Phase two of the Devon Libraries restructuring is now almost fully implemented with the introduction of new opening hours across the county over the next fortnight and the new staffing levels now virtually in place.
Phase two was the turn of the frontline staff to be 'restructured' and despite reassurances that frontline staffing would be protecting, it became clear that this was not going to be the case. Staff had fought hard for years to bring staffing levels up to a level which allowed all libraries to function effectively and have the staff time and resources to offer more than just a basic service. Single-manning in the smallest branches had also been phased out in order to ensure consistency of service and the safety of staff. In 2004 a process of job evaluation had been undertaken in the library service to review the jobs done by all staff and to ensure they were paid accordingly in regard to the skills and qualifications needed to undertake the jobs. All of this has been slowly undone in the process of restructuring, making a mockery of the time and money spent in the job evaluation process and undermining the work done in terms of bolstering staff levels.
In 2004 Exeter Central library finally had staffing levels that allowed the library to function comfortably and allow not only the front of house services to be properly administered, but also the backroom functions necessary to the running of a library of its size. Additional events and activities could be offered as there were enough staff to cover them and staff sickness and holiday could be covered without loss of service. This was achieved not only through a good level of permanent staffing but through a large pool of temporary staff, or 'casuals' as they were known. The temporary staff were often ex-Saturday Assistants looking for holiday work, students looking for flexible term-time work and individuals who had other jobs which were not entirely regular - for example there have been a number of music teachers and musicians pass through the service. As far as I am aware, most of the branches found themselves in similar positions, although some of the smallest libraries have always struggled at least slightly in terms of staff. However, within a couple of years the landscape was changing and the squeeze on staff began. Initially the problems came in the form of changes to the employment laws which meant the basis on which temporary staff could be employed could not remain the same. Casuals found that the previous easy-going terms, which on the whole had worked for the majority of casual staff, could no longer remain and instead they had to enter into new contracts which were badly thought out and made earning a living via library work very difficult. As a result the pool of available temporary staff began to dwindle, although the real difficulties with temporary staff were still to come. Many instead tried to secure small part-time contracts which still allowed them to work 'additional hours' to provide cover for sickness and leave. These hours were paid at the same rate as any contracted hours and were claimed at the end of each month. Then came the recruitment freezes. Initially these were due to overspends in Devon County Council and all recruitment of new staff was frozen on several occasions while the budgets were balanced. The problem was the vacancies which arose as a result were never filled. Temporary contracts were issued for many vacancies, but permanent contracts were never forthcoming. Only a small number of vacancies were properly advertised and filled, usually in the more senior positions. Vacancies at library assistant level were often only filled by temporary contracts. By 2008 the service found itself in the position where every vacancy which came up was scrutinised to see if it was really necessary to the service to fill it. This in some ways is good management as it means a constant review of staffing is being undertaken, but the net result for the service was a gradual and continued loss of staff. Positions were cut or disposed of altogether and by 2010 many vacancies were not being filled at all. Within Exeter Central Library posts were divided down to provide hours across several departments and in some cases hours were 'given back' by moving existing members of staff into other departments for a set number of hours per week. Staffing began to be stretched and cracks started to appear. However, the willingness of part-time staff to provide cover and the hard work of all staff meant the difficulties could be overcome and the quality of service maintained.
At the end of 2010 the final blow came and the disintegration of the frontline staffing began in earnest. Devon County Council, like all local authorities, was under the shadow of massive budget cuts from central Government. Yet another freeze on recruitment was put in place, but in addition to this all temporary contracts were terminated and overtime cut. Suddenly the library service stood to lose a significant portion of its staffing. Some individuals had been working under temporary contracts for years, which had been renewed and renewed but despite appeals from managers and the staff themselves, had never been made more permanent. In one swoop their contracts were removed altogether, some with only a few weeks’ notice to find new employment. The impact on the frontline was felt keenly as gaps appeared across the service. In addition to this was the loss of overtime. Initially overtime was removed for those earning more than £21,000 per year. As no member of library staff apart from those at management level earns this much, it seemed that the service was outside the scope of this. Then it was said that no-one working 37hrs per week could do overtime; still no problem for the library service as none of those providing additional hours worked full time. But then came the blow; no-one earning £21,000 or working 37 hrs per week or working in the library service, except those with relief contracts, were eligible for overtime. All of those part-time staff, who provided additional hours to their contracts to cover sickness, leave and events were no longer able to do so. As the terms of the original temporary, or 'relief', contracts had been exceedingly unfavourable (in terms of what you were paid for when - you were contracted for so many hours per year and paid a monthly salary against those hours which often amounted to very little - £40 or £50 a month. You couldn't earn more than the monthly salary until you'd fulfilled your annual hours, which meant you could work full time for three weeks and still receive just your £40 or £50 at the end of it as you hadn't yet 'used up' the annual amount of hours you were contracted for) there were very few working under those contracts. Suddenly there was no-one to cover anything.
Why is all of this important? Because with the second phase of restructuring we find ourselves in an even worse position. A minimum number of staff hours for each branch was worked out which would deliver the basic service. An 'element' of backroom time was put into this formula and it was then up to each individual library to sort out the staffing. In many of the branches this mostly resulted in reduced hours for most staff, which often reflected the reduced opening hours that most were facing. In Exeter Central the story was rather more urgent as it looked like around half of the frontline staff would find themselves redundant. As it stands, the majority of staff has come out with a job of some sort, but mostly owing to several full time staff choosing to leave altogether and all staff accepting a reduction in hours. The problem of relief staff remains with only around 4 relief staff available for the whole of Exeter Central and seemingly no plans to recruit more. It is becoming noticeable to the public that the service is not functioning well as desks are often single-manned and the staff behind them often do not work regularly enough in that department to answer questions. The lending library is frequently closing the front issue desk and running all functions from the enquiry desk which results in longer wait times for customers - particularly frustrating if you just want to return an item during your lunch break. The overstretched staffing means keeping up with basic tasks such as the reshelving of returned items is becoming increasingly difficult and the processing requests from other libraries is constantly running at a backlog, which ultimately means that customers at those branches are waiting longer for their items. Events and additional activities can only be staffed with great difficulty as only relief staff can be paid to cover the gaps they create on the frontline. With relief staff already working virtually full time to cover the gaps which already exist with the reduced staffing and trying to cover leave and sickness, which even so can't always be covered, there is little scope for running anything other than the basic service.
Single manning has been re-introduced in the smallest branches and a new post of 'Library assistant - unsupervised' has been created. This essentially means that there is one person responsible for the provision of all services in the library but is not paid to reflect the level of responsibility they have to take. Single-manning has always been contentious as there has always been the feeling that the lone member of staff in the single-manned library is rather vulnerable, particularly as a number of the small libraries are rather tucked away, and that it results in inconsistent staffing and service when the lone member of staff wants to take holiday or is off sick. Never the less, single-manning is back for many of the smallest branches.
Self issue is being implemented in a number of libraries, including Exeter Central, which may well help to alleviate the immediate problem of staffing levels. However, self issue at Exeter Central is not expected to be in place until Christmas at the very earliest and the new staffing structure is in place now. Expect longer queues, longer waiting times for requests and a reduction in the quality of service in the meantime. IT help will be at a minimum, as will staff support for those using meeting rooms and specialist services are essentially dead and gone. Apparently this is delivering a 'sustainable service for the future'.
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