Council resolution on the Library and Careers Centre, 8 March 2010

At its meeting on 8 March 2010 the Council of the Society considered the resolutions passed at the General Meeting of 30 November 2009.  After discussion, the following resolution was proposed by David Rowland, seconded by Ian Poll and passed unanimously.

Whereas Council recognises that it is time to draw a line under the current form of the ongoing debate on the provision and location of both the NAL and the Learning and Development Department in order to allow appropriate time, energy and resources to be focussed on some of the other major internal and external issues that must be addressed for the future wellbeing of the Society, Council:

1. notes the report of the General Meeting of Members held on 30th November 2009,
    
2. agrees that ongoing determination of the nature, operation and location of NAL provision should now become the executive responsibility of the Library Operational Group (which should replace existing library working and advisory groups) as part of the '2020 vision' programme in support of the Strategic Review, and that membership of this Group should reflect a range of representative points of view, and
    
3.  agrees that learning and careers service provision, including the appropriate location for such services, should become the executive responsibility of the appropriate Operational Group as part of the '2020 vision' programme in support of the Strategic Review.

These resolutions do not immediately meet the demands of the majority of voters at the General Meeting.  They do not, however, preclude the return of both the Library and Careers Centre to Hamilton Place at some future date and to that extent they can be seen as seeking to avoid a direct confrontation between Council and the majority of voters at the meeting. The provision in paragraph 2 that the Library Operational Group ‘should reflect a range of representative points of view’ is intended, we believe, to give the Requisitionists the opportunity to participate.

Making the task of the Group ‘part of the 2020 vision programme in support of the Strategic Review’ implies that it will be expected to take a long-term view of library provision in both Hamilton Place and Farnborough, taking account of costs, staffing requirements and the needs and views of members. We do not expect the occupancy of space in Hamilton Place by tenants to be part of the long-term vision for the Society. The action is now with the Chief Executive to form the Group and establish its terms of reference.

A similar provision has been made for determining the future of the Careers service. We hope that the decision to return the staff of the Careers Centre to Hamilton Place will be easier to take and implement. However, as with the Library, we must await developments.

We do not know what the general response of those who signed the requisition will be to these resolutions. We sense that the Council believes it has lanced the boil and can get on with the other pressing business that has been pushed to one side by the outrage caused by moving the services. For our part, we feel that the Council has moved as far as might have been expected in the circumstances by establishing a means for the future of both services to be decided by careful and objective consideration rather than by the opportunism that created the crisis.