Will the Cabinet Secretary outline how the Welsh Government is working with Denbighshire County Council to ensure that libraries remain accessible to the most vulnerable in society?
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service. It is the responsibility of individual authorities to determine how that requirement is met. Local authorities report on their performance annually against the Welsh Public Library Standards and I expect each authority to consider and respond to the feedback report which is provided.
Welsh Government support for public libraries is primarily through the local government settlement. In 2024-25, Denbighshire Council will receive £200.8m in core revenue funding and non-domestic rates to spend on delivering key services. This is an increase of 3.8% which is above the Welsh average.
However, the Welsh Government also supports the development of local libraries across Wales. We have just announced an investment of over £900,000 to fund a shared digital library platform for our local library services. This investment will ensure that in the future all library users across Wales are able to access a more consistent and improved service. The Welsh Government also invests in schemes delivered by local libraries including the Summer Reading Challenge to support reading by children, and the ‘Reading Well’ Scheme which provides free access to books chosen by health professionals, along with people and their carers’ with lived experience of mental health conditions.