The Parish Council have sent the following letter to North Somerset Council.

Following feedback from a number of our parishioners, Pill and Easton-in-Gordano Parish Council would like to take this opportunity to raise with North Somerset Council a number of concerns brought to our attention by residents, in relation to the ongoing library consultation.

In general, the information and resources which have been provided in support of the consultation process, and the holding of an engagement drop-in meeting, have been well received by residents. However, concerns relating to the consultation process itself, the inclusivity of participation methods and the way in which the included data is presented have all been raised by residents. Further questions have also been raised regarding the post-consultation data analysis process, as well as the decision to place Pill library under threat of closure despite North Somerset Council recognising that community need is considered high.

1. Tone and Transparency of the Engagement Drop-In Meeting

The engagement drop-in meeting on 17th September 2025 was perceived by some as lacking transparency and openness; feeling more like a predetermined exercise than a genuine community engagement. Attendees felt pressured towards talking about community-managed options, without any proper exploration of alternatives. There was a clear sense from those who attended the session that the consultation was designed to justify decisions already made, rather than to seek genuine community input.

1.1. Feelings of pre-determination

‘I spoke to [Council Officer] and was told that there are no other options to save money. According to [Council Officer] shutting both libraries is the only way….I had a very long chat with [Council Officer] and left feeling justified in my feelings that they never had any intention to support either library after the consult.’

‘I left feeling like they’d already made up their minds and we’re fighting a losing battle.’

1.2. Imbalanced focus on community managed models

‘The whole session felt more like a “community management is great” public relations exercise rather than a true consultation.’

‘There was definitely a “look at how successful all the others have been” agenda.’

‘There was lots of talk of how successful Congresbury has been. There was no talk of those communities that have failed such as Long Ashton and Banwell.’

‘We spoke about community management and I said that could be difficult and not sustainable. [Council Officer] said it had worked in Congresbury for eight years, so that demonstrated that it could work.’

‘As soon as I went in, [Council Officer] told me that one hundred and fifty people had attended the Windscombe drop in and sixty people had volunteered to help run their library.’

‘I wondered whether this was a tactic to pressure attendees into saying they would volunteer to support a community managed library.’

2. Inclusivity of the Consultation Process

A number of people that fed back to us felt that the consultation process was not inclusive, with unclear or conflicting information being offered regarding methods of feedback and school and local businesses unaware of the process. Additional concerns were raised in relation to limited and inconvenient drop-in session hours which excluded some people, especially those working. There was a belief that the process favoured digitally literate participants, limiting wider community involvement and potentially excluding an older demographic who may be more likely to use the service, but unable to complete the online consultation due to a lack of digital literacy.

2.1. Conflicting information

‘People have been told that if they don’t want to fill out the consultation, they can send an email to the library review email address. However, people who have done this have been messaged saying that they need to fill out the consultation document. In the drop-in meeting, I was given conflicting answers about whether feedback via this method would be taken into account. Indeed, I was told by [Council Officer] that these answers may not be included.’

2.2. Limited session hours

‘I was late leaving work and then stuck on Rownham Hill, so didn’t make it back for the drop in. If it had been on until 7pm I could have gone.’

‘I didn’t know that it was an option to ask that the consultation times were changed’.

‘It wouldn’t have occurred to me that you could contact them in advance and ask to extend the hours.’

2.3. Lack of outreach

‘No effort seems to have been made by the council to contact schools. Parents have spoken to all three schools and none knew about the consultation. It shouldn’t be down to us, as parents, to let schools know that the library is under threat of closure.’

‘I’ve heard from multiple sources that businesses need to take part in the consultation. None that I know of have been contacted and told this.’

2.4. Digital exclusion

‘I’ve spoken to quite a few older people especially who have been put off by the length of the consultation documents and the number of questions. However, I’m not sure if they email or phone with their views instead that this will be taken into account in the actual consultation analysis.’

‘When I raised the concern that working people were unable to attend the session, [Council Officer] suggested that if people are working in Bristol then they are probably computer literate and they can therefore complete the consultation online. This is a massive assumption.’

3. Consultation Data

It was the view of some residents that the data presented unfairly labels Pill as being the least used library in North Somerset, without considering its limited opening hours or population size, leading to potentially misleading comparisons between libraries. It was their belief that this approach risks creating negative perceptions and overlooks the real community impact, especially upon vulnerable groups like children and older people.

3.1. Inaccurate comparisons of data

Within the information pack for Pill Library and Children’s Centre, it states that ‘Pill Library receives the lowest number of visits of the ten static libraries in North Somerset.’ This statement is based on raw visit data alone. However, this ignores key factors like reduced opening hours and the population size served. Without adjusting for these factors, the data does not offer a fair comparison across libraries and limits understanding of how intensively each community uses its library service. Concerns have been raised that by using raw visit data alone, this could well skew the findings of the consultation, as only residents of Pill may advocate to retain their library, while others respondents have to rely on inadequately presented raw visit data to drive their decisions. A balanced analysis would require the use of population size data and usage per opening hour to reflect true engagement. Such context is critical to making informed decisions about the value and sustainability of each library within North Somerset’s network.

‘I’m still upset that we get marked as most unused library, when we have the lowest hours and all the other libraries are racking up to eighty four unstaffed hours a week that we can’t.’

3.2. Equality Impact Assessment

Residents raised the fact that within the Pill Equality Impact Assessment, disabled people and women are identified as being disproportionately impacted to a high degree by closure of the library, However, the user impact on the elderly and children, if the library were to close, is only designated as medium. Given that 9% of the general populace in the UK are aged 75 years of age or over, but 26% of respondents to the Pill library survey conducted in Spring 2025 declared themselves to be in this age group, the impact on this demographic should perhaps also be considered as high. Similarly, residents suggest that the impact on children has been under-assessed: Pill Library runs a significant number of events in comparison with other libraries when opening hours are taken into consideration (over 100 events per year, despite only being open for 2.5 days per week), and the majority of these events are aimed at children. During term-time, Pill Library currently runs three events per week for children – Rhymetime, Coding Club and Lego Club. The closure of the library would result in the loss of these clubs, which contribute to the development of social skills, digital literacy, team working and creativity; a mobile library would not be an adequate replacement, and therefore the impact on this user group should also be designated as high. The assessment underestimates the impact of closure of the library on these user groups, and should be amended for fairer representation.

4. High Community Need in Pill

The consultation document states that within Pill, community need is considered high. This being the case, concerns have been vocalised by residents that Pill Library should never have been placed at risk in the first place.

4.1. Higher spend in less deprived areas

Analysis of the figures provided by North Somerset Council show that 32% of the whole libraries budget is spent in Weston (excluding Worle and Campus), totalling approximately £367 000 per annum. It is assumed that this amount is spent in Weston due to its need as highlighted in the North Somerset JSNA. Outside of Weston-super-Mare, Pill West is the most education, skills and training deprived area in North Somerset and residents who have spoken to us feel it should be prioritised in a similar way and not be placed under threat of closure. Pill Library’s spend comes in at 2% of the total library budget at £28 000 per annum. This equates to a spend of £13.68 per head in Weston and £7.90 per head in Pill. Arguably, there is a clear disconnect in terms of community need and spend when areas such as Yatton and Nailsea (which have significantly lower need) have a substantially higher spend per head, at £10.49 and £10.74 respectively, compared to Pill’s spend of £7.90. Pill library spend is currently one of the lowest in North Somerset, whilst need is one of the highest. There are widespread concerns that removing this service, when money could be saved by reducing costs in other areas, is misguided and fails the significant needs of the community.

‘Libraries are supposed to be social levellers aren’t they? Why would you take a library away from a deprived area? I know the council needs to save money, but it seems really counter-productive. Surely it saves the council money in terms of social benefits?’

5. Post-Consultation Data Analysis

Given that some residents formed the impression following the drop-in meeting that the decision had already been made to close Pill library, some naturally also have concerns about objectivity in analysing the data received from the consultation, and subsequent recommendations and decisions. Our residents would like to know if data from the consultation will be analysed in-house or externally; which data analysis methods will be used; what weighting will be given to quantitative versus qualitative data; and if all data from the consultation will be made available for public scrutiny. Transparency in these areas is critical to maintaining community trust.

‘North Somerset Library Services need to save money, and they’ve clearly identified closing Pill library as a way of doing this. Given this agenda, and that data can be interpreted and presented in a variety of ways, I wonder how they will ensure the objectivity and fairness of their analysis. I’m particularly concerned that, in terms of quantitative data, it will be a Pill versus the rest of North Somerset situation.’

6. Conclusion

Pill and Easton-in-Gordano Parish Council requests that these community concerns are given full and careful consideration in the subsequent stages of the decision-making process and that these concerns are recorded as part of the consultation feedback and subsequent analysis.

Additionally, we seek a detailed response addressing all of the issues raised, particularly regarding data analysis methodology and funding rationale by 17th October 2025, in order to allow for additional responses to the consultation if required. We look forward to continued collaboration to ensure Pill Library remains a vital community resource.