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823 Public Libraries and Museums Act 1 DECEMBER 2010 Public Libraries and Museums Act 824<br />
1964 (Amendment)<br />
1964 (Amendment)<br />
[Alison McGovern]<br />
They’re not good enough for the people in your area.<br />
They need a library service that provides public<br />
education”—and for a very good reason. My argument<br />
is that this public education role should be extended to<br />
the wider cultural service. T<strong>here</strong> are lots of people in<br />
local authorities up and down the country who are<br />
fearful of what is to come. My question is what kind of<br />
country do we want to be? Do we want to be the kind of<br />
country w<strong>here</strong> culture is, by and large, for those who<br />
already access it? Or do we want to be the kind of<br />
country w<strong>here</strong> culture is for everybody and w<strong>here</strong> local<br />
authorities fulfil their responsibility in involving people?<br />
I know that t<strong>here</strong> is a real appetite among local<br />
authorities to take on that role. When I put the word<br />
out that I was seeking to ask leave to introduce my Bill,<br />
I asked people to come forward with examples. I would<br />
like to quote Councillor John Warmisham from Salford.<br />
I do not know whether Councillor Warmisham agrees<br />
with my Bill—he might not—but he told me that the<br />
best example of what can be done is that of Salford<br />
Quays:<br />
“First we had the Lowry, which attracted the Imperial War<br />
museum in the north, and this laid the foundation for MediaCity.<br />
This will give us more jobs than when we had the docks in<br />
Salford”.<br />
That, coming from a local councillor, is a powerful<br />
example of the good that culture can do.<br />
T<strong>here</strong> is sometimes a view in the cultural sector that<br />
local authorities do not care about cultural services<br />
because they do not consider them to be as important<br />
as housing or social services, but t<strong>here</strong> are many councillors<br />
out t<strong>here</strong> who really do care. I want this Bill to start a<br />
debate, to highlight those councils that do great work<br />
and to determine whether we need protection in law for<br />
the cultural services provided by local authorities. I<br />
think that we do; and we at least need to have that<br />
discussion.<br />
In Merseyside, we know—probably better than many<br />
other parts of the country—the massive value of culture<br />
to places. Of course, this is about the economy, and I<br />
must mention the impact that City of Culture ’08 had<br />
on Liverpool, Merseyside and the wider north-west. I<br />
know that people will understand the importance of<br />
that, but this is also about the strength of community<br />
that was created at the time. People have pointed out to<br />
me examples of the work that went on to bring culture<br />
not only to Liverpool city centre but to the wider area<br />
of Merseyside. I know from experience in my own<br />
constituency how empowering it was for the young<br />
people and older people in our communities when the<br />
cultural services in the local authorities brought them<br />
together to discuss their history and their heritage. We<br />
need to ask whether that needs some protection in law.<br />
The 1964 Act has been a vital backstop to our library<br />
services at a time when they feel under constant threat<br />
of being de-prioritised, driven down and questioned. I<br />
have every sympathy with local authority leaders, who<br />
are having to make terribly difficult decisions, but the<br />
1964 Act is an important check on what might happen.<br />
It ensures that we will never have to face the situation<br />
that my own grandfather faced when he was growing up<br />
in the inter-war years. He used to go to Liverpool<br />
central library and, I confess, he used to steal books<br />
because it was not possible to borrow library books for<br />
free at that time. The Act is important because it provides<br />
a backstop and enables the Government to question<br />
any local authority that is proposing to decimate its<br />
library services.<br />
We all know the importance to our own constituencies<br />
of the local art gallery, the museum and the local<br />
theatre. We have all seen young people from our schools<br />
gain confidence from coming into the theatre for their<br />
first performance. My reason for introducing the Bill is<br />
simply to ask whether we want to be the kind of<br />
country in which those services are available to everybody.<br />
Do we want the Secretary of State to take responsibility<br />
for those services? Such a task need not be prescriptive<br />
or demanding, and it would not require a large amount<br />
of funding, but it would allow local people to appeal to<br />
the Secretary of State and say, “Please stop. We don’t<br />
want our local cultural services to close.”That is important<br />
for all of us.<br />
Question put and agreed to.<br />
Ordered,<br />
That Alison McGovern, Tristram Hunt, Stephen Twigg<br />
and David Miliband present the Bill.<br />
Alison McGovern accordingly presented the Bill.<br />
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on<br />
Friday 17 June 2011, and to be printed(Bill 118).