Nationally important Surrey Performing Arts Library in stranglehold by Surrey County Council

DORKING, U.K. - May 24, 2018 - PRLog -- Last year Surrey County Council (SCC) unilaterally axed the budget for the Surrey Performing Arts Library (SPAL), one of the three largest in England. The Library provides affordable access to multiple copies of a vast range of plays, scores and sheet music to the hundreds of drama and music groups in the county, enabling some 15,000-20,000 amateur performers in Surrey to entertain audiences totalling over 160,000 each year.

In response to public concern at SCC's action, a new charity – New Surrey Performing Arts Library (www.NewSPAL.org.uk) – was formed and has already raised pledges for nearly the entire £84,000 needed to take over the collection from SCC.

But SCC aren't giving NewSPAL the chance to do so. For the third month running, officers have opted not to bring this matter to the Cabinet for decision. As Barbara Eifler, NewSPAL Trustee and Chief Executive of the national music charity Making Music, explains: "Without a political mandate, the new charity cannot take on premises, convert pledges into actual donations, or hire staff – in other words, it is in limbo, unable to progress, unable to turn its support into action.

"Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on SCC's budget cuts. So when officers finally bring this matter to Cabinet, they will point to their 'in-house' solution – to retain the income from the Library but eliminate the cost by distributing it to other Surrey libraries and removing all specialist staff – as an immediate way to save money, while NewSPAL will need six months to take over the Library. It is not difficult to see which the councillors will go for."

Barbara Eifler notes that "Users from the community have put in an enormous amount of effort and pledged thousands of pounds to NewSPAL already – and don't understand why their goodwill and enthusiasm is being trampled on instead of celebrated and supported by SCC."

NewSPAL has raised a formal question to Cabinet – to which a response is due to be given at the Cabinet meeting on 29 May – asking for "…a clear statement to Surrey ratepayers as to exactly what has caused this delay to the decision on SPAL, confirm that this delay will not have negative impact on SPAL, and confirm the date when a report on the alternative proposals for the future of SPAL will be presented to Cabinet for decision".

NewSPAL is now calling for residents to contact Councillors to ask for a clear statement by Cabinet on 29 May and confirm when NewSPAL will receive the mandate to run the performing arts library.

Residents are encouraged to attend the Cabinet meeting at 2pm on Tuesday 29 May in County Hall, Kingston-upon-Thames, in large numbers to impress on the Council how important this issue is for them.

Further details at http://NewSPAL.org.uk