLIS bid which was compliant, and was the most economically advantageous bid for us in terms of the price and quality standards offered.

Rumours in the local press and blog sites suggest that the cheapest bid for this contract was disqualified. What efforts did you make to ensure that the lowest price bid was acceptable?

Because of the duty we have to maintain commercial confidentiality (outlined above) we cannot discuss individual bids, but we can discuss the principles of the evaluation process. The evaluation took into account both price and quality aspects. At the final tender stage the price element of the bids carried the more substantial weight in the evaluation, making the price the more important part of the evaluation.

However the Council also wished to ensure that a quality service was to be delivered to residents. Whilst quality received a lower percentage weighting than price at the final tender stage, the officers set strict quality thresholds for tenders which, if they were not met, could give rise to the tender being rejected. The reason for this was that the officers had provided Bidder’s with detailed feedback on their initial proposals at length during the dialogue phase and entered into dialogue with the bidders around any issues arising. 

Therefore if these final‐stage thresholds were not met it was felt that the bidder would not be able to meet the Council’s requirements.

Did all the bids received include the provision of professional librarians and sufficient local management oversight?

The tender documentation requires that the Contractor is to:

‐ provide suitably qualified and experienced staff to deliver and develop the Services and to maintain or increase standards of delivery and quality.

‐ provide sufficient management, professional and frontline operational staff to deliver and develop the services and to maintain or increase standards of delivery. Managerial and professional staff will have appropriate qualifications and experience.

Any bid which did not meet the minimum required standard under this evaluation criteria, for example by not providing qualified librarians or sufficient management capacity, could be given a score that could lead to the rejection of their bid and all bidders were aware of this.

Is it possible for a bidder who “finishes bottom” to be awarded a contact, as suggested in a local blog site?

No, the process ensures that the winning bidder is the one who offers the most economically advantageous bid for the Council in terms of set criteria including quality and price.

Was a bidder rejected because they are not qualified to run a library service, as suggested on the same site?

No. The first stage of the selection process tests bidders’ ability to run a library service and no bidder would have got through to this final stage if they were not qualified to run a library service. However, it is possible for a bidder to be disqualified at the final stage if they scored sufficiently poorly on one of the evaluation sub‐criterion.

Is Upper Norwood Joint Library part of the outsourcing (sic)

Upper Norwood Joint Library has never been part of the outsourcing of Croydon library services. The council’s approach to Upper Norwood Joint Library was agreed by cabinet in September. Officers are working hard on the implementation of the community management model for the library.

How will the council ensure that the quality library service currently received is maintained when the contract is let?

The winning bidder will be contractually obliged to provide the services to meet the Council’s requirements in accordance with the council’s specification and the way the bidder planned to meet the need through its proposed methodology.

Rigorous and robust monitoring is being put in place in place and there will be regular and frequent checks and visits made by the council to ensure that all standards continue to be met. We are very confident that the contractor will deliver an excellent service, but the council also has the ability to impose substantial

penalties if performance does not meet the required standards.

How much did this procurement exercise cost (sic)

The total cost to date is approximately £94,000, which includes external legal costs, staff costs and some actuarial fees. The largest element of cost was the external legal advice.

The legal costs would have been approximately double this if we had not conducted the procurement jointly with Wandsworth.

Why was this decision taken at Corporate Services Committee rather than going back to Cabinet?

Corporate Services Committee is the council committee which reviews all contracts valued at over £500k before making recommendations of award to the relevant Cabinet Member. Cabinet can also award contracts where necessary, but this is unusual. In either case, due to the issues of commercial confidentiality alluded to above, the discussion would take place in closed session. The decision to move to preferred bidder status can be called in to the Scrutiny committee for review and this meeting will take place on 5 December.

The decision to outsource library services in principle was taken in open session in September 2011, following an earlier review of the branch network, which was also discussed in Cabinet as well as being called in for review by the Scrutiny Committee.

What benefits for residents and library users will there be?

Details of the savings that are expected to be made will be formally confirmed in the next few weeks, however they look to be substantial, and we expect the cost of the procurement exercise to be recouped within the first few months of the new contract.

What we can continue to assure residents is that no branches will be lost, and the new contract also guarantees that the council will retain the freehold of all its library buildings. Current levels of service will be maintained and improved, with branches opening for the same number of hours as they do now.

There will be a complete refresh of ICT services for the library service, improved service for the public including the availability of WIFI (currently not available in branch libraries). There will be an increase in the book fund (money spent on buying books). There will be participation in new initiatives e.g. the National

Reading Offer.

The library service will continue to look for more opportunities to involve members of the community and create further links with the voluntary sector through friends groups, fundraising events and social and learning activities.

The worst kept secret - John Laing win contract

Alan Wylie was the first to report that he'd been informed that John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS) had been made preferred bidder for the Croydon Libraries contract.

 Full marks to Cllr Tim Pollard for
keeping a straight face when
explaining that companies did not
want all their secrets shared.

Then the local press named John Laing as the preferred bidder on the same day it went to the corporate services committee for approval but Inside Croydon went one step further, not only naming Laings but reporting that it was likely the decision could be sent for Judicial Review.

Inside Croydon reported on the meeting, where information was denied to residents and Labour councillors, including the names of the bidders up for consideration or any real detail of the terms of the contract on offer. The chamber and public gallery were treated to a cringe-worthy performance from Cllr Tim Pollard who managed to keep a straight face as he explained that the details of the bids were "commercially sensitive" and no one would work with Croydon if they " shared their secrets".

It was very clear that no one was asking for minute details but more the general terms of the contract, the main issues discussed to decide on the preferred bidder and what it might mean for staff and for residents. Most questions were blocked and went unanswered, although Labour councillors George Ayers and Toni Letts were able to establish that the future pay and conditions of staff were not part of any consideration and Croydon planned to only meet minimum pay and conditions for existing staff only.

Cllr Donald Speakman
Disregard for access to the library
service on offer to residents

The only question of any substance from the Conservatives was a question tabled by Cllr Donald Speakman who was at pains to establish that the unnamed chosen bidder could not open Croydon Libraries on a Sunday without consulting the council as he clearly opposed any such move - a move made by other proactive listening councils in response to user demand. Clearly library users' and residents' views were furthest from Cllr Speakman's mind.

It would be funny if not so serious that the Conservative councillors and the council solicitor repeated blocked questions about facts that were already in the public domain.  On numerous occasions direct facts from verifiable sources were tabled as part of a question posed, such as statements made in Wandsworth Council papers, but these were still ruled as 'commercially sensitive' and therefore inadmissible.  It was the stuff of farce. No wonder Croydon ban recording and filming of meetings!

The public were asked to vacate the gallery but remained sitting. No fuss, no noise - just a  firm resolve that they would not be evicted and would not be denied hearing the facts. One woman offered to explain why the group remained but was barred from uttering a word.  The meeting then withdrew to another room to continue the private part of the meeting in camera.

The secret dealings in Croydon have caused many to comment in disbelief. This is far from most people's understanding of a democratic process.  Decisions taken in secret with key information withheld - Not what most consider democratic. Do they forget that they were elected to serve?

Did you take the six book challenge?

We posted previously to ask whether residents were inspired by the Six Book Challenge, running in Croydon libraries until the end of September. We based the post on an article in the Croydon Guardian, which quoted Cllr Tim Pollard promoting the scheme,

"With the weather we are having this summer a lot of people may find themselves looking for things to do indoors, so a few visits to a local library might be just the way to stay out of the rain."

You can read the Croydon Guardian article here.

We were interested to know whether residents were motivated by the scheme.

We've summarised some of the comments received here, which you can read in full on the link above.

Tracie said,

Such a shame about the decrease in book stock and poor selection of books. This surely must affect take up of what should otherwise be a very good scheme to get people reading and to promote libraries. The scheme's cash prize is not a motivator for me, but more the chance to read from a variety, may I even say vast selection of well-selected and even new book titles. I do hope it can still be a success though and if so, it might even go as far as to incentivise the council to reconsider their book cull and start replenishing book stocks instead. Particularly if enough people comment on the lack of and variety of books.

Stephanie added,

I hate the decrease in books and so does my kid. I believe, really, really believe in libraries - but the emphasis on words written on paper does seem to be decreasing. Does this mean we need libraries less? Looking in my house at the amount of space taken up by old videos we don't watch much, DVDs we don't watch much, CDs we don't listen to much, I don't think so! It's way more cost-effective to have them for a while, then give them back for someone else. Simples. 

I like cash, but not as much as a decent range of books. I think the two libraries I use most often ( Sanderstead and Selsdon) try their damnedest to offer a good service, with many activities aimed at drawing in the kids - presumably in the hope of getting their parents as well - and mostly succeed in spite of seldom seeming to have a lot that is new. Sanderstead in particular is starved of much, not even opening a full week anymore, so I can't always go there. I can't see the point in empty shelves: they just show that the council want to close it and just haven't got there yet. 

I took part in the six book challenge. It took me two visits, mostly because I forgot about it for a while. Normally, it would take me one. I didn't think it was too much for most though. Perhaps it needed smaller steps for some? I know people who haven't read a whole book since they left school - I might find them hard to relate to on this point, but I think setting them a target of six books might be unrealistic. I don't think it need be anything wildly expensive: money is always welcome, but I was happy with what was on offer. Perhaps after one book, you get a bookmark, three books, you get a pen and six books the DVD rental? That'd work for me! Running it more than once in the year might also be a good thing, as the child-free might take most of the summer to notice the campaign...

David @davcv commented,

I had to ask at the Central Library to join the "Six Book Summer Challenge", which I only knew about from an earlier tweet from: @SaveCroydonLibs, the bookmarks were not on display in the library and someone had to "go and find them".

I have not bothered getting my bookmark stamped for several reasons:

1) I put my books in the returned bin. Why queue up to return books just to get a stamp. If the library staff were encouraging participation they would ask you when you took books out if you were doing the challenge and give you stamps for your returns. They can see your history when they swipe your card. 

2) There is a condition that one book must be fiction and one non fiction. If the intention is to encourage reading what does it matter what is read. 

3) Only two stamps per visit, seems again to be a completely pointless rule. So someone gets six books out, reads and returns them three weeks later in what way does this show less interest in reading than going once a week for two books. Chances are when you return your books you will take some more out. 

4) Not particularly interested in DVD hire or prize draw myself, but if this is recognised to be an encouragement then why not make it a truly unlimited offer subject to fair usage. Give a stamp for every book and allow multiple entries (not specified whether this is permitted). Many commercial DVD rental companies offer free tempters of up to a year to retain brand loyalty. 

A little more thought and marketing would probably have made this something people wanted to participate in. My personal opinion is that only existing library users would bother with this scheme at all. 

And the comment on the original article by Elizabeth reflects on last year's experience,

Oh dear! Many had such high hopes, when Cllr Bashford was replaced by Cllr Pollard in the recent reshuffle, that we might get better representation, information and transparency. Seems though that Cllr Pollard is intent on glossing over the issues, as Cllr Bashford did so well. Is this Croydon council policy? 

I read all last Summer but my bookmark was only stamped once. Hard pushed staff were too busy coping with the short-staffed library to promote this scheme and residents did not want to add to the burden of their workload.

The children's summer reading scheme was even worse and the true impact of this will surely show this year. Although many signed up, a large number rarely if ever returned because of the chaos, including cancelled events due to lack of volunteers.Will people turn up this year? Many doubt it. 

The opportunity to volunteer has already been widened from 16 - 25 year olds to just 16+ years in order to attract more volunteers. With only a month to go it is difficult to envisage how enhanced CRB checks will be obtained and training given. Many suspect neither will take place as there is no mention of either on application form or information leaflet. 

Perhaps the Croydon Guardian could put these points to Cllr Pollard as no one from the council is engaging with residents or library campaigners.

So, what is your experience?

Do YOU have a view on Croydon's 
Six Book Challenge? 

We'd love to hear from you too!

Have what little say you can on New Addington Library

The closure of the purpose-built New Addington library is not negotiable, according to sources. The decision was taken without any consultation with library users and local residents.The closure of the library, which many suspect is to make way for a Tesco store or similar, is being pitched to the public as a relocation.


The library will be moved into the nearby CALAT (Adult Education) building, joining CALAT, Job Centre Plus and The Little Stars Nursery, who currently occupy the space. In addition to adding library services the centre will also provide housing and council enquiry services and will be renamed The New Addington Hub.  That's an awful lot to pack into an already well-occupied and well-used space!

The move has been delayed several times, originally announced by Cllr Sara Bashford back in January 2012, via the local press when she struggled to come up with feasible responses to the obvious questions a move like this raised, such as exactly where would the library space be allocated within the building and she was unable to give any reassurances regarding book stock. Admitting she simply did not know what space the library might be able to occupy seems a very inadequate level of detail on which to base such a major decision.

Since then there has been an extensive cull of books in preparation for the move, leaving row upon row of empty shelves and top shelves 'filled' with books displayed, front on, to help fill the void. The valuable courses run at the CALAT Centre have been cut also, as has much of their teaching space, in order to accommodate the new hub.

The latest news though is that a consultation has been launched to find out what library users value, and copies are available in the library yet a press release regarding this is yet to be released.

The consultation is pretty basic. The council are not asking what impact this new arrangement might have on you, the resident, but then it is very difficult to say with such scant information.

If you wish to have what little say the council will permit you to make, you can find the adults' and the children's consultation documents on line here: http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/consultations/newaddington

The closing date is 21 October, 2012 - a Sunday when not one of Croydon libraries is open to receive your response and Royal Mail will not be delivering.

Unfortunately the hard copies, only just hitting libraries this week, already muddy the waters as they are clearly printed with the closing date of 30th September. No doubt residents will be delighted to learn that that Cllr Tim Pollard, who replaced Cllr 'Booktoken' Bashford as lead in the area of libraries, is carrying on the Croydon tradition of flawed library consultations.

Summer Book Trail - just fab or a flop in the making?

An article in the local press promotes the adult Summer reading challenge in Croydon libraries. You can read the full article here and our response here.

The Your Croydon E- bulletin, emailed out to households across the borough today, follows up by promoting this too, yet also makes no mention of the children's Summer Book Trail running during the same period. The glossy magazine version, the June issue of Your Croydon, ironically only accessed by many residents via their local libraries, fails to mention either.

The children's Book Trail all but failed last year as this was the first year Croydon relied on volunteers to run the scheme. Coupled with greatly depleted staffing, the Book Trail became a Book Trial for many, including those who refused to return after the Trail was cancelled without notice because of lack of staff to run events and others who felt the Book Trail had lost its attraction.  One letter received,  that we chose not to publish last year, was the outpouring of scorn on Croydon Council by one mother who blamed the authority for ruining the only thing that engaged her son in reading.

But will history repeat itself?

Many report that volunteers are not coming forward to run the children's Summer Booktrail again this year. Initially the information specified that  volunteers needed to be between 16 and 25 years of age, as was the case last year. The poor response reported would seem to be supported by the fact that the upper age limit has been removed recently to encourage older people to come forward to try to fill the void.

There is further confusion as the Council information requires volunteers to commit to a minimum of five sessions, yet the revised paperwork, which only recently appeared in some Croydon libraries, also asked applicants to complete not only the council application but also requests that the applicant registers on the  the Do_it Volunteering website as they are now working with Croydon Voluntary Action. The link to the role can be found here: CVA - Croydon Book Trail Volunteer

This site provides different information to the details on display in the library and on application forms, including unnecessarily duplicated information.

But the striking difference is here, where it makes clear that volunteers must commit to a minimum of ten sessions, not five as advertised by the council.

And despite concern raised by residents and library campaigners last year about the need for CRB checks, which resulted in Cllr Sara Bashford giving assurances that the issue would be addressed, there is still no mention of this, this year.


Nor is there any mention of a closing date in order for volunteers to be interviewed and successful applicants to be given sufficient training to carry out the role, a role previously carried out by qualified and experienced library staff. 


Are we in for a repeat of last year?  Everything would seem to indicate so.

We'd love to hear what residents think.

What was your experience of Book Trail last year?

Does the lack of clarity around training and the CRB checks on volunteers concern you, or is having library staff around to offer supervision and guidance sufficient?

What, to you, makes the children's Summer Book Trail a worthwhile experience?

Are you volunteering to help, and if so, what is your motivation for doing so?

You can add a comment to the blog or email your comment to soslibrary@hotmail.co.uk Please sign your post with a pseudonym or identifier if you do not log in with a facebook, blogger or twitter account.

We'd also love comments by children and teens, via email, but please give us a first name only to use on the post and your age, along with a parent's permission for us to post your comment.

And if you'd like details of this year's plans for Book Trail you can access them here: Book Trail 2012

HAPPY SUMMER READING!