Bristol libraries face closure as city council plans to cut budget in half

Libraries across Bristol face closure after the city council unveiled plans to cut the service’s budget in half. The authority is proposing to slash up to £2.4million from the existing £4.7million that libraries receive a year, although it has not yet said what this will mean.

But it is very unlikely that all 27 branches will remain open if councillors approve the plans. Labour has criticised the idea, saying the impact will be “devastating” and that libraries should be a “red line” that must not be crossed before savings are made elsewhere.

The service was previously threatened with swingeing cuts in 2018 and 2022 but on both occasions council leaders dropped the plans amid huge public opposition. Now they are back on the table and will be considered by the cross-party finance sub-committee on Wednesday, January 15, which will make its budget recommendations to the strategy and resources policy committee before the final vote at full council next month.

Opposition Labour group leader Cllr Tom Renhard said: “Libraries are a vital service for Bristol and should be a red line for their budget cuts. The Greens promised to ‘get the basics right’.

“Cuts to a crucial, well-loved service that the council is legally required to provide flies in the face of that commitment. This will have a devastating effect on all corners of our city.

“Cutting up to £2.4million from a budget of £4.66million will surely mean permanent closures. The Greens and their Liberal Democrat coalition partners need to come clean about which libraries they plan to close – and not leave residents and ‘friends of’ groups in limbo.”

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It is understood that one of the options rejected in 2022 to cut the libraries budget by £1.5million – less than currently proposed – would have resulted in 14 permanent branch closures. Budget papers to next week’s sub-committee include a line titled “Future of Bristol’s library service” which says there are options to reduce the service, although they do not say what these are.

They include a figure of £2million of cuts, although the document also says these could be between zero and £2.4million. Other proposals include closing three museums – the Red Lodge, the Georgian House and Blaise – which were announced last month and would save a total of £132,000 a year.

Financial support for community and voluntary organisations would be reduced by £350,000, while £140,000 would be cut from domestic abuse services. There are also plans to slash grants to cultural organisations by £635,000 and seek alternative funding.

Council leader Cllr Tony Dyer said this week in a blog on Bristol City Council’s website that a crisis in local government finances had been driven by rising costs, a lack of government funding, a national failure to reform the country’s health and care system, a national housing crisis, and a growing need for vital safeguarding services for vulnerable children and adults. He said: “Bristol is no exception and will face bankruptcy if we can’t close a £52million funding gap over the next five years.

“This needs to start straight away. There is no doubt that it means difficult choices, more taxes and charges, and we recognise that the money we raise does not go as far as it once did.

“We don’t like that any more than local taxpayers do, but it is the reality we must contend with. We need to take a bigger, bolder, and more politically courageous approach to our budget.

“We cannot keep salami-slicing public services, nor can we pretend that words like ‘efficiency’ and ‘productivity’ hold all the answers. These approaches have been tried before.

“Too often the savings haven’t been made, the can has been kicked down the road, and we have overspent our budget.” Cllr Dyer (Green, Southville) said it would “not be a perfect or painless process”.