Department for Culture, Media and Sport written question – answered at on 16 June 2025.
Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Birmingham City Council’s ability to provide a (a) comprehensive and (b) efficient library service in Sutton Coldfield Constituency.
Chris Bryant
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires the Secretary of State to “superintend and promote the improvement of the public library service provided by local authorities in England”. To assist this function the department regularly engages with local authorities to discuss issues related to their respective library service.
The Department has met with Birmingham City Council officers regularly in the last 20 months, the most recent of which was 7 May, to discuss changes to their library service provision.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
