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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies

Part2:Country studies

UK

Overlaps - are they a problem?

There is a consensus that roles and responsibilities are not clearly delineated, that there are overlaps, that there is no overall strateg or planning and there is weak coordination and duplication of effort. Some respondents are critical of the lack of central governmen strategy and action in this area. DCMS pointed out however ‘The overarching direction of travel from central government has been to allow local authorities more power to manage services according to local need.’

There is also agreement that there has been more co-ordination and more partnership between organizations recently e.g. the creation of Share the Vision and the merger between RNIB and NLB. One respondent said

“Since the creation of Share the Vision there has been a clear will to draw services into a more cohesive and joined up pattern in order to provide services more efficiently.”