Thanks Vaughan. Well at least we now know the cost of this excercise; an estimated £250,000 compared to an annual budget for WBC libraries (and heritage services) of £5M. So, that's equivalent to 5% of the total budget before adding the costs of the committee itself and tender analysis. WBC have confirmed that the contract will be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous so no room for consideration of "improved services" there.   I wasn't suprised to read that "LSSI has a reputation in the US for using non-unionised staff, not paying pensions, cutting terms and conditions, deprofessionalising the workforce and paring the service back to the bone." however, they are just one of a reported eight organisations bidding for the contract.  An interesting snippet of information found in a WBC website press release:- "Other services and organisations may be given the opportunity to base themselves in library buildings." Hmmm, I wonder who they have in mind and who would receive the rental income? Further googling around reveals that a company named Axiell Ltd are already managing the library services and that WBC and Croydon have agreed to a joint procurement procedure of library services without any proof that this is the best route to follow. I found these facts in the ECCS overview and scrutiny committee Paper No: 11-683 Sept 2011 where the committee confirmed renewal of the contract with Axial until December 2013. Looking at the Axial website; they sell software and peripheral hardware that they say results in:- •Self-service system •Longer opening hours •Books can be returned 24 hours a day •No waiting •Library staff has more time to provide advice and service •Independent account administration and management Other headlines include that any Wandsworth Library "Trust" bid to run the service must include a bid to run Croydon service. It looks as though procurement of stock has been hived off from the running of the library.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Wandsworth Libraries	23/09/11 22:37:00	Alison Fraser
Wandsworth Libraries	28/09/11 13:02:00	Isabel Wooller
Re:Wandsworth Libraries	28/09/11 14:07:00	Roland Gilmore
Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	30/09/11 21:38:00	Jenny Featherstone
Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	30/09/11 22:29:00	Andy Howard
Re:Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	30/09/11 23:07:00	Roland Gilmore
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	01/10/11 10:49:00	Richard Carter
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	03/10/11 23:48:00	Andy Howard
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	04/10/11 01:19:00	Roland Gilmore
Re:Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	19/10/11 11:47:00	Jane Eades
Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	19/10/11 16:16:00	Lucille Grant
Re:Wandsworth Libraries	04/10/11 08:06:00	Vaughan Simpson
Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	04/10/11 09:47:00	Roland Gilmore
Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	19/10/11 11:56:00	Jane Eades
Re:Re:Re:Re:Wandsworth Libraries	20/10/11 14:38:00	Guy Sunda

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