Supreme Court refuses to allow appeal by library campaigners

The Supreme Court today refused library campaigners permission to appeal against the recent High Court decision on their case. The Supreme Court said there was 'no arguable point of law' for an appeal.

LINK to BBC story

Brent Library Judgment on Monday

Lord Justices Pill, Richards and Davis are to give their judgment into the closure by Brent Council of six of its 12 libraries at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London.

The judgment will be handed down at 2 pm in Court 72. Brent SOS Libraries appealed against a High Court judge’s decision that Brent’s closures were lawful at a two-day hearing  on 10-11 November.

Dinah Rose QC argued on behalf of library users and Brent SOS Libraries Campaign that in deciding to close six libraries, the library had failed to prevent discrimination against groups such as Asians, young children and local school children, by neglecting to assess the impact on such groups.

Using the very same data that the council executive used to decide to close the libraries, Dinah Rose showed that 28% of Brent’s population is Asian and that 46% of active library users were Asian, so it was
obvious that the closure of the libraries would disproportionately affect Asian council residents.

She also showed that the highest concentrations of Asian populations in the borough were concentrated around three libraries – Preston, Barham and Tokyngton – all of which were closed. She had evidence to show that since closure, the library that users of these three libraries were expected to use instead – Ealing Road – was overcrowded.

Meanwhile the Council Executive has twice deferred its consideration of a report on the redevelopment of Willesden  Green Library which would mean its closure for two years and it has been revealed that the lease on Kingsbury Library Plus expires on September 2013. This work case scenario would leave only four fully-functioning libraries left.

The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has since launched an inquiry into library closures to which the Save Preston Library Campaign, Brent SOS Libraries and library users from Brent will submit evidence.

Crucial Libraries Appeal hearing Thursday - Try and Get Along

The Brent Libraries appeal hearing will begin tomorrow in the Court of Appeal at 10.30 am in Court 63, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London. Please try and come along for the hearing: the physical presence of those who case about cases like this makes a real difference.

The hearing will last 1 ½ days, possibly extending a little into Friday afternoon. The Appellants’  new QC, Dinah Rose, will open and close the case with the Council’s QC making her own submissions half way through. Dinah will argue the Council:

• did not appreciate the likely impact of its plans to close libraries on particular groups in the community, such as Asian people, and without understanding this impact properly could not make a lawful decision compatible with its Equality Act 2010 duties to eliminate discrimination;

•  did not assess need for local library services, especially that of children; and

• was unfair to community groups who put forward proposals to save the threatened libraries.

The legal team cannot be sure when the judgement will be forthcoming but it is likely to be speedy as the Court appreciates the importance of the case.

Equalities Commission gets involved in Brent libraries appeal

In a significant new development in the Brent Libraries Appeal,  I understand that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has now got involved. The Appeal decision is likely on Thursday/Friday of next week,

The Commission have attached themselves to the Appeal on issues relating to the Council's Equalities Act duties and will be sending their own QC to assist Brent SOS Libraries legal representatives.

This could pave the way for investigation of other matters relating to the council cuts where campaigners have questioned whether the council has fully carried out their responsibilities under the Act.