Agenda item

A presentation will be given outlining the results of the public engagement work in 2023 and the secondary research undertaken in 2024 as part of the Community Service Services and Library Needs Assessment.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services introduced the report which presented the findings of the needs assessment of the previous year. 

Engagement with residents had explored how to best meet their requirements.

Regular engagement was anticipated moving forwards, due to the positive outcomes of this work.

The Head of Neighbourhood Services gave an overview of the report. Key points to note were as follows:

• This was an overview of engagement work over 18 months, incorporating two substantial reports.
• The assessment was scoped around neighbourhood services, buildings and facilities. This included 25 libraries, community centres and multi service centres.
• There was a strong push for communities to be involved in running a local setting.
• Ward funding was not considered in the report, as this had come to scrutiny in the previous year.
• The programme followed a strategic planning approach as laid out on the Government / DCMS website.
• Under the Public Libraries and Museums Act, there was a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive library service. The Local Authority determined how to best develop this provision.
• The main public facing engagement work had taken place between July and September 2023, this was the initial primary research and public engagement.
• The engagement and secondary research reports were published in October 2024.
• Consultation on transformation proposals was planned for the first half of 2025.
• Engagement had been scoped to explore 4 considerations:

o   Where greatest needs were within the city and how these mapped to current service provision.

o   How people were using community services and libraries.

o   What residents thought about future Neighbourhood Services needs.

o   Models and good practice.

• There was a significant response to the engagement work which included a public engagement survey, a children’s version of the survey, 12 focus groups and stakeholder interviews.
• Representation had been positive with engagement from all communities. More women had responded than men, the largest group respondents by age were in the over 65 age group. A separate survey for children and young people under 16 showed respondents spoke multiple languages, with English being the most frequently spoken language (92%), then Gujarati (60%). Many spoke more than one language.
• The greatest concerns raised by residents were cost of living, physical health and mental health.
• When asked what residents wished to change for their future, responses included wanting to become more physically active and to meet more people.
• The post-Covid impact on physical and mental health was noted. Library and community centres were well placed to support in this.
• Residents felt the most important things on offer at libraries were books, digital services, social space, advice / information, children’s and family activities.
• At community centres people wanted to attend community groups, to meet people and experience events.
• People most needed health and well-being support from the centres and libraries.
• It was evident that residents perceived libraries as being much more than books and reading. A high value was placed on Core Universal Offers and Children’s provision, for example school holiday activities were in high demand.
• Regarding models and good practice, respondents thought the council should explore multi-service centres, involving community organisations more in running services, and reviewing opening hours to match peak demands.
• Secondary research was based on service and benchmarking data.
• Neighbourhood Service Centres were broadly based in the areas of greater disadvantage within the city according to mapping should the Indices of Multiple Deprivation.
• In terms of demographics, there were more female library users than male. Children and young people aged 0 – 19yrs were disproportionately high users of libraries, with people returning to use the libraries when they had families.
• Trends since lockdown showed a strong usage recovery over last 4 years.
• Patterns of use had changed with the public tending to bring their own devices to use within the facilities, and far fewer using the public access computers.
• There was a significant and consistent growth in usage of e-resources.
• Residents were well served in terms of facilities. Access to libraries and community centres with 30 minutes bus or 20 minutes walk was very good.
• National benchmarking showed that there were more library service points for Leicester than most other “near neighbour” local authorities. Leicester had the highest opening hours of all comparator local authorities.
• Regarding Community Centres, many neighbouring local authorities were no longer directly running community centres.
• The Central Library tended to be used by residents from across the whole of the city.

The Chair invited questions from the commission, Reponses to note were as follows:

• The review had not currently resulted in the creation of specific targets. The needs assessment had shown areas of higher need in the city and the services people needed most from libraries and community centres.  Upcoming proposals would be based on this work after wider consultation.
• Footfall was measured electronically. When comparing centres, it was necessary to bear in mind that some were multi-use centres and opening times differed.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That future proposals be brought to scrutiny.