I propose to take Questions Nos. 547 to 552, inclusive, together.
I refer to the reply to Question No. 557 of 20 January 2015 which sets out the position in this matter.
Senior management in local authorities and library service managers have been consulted throughout the process. Consultations with unions have taken place from the initial stages of the review and are ongoing. The report, Managing the Delivery of Effective Library Services, identifies the strong staffing structure necessary to deliver the services and provides the commitment to implement this across the country.
The report implements Government policy under the new national public library strategy 2013-2017, Opportunities for All. The development of the national strategy involved wide consultation with library users of all ages and all other public library stakeholders, as well as formal national public consultation. Managing the Delivery of Effective Library Services seeks to establish stronger, more effective and efficient public libraries and deliver better library services to local communities and citizens, with front-line service continuing to be locally focused and people-centred, and presents opportunities for enhanced individual and community support services and engagement, with no detriment to library services. Against that background, and as the policies, priorities and budgets for library services in each local authority remain the responsibility of the elected members, no separate national consultations were undertaken in the development of this report.