June 2011

COMMUNITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The following template has been put together to record the results of your impact assessment.

For each of these questions, take account of the following equality strands:

  • Age
  • Sex
  • Gender reassignment
  • Marriage and civil partnership
  • Disability
  • Ethnicity, race and culture
  • Sexual orientation
  • Religion or belief
  • Pregnancy and Maternity

You may also want to consider these characteristics, which can be significant in areas of Cambridgeshire:

  • Rural isolation
  • Deprivation

Key Sections

/ Your Answer
1. / Scope:
  • What is the existing service, document or action being impact assessed?
  • What are the aims and objectives of the service, document or action?
/ Cambridgeshire County Council is transforming its library services to put communities at the heart of what we do whilst meeting tough savings targets. We are undertaking a major service redesign, the Library Service Review, which will reduce costs and introduce efficiencies through several proposed initiatives, including:
  • Restructuring libraries into groups, each based around a hub library sharing a supervisor, and a move towards single staffing in more of our libraries. This will mean a reduction in the total number of library staff.
  • Increased use of self-service technology, to be installed in all community libraries, which will create efficiencies and ensure consistency of service across the county. Crucially, this will also open up opportunities for partner organisations and community volunteers to extend the hours (un-staffed) when libraries are open for browsing, borrowing and return of books.
  • Redesigning our administrative processes to make them more efficient, to ensure consistency of service across the county, and free staff to fully utilise their skills and experience
  • Community engagement, enabling greater opportunities for individuals and communities to volunteer and to get involved in the planning and delivery of library services through the establishment of more Library Friends Groups, Community Management Boards and new volunteer roles.
  • Rationalisation and standardisation of library opening hours, to establish a core staffed ‘offer’ of opening hours across libraries serving similar sized catchment populations, to achieve a fairer balance between communities and better reflect use. This will involve some reductions in hours.
This Community Impact Assessment is looking at proposed changes to library opening hours across all 32 libraries in Cambridgeshire. The aim of this is the rationalisation and standardisation of opening hours to establish a core staffed ‘offer’ of opening hours across libraries serving similar sized catchment populations, to achieve a fairer balance between communities and better reflect use. A small overall reduction in hours will also contribute to the savings targets for the service.
This Community Impact Assessment (CIA) sits together with a full CIA on the Library Service Review Transformation in Appendix 1.

Service Aims

To help people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities and their communities, across the County, to enhance their quality of life and achieve their potential by:
  • Encouraging reading
  • Spreading knowledge
  • Contributing to learning and skills
  • Helping to foster identity, community and a sense of place

Vision for the Future

To create, protect and sustain a quality Libraries, Archives and Information Service that people will value, enjoy, benefit from and help to shape, now and in the future - through:
Local access at the heart of the community
  • Libraries as community hubs
  • Libraries sharing buildings with other services and facilities
Virtual access
  • Libraries as online gateways to information and resources
  • Meeting users’ growing needs for online access
Participation and engagement - libraries reaching out to all, so that:
  • Children and young people enjoy reading and improve their literacy
  • Older people keep active and involved
  • Everyone continues learning throughout their lives

  • What is the proposed change? What will be different?
/ The proposed change is the rationalisation of library opening hours, based on the size of the catchment population served by each library.
A fixed number of opening hours has been established for catchment population bands as follows:
Catchment population: Staffed open hours per week:
up to 7,000 - 15
7,000 – 9,999 - 23
10,000 – 24,999 - 27
25,000 – 49,999 - 46
more than 100,000 - 58
This review will result in an overall reduction of around 7% in library opening hours.
It is proposed to remove most evening sessions in smaller libraries as evidence consistently shows that these are not well used. We will retain the much more popular Saturday opening hours to provide access outside of normal office hours. It may be possible for communities to extend library opening hours through the use of volunteers.
This rationalisation has a number of benefits including:
  • Providing a fairer and more transparent basis for determining library opening hours, giving consistency across libraries serving similar sized communities
  • Ensuring that access to services at different times of the day/week is maintained to allow for individual users’ circumstances
  • The opportunity to create more memorable patterns of opening hours, making it easier for customers to remember when libraries are open
  • Addressing some inconsistencies and inequalities which have built up historically
Specific proposals have been developed for each library, based on existing patterns of use, including acknowledgement of periods which are particularly busy using detailed ‘hotspots’ data. These can be found in appendix 4b.
We have also aimed to provide a spread of opening hours across libraries which are geographically close to each other, to provide customers with the opportunity to access library services for as many hours as possible.
In addition, the reduction in staffed opening hours will enable the Library service to make savings as outlined in the Council’s Integrated Planning Process.
2. / Who should be involved:
  • Who is involved in this impact assessment?
e.g. Council officers, stakeholders from partner organisations, service users and community experts / Many people have been involved in the changes to opening hours, and the impact assessment:
Christine May, Head of Libraries, Archives and Information
Mike Hosking, Service Director: Libraries, Learning and Culture.
The LSR Project Team and Libraries and Archives Management Team have all have been consulted on this Impact Assessment. These include officers from across the Library Service, including those who work very closely with frontline library staff and Cambridgeshire Communities.
A Unison representative also attends the LSR Project Board meetings and has seen the proposals for changing library opening hours and had the opportunity to contribute to officer discussions regarding the proposals.
The proposals for each library were developed using data held about current library use, including ‘hotspot’ diagrams, as well as the experience of managers involved in front line operational service delivery and the feedback they receive from the public.
Managers also consulted with the portfolio holder, Cllr David Harty, and Cabinet members, before the opening hours consultation was approved to go ahead.
The Cambridgeshire Library Service has consulted on the proposed changes to opening hours with the general public. The consultation took place for three weeks from 31st May to the 18th June and is based upon the standard loan period.
The consultation was conducted via questionnaires which were designed for each of the 32 libraries. These were made available both online and in hard copy in all libraries. At the start of the consultation period, various community representatives were contacted including Elected Members from both County and District Councils, Parish Councils and Library Friends Groups by email to inform them that this consultation was taking place, which contained the questionnaire relating to the library in their patch.
The consultation was advertised on the Council’s website and via a press release, as well as being sent to c40,000 library customers via the Service’s e-newsletter.
The consultation provided the public with the opportunity to comment on the proposed pattern of hours, providing their opinion as to whether the closed day and half-day sessions are appropriate for their community. It also provided a space for members of the public to provide general feedback on the proposed changes to opening hours.A selection of this general, quantitative feedback can be found in appendix 2.
In total the service received 6,342 responses to the questionnaire during the three week consultation period, a high level of response compared to previous opening hours consultations.
This community impact assessment will be revisited when the results of the public consultation have been analysed and before final proposals are established. This will allow further in-depth analysis of the impact of proposals on individual communities and the groups of people within those communities.
The final changes to library opening hours will reflect the comments of the public and the Community Impact Assessment. The results are currently being analysed by Customer Services Managers who work closely with frontline staff and are aware of patterns of usage in libraries across the county. They will form part of a package of final proposals to be submitted to the Council’s Cabinet in September. The date of implementation of proposals will be decided at that stage
3 a) / What will the impact be?
  • What groups will be affected by this?
  • What will the impacts on these groups be?
  • What evidence has been used to inform this view?
  • What plans are in place to mitigate any negative impacts identified?
/ Respondents to the questionnaire on opening hours were not asked to identify their age, disability, race or gender during the consultation process. Therefore, the data on protected characteristics on which this community impact assessment is based, is fromexisting information about active users of the library service in Cambridgeshire.
As well as allowing respondents to comment upon the pattern of opening hours, the questionnaire had a box at the bottom which allowed respondents to add any “additional comments about the opening hours”. This has enabled the service to gain excellent qualitative data which provides an overview of general thoughts about the changes to opening hours, a selection of this feedback can be found in appendix 2.
All library users will be affected by the reduction in library opening hours. However, library opening hours are being reviewed in a way which proposes to reduce opening hours when they are least utilised by the public. A lot of analysis has been undertaken to establish the ‘hotspots’ of usage for each library in the county, and this has been taken into account, as have conversations with local staff. The consultation on opening hours will also be taken into account, using both the quantitative and qualitative data to propose new opening hours on a library by library basis.
In addition, staff will be affected by the reduction in opening hours, as the hours they work may be reduced. This will have a particular impact upon women as they make up over 89% of front line staff. The impact of the change in opening hours is something that is being looked at holistically as part of the Library Service Review project. The changes to library opening hours will be taken into account in forthcoming staff consultation on changes to frontline Library Assistant posts, so that staff will know the location and hours of each post before they apply for it. There are wider plans underway to mitigate the impact of changes as part of the Library Service Review upon staff, however it is acknowledged that this is a challenging time for staff and the Review does mean that the number of staff will be reduced.
Impacts upon the public
The following equality strands would be impacted by a reduction in opening hours
  • Age: Libraries will continue to have sessions where the library is available after schools close. However, for those children and young people whose parents work full time, they may be limited to accessing the library during the weekend. As part of the Library Service Transformation and the increased use of volunteers the Library service is aiming to preserve existing activities in place for children such as Storytime and Rhymetime during opening hours.
  • Age: Impact on older people: older people make up a large proportion of library users, 25.8% of users are aged 65 and over. The reduction in opening hours will reduce access to library services for older people. However, comments received as part of the consultation from older people do recognise that for people who are retired, the reduction in opening hours which is proposed by removing hours from the end of the day, is less of a problem as generally retired people are more likely to be able to access library services during the working day.
  • Age: The reduction in library opening hours, which at this stage is proposed to take effect, in many cases, by removing hours from evening sessions will have a disproportionate impact upon those members of the community who work ‘office hours’. In many cases this will limit those who work full time to accessing library services on a Saturday morning session. However, working people are also more likely to use online and virtual ways of accessing the service.
  • Gender: Impact on women: This will have a disproportionately negative affect on women who constitute 64.1% of library users. Women who work may also find access to library services more challenging following a reduction in opening hours.
  • Gender: Impact on men: Men are more likely to work full time hours, and the reduction in opening hours is likely to have a detrimental impact upon their ability to access library services.
  • Disability: Impact may include: increase in social isolation, potential issues with mobility and transport, difficulty in access to information (alternative formats), participation in public life and access to education/leisure opportunities.
  • Ethnicity, Race and Culture: Impacts may include: Reducing library opening hours will reduce access to services for some people in some communities, this may lead to difficulty in accessing jobs and training, culture, access to information, resources for voluntary/community groups and may have a negative effect on participation in public life.
  • Pregnancy and Maternity: Issues may include: difficulty accessing information, particularly for those who work full time.
  • Deprivation and Rural Isolation: Reducing library opening hours will reduce access to services for some people in some communities. This may mean that people may experience potential difficulties in access to employment/education/training opportunities and access to leisure activities.
However, it must be noted that the overall reduction in library opening hours by 7% will have different impacts upon different libraries and communities which is illustrated in appendix 1. This community impact assessment will therefore be reviewed when a full analysis of consultation material has been completed and a new set and pattern of opening hours has been proposed for each library. At this stage of the community impact assessment, where proposals take greater shape, the impact on the protected characteristic groups within each community will be considered and analysed.
Impacts upon staff
  • Gender: Issues for women: 89.96% of front line library staff are women, so any reduction in opening hours will disproportionately affect women.
  • Age: Impact on older people: For staff aged 46-55 there is a slight negative affect (37% of staff compared to 29% across the service). There is a neutral affect on staff aged 56 and above.
  • Ethnicity/Race and Culture: 89.13% of staff would class themselves as White/British. There is therefore a disproportionate affect on this group.
This does not have an impact on any other group.
Evidence used to inform this view
Evidence of Library users has been used to inform this view. The main source for data on the users of the public library service comes from surveys last undertaken of adults in 2006 and children in 2007.
Adults
Age:
The 2006 Public Library User Survey (PLUS) identified the age groups of respondents as;
  • 15-19: 3.2%
  • 20-24: 4.3%
  • 25-34: 15:05
  • 35-44: 19.4%
  • 45-54: 14.5%
  • 55-64: 17.8%
  • 65-74: 16.0%
  • Over 75: 9.8%
Sex:
  • 61.4% of library users are female
  • 35.9% of library users are male
Disability/Long-term limiting illness
  • None: 81.9%
  • Mobility - getting around: 7.0%
  • Hearing: 4.2%
  • Eyesight: 4.0%
  • Using hands/fingers: 2.6%
  • Learning difficulty: 1.6%
  • Mental Health: 3.9%
  • Other: 2.6%
When asked about occupation, 3.2% of library users responding to the survey described themselves as permanently sick or disabled.
Ethnicity:
  • White British: 86.7%
  • Another White Background: 7.2%
  • Indian: 0.9%
  • Chinese: 0.9%
  • African: 0.75
  • Pakistani: 0.3%
  • Bangladeshi: 0.1%
  • Caribbean: 0.15
  • Mixed Background: 1.0%
Children
A separate children’s user survey was conducted in 2007. Users were divided into the following three age groups:
  • 0-4: 33.7% of respondents
  • 5-10: 42.7%
  • 11-15: 23.6%
Sex:
  • 57.5% of respondents were girls
  • 42.5% of respondents were boys
There are a number of plans in place to mitigate any negative impacts resulting from a loss of opening hours. These include:
  • The Doorstep Service and Postal Tape Service will continue to provide library services to those people who are unable to get to a library. This is currently an effective service, for example The Postal Tape Service had 17,639 issues during 2009-2010.
  • The use of online access to library services has grown from 5% of business in 2002/3 to 23% of business in 2009/10, users are able to browse the catalogue, request and renew books online. We are about to launch an e-books offer, which will also enable users to borrow books online. These services are likely to be particularly attractive to customers in full time work.
Further details of plans to mitigate any negative impacts are illustrated in appendix 3.