A COUNCILLOR said a consultation on cuts to Bradford's libraries and museums service has been "appallingly run."

Councillor Rebecca Poulsen (Cons, Worth Valley) raised the issue at a meeting of Bradford Council on Tuesday evening. She said the lack of communication over how the Council plans to implement over £1m worth of cuts to the service was leading to rumours spreading across the district.

Plans to cut the Museum and Library service budget by £1.05m were approved in January, and ever since a lack of detail on what form the cuts would take has led to heavy criticism of the Council.

The authority has maintained that there are no plans to shut libraries or museums, although there would likely be staff cuts and reduced opening hours.

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Cllr Poulsen put forward a motion calling for better consultation with library and museum users and staff, and for the Bradford Visitor Information Centre to be co-located with City Library to save costs.

At the meeting she said: "It might seen a bit odd me bringing this motions as the ward I represent doesn't have a library, but we do know a bit about books in Haworth, as some of the most famous books of all time were written here.

"Instead of looking to reduce people's access to libraries and reduce opening hours, we should be looking to increase library users.

"We know the Labour Group passed the budget that took over £1 million from the service at the start of the year. But since then there has been no detail, the consultation on the cuts has been appallingly run, in fact we're still waiting for any details.

"This is leading to a great uncertainty, people are starting to believe overheard conversations and rumours they hear. There has been a lack of consultation, and a lack of communication."

She said many in Bradford had "no confidence" in the consultation.

One of her suggestions was that the Council closes the city centre Visitor Information Centre and move it into City Library in City Park - using any money saved to boost the library service.

She said: "It would also position the Visitor Information Centre in part of the City people actually visit."

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, portfolio holder for Healthy People and Places, said: "With the government cuts since 2010 we have had to find £300m worth of reductions. Any organisation facing that kind of cut will face a huge impact.

"Libraries and museums need to be as accessible as possible by as many people as possible."

She said the Council had recently completed a community needs assessment for libraries and museums, and would soon be starting a public engagement exercise.

She added: "Only after this work has taken place will we be able to give options to go out to consultation."

Councillor Brendan Stubbs (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) acknowledged the changes were down to funding cuts, and added: "I believe that every Councillor in this room would, to borrow a line from Boris, die in a ditch to save the services in their wards. I'm confident residents will do whatever they can, including volunteer, to keep libraries open."

In response to claims that the cuts had been forced on the Council by central government, Cllr Poulson referred to the high rental costs the Council pays on City Library, adding: "The Council chose to spend £420,000 a year on the lease for a public library - bear that in mind when you talk about government cuts."

A Labour amendment to Cllr Poulson's motion, calling for the Council to carry out an engagement exercise and draw up plans for the future of museums and libraries in the district, was voted through instead of the original motion.