The Committee Clerk
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Libraries Branch)
Room 424
Parliament Buildings
Belfast
BT4 3XX
16 July 2007
Dear Sirs,
Northern Ireland Libraries Bill
Thank you for your recent letter informing us of the progress of the
Northern Ireland Libraries Bill and how to find details on the Northern
Ireland Assembly's website. Having studied the Bill and Explanatory
Memorandum we do wish to submit comments for the consideration
of the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee.
We assume that the Committee will have access to the 24 written
responses received by the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure
but wish to remind Committee members that Share The Vision [STV]
is a UK wide partnership of the main voluntary sector bodies which
produce and lend alternative format materials for visually impaired
people and the main bodies for publicly funded libraries.
Consequently, our membership includes both RNIB and the Library
and Information Services Council for Northern Ireland. STV
commends LISC;NI for establishing in 2003 a Vision Panel which is
unique and not replicated in England , Scotland or Wales .We also
commended DCAL for addressing the needs of visually impaired
people in "Delivering Tomorrow's Libraries".
In our response to DCAL' consultation on the Draft Libraries
[Northern Ireland] Order we expressed concerns about two main
points of relevance to the interests of visually impaired people in
Northern Ireland.
Firstly, we shared the general concern that the Draft Order did not
ensure the continuation of the free loan of books as provided by
Article 77 of the Education and Libraries [Northern Ireland] Order
1986. We note that the Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill states:
"The main change relates to making clearer the government
commitment to a continuing free service while allowing libraries, as at
present, to charge for certain aspects of the service". Obviously, we
welcome this statement but we have to say that the Bill does not
appear to make the commitment clear to a lay person. We assume
that the drafters of the Bill have amended Schedule 4 of the Bill.
Whereas Schedule 4 of the Draft Order repealed the whole of Part VII
of the 1986 Order, Schedule 4 of the Bill only refers to
repealing certain articles of the 1986 Order and not Articles 73 and
76. If this interpretation is correct we remain puzzled that the
Explanatory Memorandum did not set out clearly in plain English how
the Government was proposing to ensure its commitment to the
continuation of the free service. We appreciate that the drafting of
legislation is an extremely technical matter but an Explanatory
Memorandum should surely explain things to lay people so that their
concerns can be allayed.
Our second concern was with the wording of Article 4[2][b][v] of the
Draft Order which requires the new single Northern Ireland Library
Authority to "Have regard to the desirability of ...meeting any special
requirements of adults and children by any appropriate means". We
note with disappointment that Clause 2.2.b.v of the Bill retains exactly
the same wording. We can only repeat that in terms of the needs of
visually impaired and other disabled people the words "have regard
to the desirability of" are not strong enough. We do not doubt that the
new Library Authority will address the needs of visually impaired
people but it is not just desirable but an essential human right that it
does so. We would prefer the Clause to enshrine the Authority's duty
under disability equality legislation and would suggest the Bill should
state that the Authority "must meet any special requirements of adults
and children, especially disabled people, by any appropriate means".
We trust that the Committee will give serious consideration to making
such a change to demonstrate its commitment to meeting the needs
of disabled people in Northern Ireland and confirming that Northern
Ireland remains in advance of the rest of the UK in terms of library
legislation and local arrangements.
We would be happy to assist the Committee if it requires any further
information and are content for this response to be made public.
Yours faithfully
Mark Freeman
Chairman
SHARE THE VISION
CH/mydocs/STV/Nth Ire/July07