David Reed MP tries to make capital out of the “Good News” library story.
Long established Independent District and County Councillor Paul Hayward fact checks what he says and puts the record straight.
David Reed has always claimed “local connections” through his training as a Royal Marine at Lympstone.
When it comes to history he’s just a raw recruit! – Owl
From David Reed MP’s facebook page
After more than 25,000 responses to the consultation, I welcome the Devon County Council Liberal Democrat administration’s decision to drop proposals that would have reduced access to local libraries.
The message from local people could not have been clearer and I’m grateful to everyone who made their voice heard.
The original plans were based on the idea that libraries could simply be grouped together, with people expected to travel elsewhere when their own branch was closed. But an overwhelming number of respondents said they would rather wait for their own library to reopen than travel to another library.
That should have been obvious from the start.
The proposals showed a complete misunderstanding of how valued and relied upon these services really are.
There is a certain irony in Liberal Democrats now trying to present themselves as the defenders of libraries after spending months consulting on cuts brought forward under their own administration.
In the end, public pressure forced a rethink and all libraries will now keep their current staffed opening hours.
I also welcome the decision to invest more in books create a new Libraries Transformation and Rural Hub Fund.
This is a victory for local people.
Paul Hayward corrects the record in this comment on David Reed’s post
For context, the Conservatives ran Devon County Council until May 2025 so I have limited my observations to the 10 years prior, David.
” Between 2015 and 2025, Devon’s public library service moved from direct council control to an arm’s‑length charity model and then faced repeated real‑terms and cash reductions as Devon County Council (DCC) grappled with wider budget pressures.
In 2016, DCC transferred operations to Libraries Unlimited, a public service mutual created to sustain the network under austerity. The shift itself wasn’t a cut on day one, but it set the framework for multi‑year savings, efficiencies, and income generation targets that effectively reduced the taxpayer contribution in real terms through wage, energy, and price inflation outpacing uplifts.
From 2015–2017, DCC sought savings across cultural services; contemporary case studies note the creation of Libraries Unlimited as a vehicle to deliver efficiencies after years of national grant reductions.
While explicit single‑year percentage cut figures for those early years are not consistently published in one place, the direction was a managed reduction in the core subsidy and staffing costs, with a focus on maintaining the 50‑library footprint by trimming overheads, refocusing opening hours, and expanding volunteer support.
In real terms, this period likely equated to a mid‑single‑digit percentage squeeze spread over two to three years (for example 3–5% cumulative), once inflation is considered, even where cash allocations appeared flat.
From 2018–2021, libraries in Devon generally experienced continued real‑terms erosion rather than headline cash cuts, as social care and SEND pressures consumed a growing share of the council budget. Libraries Unlimited increased external fundraising and project grants to protect frontline access, but these one‑off or ring‑fenced funds could not replace the unrestricted core contribution.
In practice, a flat or marginally increased cash budget during above‑target inflation years functions as a de facto annual cut of roughly 2–4% in real terms.
𝗕𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯–𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗮 £𝟱𝟱𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁, 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗶𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰. £𝟲–𝟳 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿‑𝗼𝗳‑𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝟴–𝟭𝟬% 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱. 𝗢𝗻𝗲‑𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀 (𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗽𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀) 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲. 𝗔𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮–𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹‑𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟮–𝟭𝟱% 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄.
In 2025, DCC’s savings plans translated into service changes proposals centred on opening hours. Public consultation materials and local analysis described reductions to core library opening hours of about 30%, signalling that operational cuts were now being used to achieve budget savings at scale. While a 30% reduction in opening hours does not directly equal a 30% funding cut, it reflects the magnitude of savings sought. Taken with earlier subsidy reductions, the 2025 picture indicates a cumulative real‑terms contraction across the decade on the order of 20–30%, with the later years carrying the steepest drops in cash terms (circa 8–10% to the core in 2023–2025) and earlier years dominated by real‑terms squeezes.
Key takeaways:
2016: service spun out to Libraries Unlimited to deliver efficiencies.
2015–2021: predominantly real‑terms cuts, roughly 2–5% cumulative every few years via flat cash plus inflation.
2023–2025: explicit cash reduction to core funding around £0.55m (~8–10%), with proposals leading to ~30% reduction in core opening hours.
Net effect 2015–2025: approximately 20–30% cumulative real‑terms impact, with the sharpest visible changes in 2024–2025.
Summary: Your party was responsible for the chronic under-funding of Devon’s Library service and now you have the chutzpah to call out the new DCC administration picking up the pieces of 16 years of Tory cuts and service decline. Wow! I’ll send you a tin of Brasso for that neck of yours.
East Devon Watch 