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Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Roger Godsiff (Labour), on Tuesday, 13 January 2015, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 11 members in total.

PROPOSED REDUCTIONS IN FUNDING FOR THE LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM

That this House notes with great concern the plans to severely cut the funding available to the Library of Birmingham, which would result in the loss of more than half of the library's staff and many of its services, including the loss of archive and research facilities; observes that Birmingham City Council's funding from central Government has been cut heavily over the course of the current Government, and that poorer cities such as Birmingham have received a disproportionately heavy share of spending cuts; condemns the decision to cut Birmingham's funding by an amount equivalent to £147 per household this year, compared to the national average of just £45; does not see why the citizens of Birmingham should have their library services destroyed in an attempt to cut a deficit that was caused by paying for the gambling debts of bankers, not by supporting essential cultural services for UK citizens; encourages the Government to take serious and concerted action to reclaim for the Exchequer the many billions of public funds which are currently lost to corporate tax avoidance; strongly supports the attempt to find alternate ways to keep the library open and maintain it as a centre of excellence, and wishes this campaign every success; believes that the whole of the UK would be the poorer without its world-class libraries, which play a vital role in education and research; and calls on the Government to urgently reconsider its ongoing slashing of local government funding.

Amendments

The Early day motion has received an amendment.

PROPOSED REDUCTIONS IN FUNDING FOR THE LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM (682A1)
The Early day motion has received an amendment sponsored by John Hemming (primary, Liberal Democrat) and tabled on Monday, 19 January 2015. It has been signed by 2 members in total.
leave out 'observes' in line 3 to end and add 'observes that Birmingham City Council's funding from central government has been cut heavily over the course of the current Government and faces further cuts whether Conservatives, Labour or Liberal Democrats are in power; further observes that the Council also faces severe financial problems as a result of the payments required to deal with equal pay; regrets the financial errors of government from 2005 to 2008 in exacerbating the difficulties in the public sector; believes that all parties should review the future of local government finance and ensure that other government spending in either ring-fenced departments or non-ring-fenced departments should be reviewed from a public benefit and value for money comparative basis; supports proposals to ensure that reductions in central support operate on the basis of equivalence in terms of spending power reduction; further supports the Government's efforts to increase the tax take by more effective tax collection; strongly supports the attempt to find alternative ways to keep the library open; and further believes that local libraries are also important facilities not to be ignored.'.

Secondary information

Type
Early day motion
Reference
682 
682A1 
Session
2014-15
Other sponsors
John McDonnell
Kelvin Hopkins
Ronnie Campbell
Jeremy Corbyn
Mike Hancock
Subjects
Libraries Local government Public expenditure
Link
View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk