DEVOLUTION AND REGIONALISM IN THE UK
REPORT OF THE LA POLICY ADVISORY GROUP

5 Summary of Recommendations

5.1 The Library and Information Sector in the Nations and Regions

Fragmentation

1. The LIS sector should have the capacity to speak with one voice at a regional and national level if it is to be truly effective as advocate for the sector (other linked recommendations follow)
2. The LA should encourage and assist the LIS sector to develop strategic library development agencies within the English regions, and help ensure that these bodies, and their counterparts in the other Home Nations, are truly representative and inclusive and liaise with lead LIS bodies in the other Home Nations
3. The LIS sector should be prepared to champion regional level services where this is appropriate. These might include regional specialist collections or new networked services where economies of scale are important. We welcome the recent Resource initiative related to the designation of library ands archive collections of regional importance.
4. The LIS sector should be able to look to the LA to map the changing landscape of LIS and other relevant agencies and virtual communities and act as a portal for such groups. In conjunction with the Home Nations, this should be a sustainable service operating as an integral part of the portfolio of benefits to members and the wider LIS community. This would assist the sector and its professional body in identifying its reach and expertise and enable them to be harnessed to meet political agendas at all levels within the UK.  
5. In parallel with recommendation 4, the LA should consider providing online personalised services for members: individual portals, customised information supply, and online discussion space – so creating virtual communities of interest and professional interaction

Integration

6. The LA should assist LIS development agencies in developing an outward, cross- sectoral and strategic focus (See also ecommendations in next section)
7. The LA should acknowledge the importance of working at the sub-regional level and ensure that this is on the agenda of the regional library development agencies and other key players

LA/BL/Resource Regional Development Officer initiative

8. We recommend a timescale of two or three years for the Library Development Officer post and the English Regions project as more appropriate to the scale of the task than the year suggested
9. We endorse the concerns of the Policy & Resource Committee regarding reporting lines for the postholder and recommend that s/he should report to a library organisation
10. Before final selection of the regions to be involved, a clear statement should be developed about how the pilot projects will inform the development of effective regional LIS bodies in the rest of England
11. We warmly endorse the involvement of LA Branches in the proposed pilots (see our recommendations in the next section)
12. Membership of the Steering Group overseeing the project should, within reason, reflect regional LIS expertise and represent an appropriate cross-section of individual areas within the sector

5.2 The LA in the Nations and the Regions

13. Sub-branches should be formed in all the Home Nations where appropriate to allow more local networking amongst members and the exploration of the practical implications of national and regional cross-cutting agendas
14. English Branches should form close alliances with the emerging regional library development agencies to create the “one voice” of LIS
15. The new professional body should identify what its Branches have to offer to the regional LIS agencies and ensure that the Branches have the skills and resources to deliver. We suggest the following core roles for Branches (some may develop other special roles)
    • Partner/Provider of CPD opportunities
    • Provider of human networking opportunities and gateway to other networks
    • Ensuring the voice of the individual librarian and information specialist at Branch level is heard by the professional body
    • Advocate at Branch level for stimulating effective use of the virtual services provided by the professional body cf Recommendation 5
16. The Branches Working Party should consider the implications of changes to the role of branches for governance of the new professional body
17. The new professional body should prioritise equity of services to all its members – in many instances it will need to seek partner organisations in the regions to provide local services to members (eg with LIS education providers and national or regional training consortia for locally delivered CPD)

5.3       Cross-cutting Themes

Lifelong Learning

18. The professional body should consider how its structure of professional advisors may most effectively address the cross-sectoral issues flagged up by the lifelong learning agenda
19. The Policy & Resources Committee should consider how the new organisation should build its awareness of the LSC equivalents in the Home Nations other than England
    

Generating/regenerating the economy

20. Regional Library Development Agencies should consider the information, intelligence and knowledge needs and processes within RDAs and how the LIS sector could contribute to, and benefit from, this
21. Regional Library Development Agencies perhaps in association with the proposed Library Development Officer for the Regions open up debate with the RDAs and others on the need to develop strategic regional information policies 
22. All types of library and information services should seek a stronger role in supporting the needs of businesses, especially where it is done on a cooperative basis – such as HATRICS or Grampian Information – or in partnership with Business Links or their successors

Citizenship and Culture

23. The new professional body should match its shape and communications to the new democratic and cultural landscape where
    • Participative democracy is a key focus enabling citizens to engage fully in society, and to interact with democratic structures and e-government
    • Funding programmes cut across sectors and focus thematically eg children, cultural diversity, rural deprivation, not education or libraries
    • Partnerships are the key to relationships between central, national, regional, sub-regional and local government and focus on agreed outcomes

Appendix 1