Public reports pack Wednesday 22-Jul-2015 19.00 Council

Page 43As mentioned the boroughs used for comparisons by CIPFA and the Department of Culture,Media, and Sport include only some, not all, inner London boroughs and several outerLondon boroughs and the latter have lower salary costs as they do not pay inner Londonweighting.Where revenue expenditure is shown and used as a cost indicator it includes central councilsupport services costs on top of what is spent in the direct delivery of the service. By March2014 this was reduced to be in line with other London services.The service restructure in early 2014 significantly changed how the service is delivered. Newfigures for Lambeth showing its end of financial year position at 31st March 2015 will beavailable in July and will be published on the website. Although this will not give comparatorfigures with other authorities (these will not be available from CIPFA until late 2015) a furthersignificant improvement will be shown in Lambeth Libraries performance.During 2014-15 there have been significant improvements. In particular, Lambeth bookissues have increased by 2.6% (bucking the national trend of decline in this area), visitorfigures have increased by 11%, lending stock levels have increased by over 20% andmembership has increased by 10%. We have introduced a new e-magazine and e-bookoffer as well as many other services. This has been achieved with a greatly reduced level ofstaffing and revenue budget.The Council’s strategy for improving the service has prioritised Library buildings first. Thisstrategy has provided a refurbished library in Streatham and a new library in Clapham,where visitor numbers have increase by 264%. We are in the process of completing a £6mcapital improvement across our libraries, which will include the opening of a new facility inWest Norwood by 2018.15. Councillor Kevin CraigTo: Councillor Jenny Brathwaite - Cabinet Member for Environment and SustainabilityBishop’s Ward Air PollutionWhen specifically will the Council ensure that there is measuring of air pollution in place inBishop’s Ward?Party: LabourAnswer:We already know that air quality across the whole of London is not good enough. In fact,pollution levels breach European Union targets and World Health Organisation guidelines.While increased monitoring would be useful, we have the information we need to make ourimproving air quality our priority. We should do this as quickly as possible to reduce thenegative health impacts associated with pollutants such as NO2.Officers are currently putting together bids to the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund (MAQF), includingone for a Low Emission Neighbourhood in the Waterloo area, in partnership with Southwarkand stakeholders such as Waterloo Quarter Business Improvement District (BID). Thisincludes a new air quality monitoring station with a LED display, so residents can see their