Council officials are under fire after it emerged an officer who carried out a review of the decision to shut a Perth library was the same person who advocated its closure in the first place.
Friends of the West Mill Street Library have accused Perth and Kinross Council of breaching statutory duties and lodged a complaint about the matter. The Friends want an inquiry and feel the closure has hit the disabled, elderly and infirm.
They have written to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Scotland and Mike Penning MP, Minister of State for Disabled People, citing what they claim is discrimination.
The campaigners believe their pleas for the retention of the library have been disregarded by Perth and Kinross Council.
Irene Hamilton, chairwoman of the Friends, explained the reasoning behind the complaint.
“Helen Smout, the council’s service manager of culture, and primary advocate for proposing and supporting the closure of the library, should have been barred from responding to, or investigating, our complaint in accordance with Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) guidance on complaints handling procedures.
“This states: ‘Wherever possible, organisations should ensure that staff members who are the subject of a complaint should not handle or respond to the complaint. Neither should frontline staff who may have a clear conflict of interest in the matter.’”
“It also states, ‘Wherever possible, service providers should avoid appointing staff that have been involved in the issues complained about to the task of investigating and responding to the complaint.’”
And Mrs Hamilton also highlighted the important social role of the facility by stressing the library was “not just a book-lending service.”
“It provided a safe, friendly and informal environment for the disabled, elderly, infirm and partially-sighted patrons to meet for a chat and have a welcome cuppa,” she said.
“The safe and welcoming environment is fundamental to the promotion of the patrons’ physical and mental wellbeing, providing them with a reason for leaving the house on that particular day.”
She continued: “The council has actively discriminated against this group of patrons of the disabled library.”
However, the group, who raised £150,000 to buy books, stress they “will not give up the fight” to have West Mill Street Library reopened.
Mrs Hamilton added: “We would point out that since announcing their decision to close the library, Perth and Kinross Council have deliberately failed to refer to it as the library for the disabled.”
Perth and Kinross Council said they had nothing further to add by way of comment.
A council spokeswoman had previously defended their review process on the matter.
She had said: “The council’s review of the library service was based on a thorough review of evidence and data about how, where and when customers used services.”
The council agreed to close the library as part of overall cost-cutting measures.
A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said that the minister or his duty minister should respond to the letter within 10 days of its receipt.
“Funding for libraries comes from local authorities and the money for that is provided by the Scottish Government,” she said.
EHRC Scotland confirmed they were considering their response to the letter.