A NEW libraries group will be set up to make sure LiveWire and the council honour plans to modernise the service.

At the latest meeting of the libraries working group, members decided to create the Public Libraries Partnership Board to take over once recommendations for the future of the service are made at a council meeting.

The board will be made up of members of the council and LiveWire, as well as volunteers and people who have formed support groups for their neighbourhood library.

Warrington Borough Council chief executive and chair of the libraries working group, Steven Broomhead, said the board will make sure plans do not lose momentum

He added: “I’m pleased that the recommendation to establish a partnership board has been agreed by our working group and that this can now be put to the council’s executive board.

“Warrington’s working group has held extremely positive discussions over the past few months and made good progress.

“It’s important, once the final recommendations of the group are made, that we do not lose momentum and are able to move forward with our efforts to sustain and develop the future of our libraries service. A new partnership board would give us the focus and expertise to achieve that.”

The board will be responsible for making sure residents can have their say on any changes to the library service and will also be tasked with finding external funding opportunities.

Equality impact assessments have already been carried out at a number of libraries and the board will continue to work on making sure the plans for each centre meet the needs of residents.

The council’s executive board was originally due to discuss plans for the future of the town’s 11 libraries at a meeting in November, but this discussion is now likely to take place in the new year.

The next public event with the libraries working group takes place at the Town Hall on October 17 at 2pm.