As social-care demand surges, three Brighton’s libraries face closures

Editors: Max Smolarski and Ciara Teefey

A town, famous for its star-studded cultural lineage in literature for names like Virginia Woolf, Patrick Hamilton, Horace Smith and Rudyard Kipling, did not foresee the aftermath the growing and aging population will have on community reading spaces.

A protest outside of Rottingdean Library. Credit: Y. Sorochynskyi

Since February, a proposal made by the Brighton and Hove City Council to close down Hollingbury, Westdene, and Rottingdean libraries, has been met with denial and protests from the local communities. To hear arguments for and against it raised by community advocates, the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee held a meeting at Hove Town Hall in their bid to hold the council to account on their reasoning for cutting costs to library services, last month.

Clare Hayes, the spokesperson for Rottingdean Library, highlighted the library’s high usage and explained that alternative proposals put forward by local residents had been rejected by the council. She also noted that the council’s own proposals referred to the proximity of schools to other libraries but did not include Rottingdean’s two primary schools and two nurseries in that assessment.

Alice Buckingham, speaking on behalf of Westdene residents, raised concerns about the proposal’s suggested ‘alternative’: a 30-minute walk or multiple bus changes from Westdene to Patcham Library. Formally acknowledged, her actual concerns were met with the political equivalent of crickets: none of her points received a direct answer. This same inaction has continued since 2023, when the last council-managed event took place, right up until the month before the final decision is being made.

Information sign on the front of Westdene Library. Credit: Y. Sorochynskyi

A resident of Westdene supporting Alice, David Powell, had his personal statement presented in an emotional plea, met with applause from the public gallery.  Labour Party councillor for the Goldsmid ward in Brighton, the former Mayor Jackie O’Quinn, thanked the resident for his ‘thoughts’, stating that his speech would be ‘taken into consideration’. 

The meeting closed without a single substantive response to David’s final appeal that, if the council kept the Westdene library - the community and school could help it ‘flourish’. As for Alice and Clare, they were fed the same brief procedural acknowledgements, while councillors justified the wider proposals with remarks such as, ‘We’ve got to make the saving this year… that’s what was decided at budget and where we are with it.’ 

The discussion about the surge in social needs around Brighton and Hove, which increased pressure on the council’s budget, was not part of a reasoned argument to justify closures on either side.

According to the council’s most recent audited financial report, the pressures of the aging population and children with special educational needs and disabilities have extrapolated the cost-cutting measures. 

In East Sussex, the proportion of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) has been on the rise for over 10 years. Brighton’s rates continued to increase from 2.9% to 5.3% between 2015/16 and 2024/25, generating a far greater share of pupils now requiring the most resource-intensive SEN support. The Cabinet is expected to make their final decision on the proposed library closures on Thursday 11 December.

Front of Jubille Library in central Brighton. Credit: Y. Sorochynskyi

While the number of people receiving long term care has nationally risen slightly in the past year, the overall number of adults aged 65 and over receiving support has fallen steadily since 2015, with 28,275 fewer older people now in long term care. Yet, requests for assistance have climbed to more than two million a year. Locally, the number of older adults requesting support has increased by 10% in comparison with the last year, as per the NHS adult social care activity reports. 

These legally required services currently outweigh the non-statutory service interest as the Brighton and Hove City council has its reserves at a critically low level. The influx is explained by the growing ageing population, with corresponding rise in care obligations and homelessness further constraining the council’s ability to sustain non-statutory services such as libraries.

Despite this gloom-and-doom, the recent official Cabinet agenda and officer report published by the Brighton and Hove City council, officers have made recommendations to leave Rottingdean open, whilst for Hollingbury and Westdene 31 March 2026 could be a suitable date for ceasing their operation. 

The Cabinet is expected to make their final decision on Thursday 11 December.