Library Computer Usage Down by Nearly 40%

9.26.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 8th Sep 2009

Cllr John Whitehouse at Kenilworth Library

The Conservatives running the County Council have admitted that public use of the computers at Warwickshire Libraries is down by nearly 40% since charges were introduced on 1st July for the first time.

The shock revelation came in answer to a question raised by Councillor John Whitehouse (Liberal Democrat, Kenilworth Abbey) at today's meeting of Warwickshire County Council.

It also emerged that the new charging policy has only raised a revenue to the Council of £8,353 in its first two months of operation.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Whitehouse said:

"The press reports over recent weeks of library computers standing idle have been validated by today's figures.

The Conservatives' new policy of charging for computer use at libraries was pushed through the County budget in the face of Liberal Democrat opposition. We said it was an unfair imposition of charges on some of our citizens least able to afford it, and not the area where big savings should be looked for.

Already it seems that the revenue raised is going to fall far short of the £200,000 a year savings target which the Tories built into their budget."