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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of libraries that will close in England and Wales between 2015 and 2020.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not made any estimate of the number of libraries that will close in England and Wales between 2015 and 2020. It is a matter for local authorities to determine how best to provide a comprehensive and efficient public library service to their local community, within available resources. The Secretary of State’s duty is to superintend, and promote the improvement of, the public library service provided by local authorities in England only. Along with the Local Government Association, we have put in place a libraries’ taskforce to provide leadership and to help invigorate the public library service in England.