Labour MP Neil Coyle has called on Southwark’s Green–Liberal Democrat administration to protect its libraries after the council declined to rule out closures in next year’s budget. No library closure proposal has been announced.
Coyle, the MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said Southwark Labour had kept local libraries open during the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government. Responding to a Southwark News report, he accused the current council leadership of putting that record at risk.
The distinction is significant. Southwark News reported on 25 September that the council would not rule out closures as it prepares next year’s budget. That is a reason for residents to seek a firm commitment, but it does not establish that the administration has decided to shut a library.
A political test for the new administration
The Greens and Liberal Democrats formed Southwark’s administration after the May 2026 elections. Labour remains the largest single group on the council, with 29 councillors, while the Greens have 22 and the Liberal Democrats 12.
Coyle’s intervention places libraries at the centre of the argument over the coalition’s spending priorities. For residents, the practical questions are whether any branches, opening hours or services are under review, and when the council will publish proposals that can be scrutinised.
He also cited a claimed £43 million underspend for last year. That figure needs careful qualification: the council’s published 2025–26 revenue outturn records a £25.3 million adverse general fund variance and the use of reserves to balance the position. An underspend in one budget or capital programme would not, by itself, mean the same sum was available to fund day-to-day library services. Coyle’s £43 million comparison should therefore not be treated as an established pot of unspent library funding.
The administration has raised concerns about the effect of the government’s Fair Funding Review on Southwark’s finances, according to the local report. That funding argument will form part of the debate, but residents will also expect the council to explain the choices within its own budget before any change to libraries is proposed.
The next decisive point will be publication of the council’s budget plans. Until then, the status of Southwark’s libraries remains an open question rather than a confirmed programme of closures.
