Brent libraries battle ends in council’s favour but Surrey case continues

The Supreme Court has refused campaigners permission to appeal in their legal battle over cuts to Brent Council’s library provision.

In 2011 the local authority won in the Court of Appeal in December and in the High Court in October. Bindmans, the lawyers campaign group Brent SOS Libraries, immediately said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.

However, that avenue has now been blocked off. Brent can now go ahead with its plans to shut six out of 12 libraries in the borough.

Cllr Ann John, Leader of Brent Council, said: "We are extremely pleased that the Supreme Court has refused to allow any further appeal to be heard in relation to Brent's library transformation decision.”

She added that the final decision of the Supreme Court “fully vindicates” Brent Council's actions and upheld the earlier decisions of both the Court of Appeal and the High Court that the council had acted lawfully.

Cllr John added: “We can now put the past behind us and focus our attentions fully on improving and developing a better library service for the people of Brent."

The end of the Brent case came in the same week that the High Court granted permission for a judicial review of Surrey County Council’s library plans.

The local authority has proposed that community volunteers run 10 out of its 52 libraries. This decision is being challenged in the courts by the Surrey Libraries Action Movement.

Last Friday, Judge Thornton QC gave SLAM permission to bring a judicial review - dashing Surrey’s hopes of bringing the case to a quick conclusion. The council argued, amongst other things, that the proceedings were issued out of time.

Surrey also unsuccessfully sought the removal of an injunction barring it from taking any “irrevocable action” towards creating community libraries ahead of the judicial review hearing. The court did, however, rule that the launch of Byfleet as a community-run library could go ahead on 4 February.

The judicial review hearing is expected to take place on 20 February.

Denise Saliagopoulos, Surrey’s Cabinet Member for Community Services and the 2012 Games, said: “It’s important to say that the court has not passed judgment on our plans. This is just an order halting the process ahead of a hearing to look into our proposals.

“From the start we’ve been determined to try and keep all 52 of Surrey’s libraries open while branches are closing elsewhere in the country. The good news is that volunteers at Byfleet can go ahead with their plans, but overall we’re disappointed by the court’s decisions. It is a particular shame for those volunteers who were looking forward to launching their own community-run libraries.”

Cllr Saliagopoulos added: “Inevitably people’s opinions about our plans have varied but we’ve been hugely encouraged by the support we’ve received from people who understand we are trying to do what is best for Surrey’s libraries.”

Philip Hoult