CIPFA response rate falls to 43 per cent
THE RESPONSE rate of library services to the CIPFA annual library survey has fallen to 43 per cent and as a result the survey has not been able to give a total expenditure figure for the sector for the first time, but instead presents figures on a “per 1,000 peo- ple” basis. The survey, which has been running for decades, has usually had response rates nearer 85 per cent. Last year, 2020-21, the survey was able to say that spending across the library sector fell from £800m to £780m. At the time the response rate was nearer 60 per cent making comparability with previous years potentially problematic. The solution that has enabled
2021/2022 to be comparable with pre- vious years has been to present survey responses from all years inline with the per 1,000 figures. This year CIPFA says: “Total expenditure on libraries in Great Britain fell 17 per cent
to £9,982 per 1,000 people in 2021/22, from £11,970 in 2020/21. This continues year-on-year declines in expenditure since 2018/19, when total expenditure stood at £12,646 per 1,000 people.” The figures also show changes per 1,000 people:
l In-person visits to libraries have increased by 68 per cent
l Income received fell by 24 per cent l Books borrowed increased by 58 per cent l Volunteer numbers fell by 41 per cent l FTE staff fell by six per cent
Rob Whiteman, CEO of CIPFA, said: “It’s encouraging to see that library vis- its are increasing since the pandemic, but the same cannot be said for funding and income levels, which still lag behind. Libraries are certainly facing a difficult road ahead.”
In February last year Libraries Connected published a blog post that said CIPFA fig-
ures were delivered too late – nine to 11 months after being submitted – for them to be of any use to decision makers. The post also said that Libraries Con- nected had provided similar financial figures to CIPFA’s 15 months earlier add- ing that “while it may have some use as a historical record, it’s too little, too late in terms of usable evidence”.
In February Stuart Hoddinott, a public services researcher at the Institute for Government acknowledged the sector’s frustrations with the data but said: “The story in other local authority services is a severe lack of data available for analysis. In a project that we published earlier this year we tried to get a performance indicator for every single line of local authority spending. In the end we were only able to account for about 30 per cent, with 70 per cent having no quality indicator, so we have no idea how well our money is being spent and what the outcomes are.”
March 2023
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 9
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