Legislation

The following is legislation that affects public libraries in Scotland.

Legislation

Scotland has its own legislation in relation to the provision of public library services –

The Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 incorporates the following existing legislation relating to public libraries –

■      The Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1887

■      The Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1955

■      The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973

The Local Government Act – Section 163 states:

“A local authority shall have a duty to secure the provision of adequate library facilities for all persons resident in their area”

However, this act may not be as effective as a challenge under the Equalities Act. The principles embodied in both the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act (1998) apply across the UK and may be relevant. The Equalities Act concerns protected characteristics so an example of this would be a disabled or older person who can no longer access the service if a library was not available.

Local Authorities also have a duty under the public sector equality duty  – https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/public-sector-equality-duty/what-s-the-public-sector-equality-duty/ 

It may also be important to ask whether a local authority has undertaken an Equalities Impact Assessment and how thouroughly this process was done.

Here is a UK wide example where a challenge was made that referred to Equality.

You can also find more information on this here:  http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/library-closing/legal

The 1998 Human Rights Act states that it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right.