Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Government is providing to local authorities to help ensure libraries are accessible for (a) click and collect services and (b) information technology services for the most vulnerable and digitally excluded communities.

The COVID regulations allow public libraries in England during the current national restrictions to continue to provide physical library services including an “order and collect” provision, as well as access to public PCs for people to use essential services.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has worked closely with Libraries Connected to develop their toolkit which provides practical guidelines for heads of service and library staff to support the delivery of library services. The toolkit has helped the library sector navigate this difficult period and has been updated to reflect national and local restrictions.

The government exemptions enable public libraries to provide certain services, but do not compel them to do so. Whether library services can or will be provided in each area is for each local council to determine after undertaking appropriate risk assessments, involving staff and unions, looking at the safety of both users and people working in libraries.