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York: Row over proposed £600,000 cuts to library services

A £600,000 funding cut for library services in York is justified due to an "unaffordable" long-term contract, a councillor said.

The cuts, over the course of two years, form part of City of York Council's Labour administration's first proposed budget since it took control in 2023.

The group said a 15-year contract with Explore, signed under a previous leadership, needed to be renegotiated.

But Jenny Layfield, of Explore, said she would not accept the cuts.

The contract, signed with Explore in 2019 under a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition, included an agreed sum to be paid each year to deliver libraries and archives services, Ms Layfield said.

The chief executive officer continued: "Explore is not therefore part of the council and does not have a council budget which can be subject to cuts."

She added: "In any contract of this nature there are agreed mechanisms for changing the terms of the contract, however those changes require the agreement of both parties.

"Explore's position remains as previously stated - that under the current contract, we do not intend to close any libraries."

During the Liberal Democrat and Green Party coalition at City of York Council between May 2019 and May 2023, £7.7m was borrowed to fund capital library works in Acomb, Clifton and Haxby.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Labour argued the interest on this would be £500,000 once all works were completed.

Councillor Jo Coles, executive member for health, said services across the council had experienced cuts since 2010, with Explore "the one exception to this rule".

"We feel it is only fair that each service takes a share of responsibility for budget reductions," she said.

Ms Coles said the current contract was "completely unaffordable" and would lead to greater cuts to other services "if it is not renegotiated".

However, Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley said: "Labour are hell-bent on slashing York's flagship library provision by almost 20% of its entire budget.

"We stand united with Explore and they have our full support in this campaign to make the Labour council think again." 

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