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Town Hall boss Richard Watts reaffirmed his commitment to keep the borough’s 10 libraries open in the face of government cuts, but said they may look different in future, writes Joe Cooper.

Responding to a resident at a Question Time-style event, Cllr Watts said book borrowing was on the decline, meaning the council has to broaden the service it offers in its libraries.

“In the new Finsbury library, for example, we have fewer books and more computer terminals but usage of the library is actually going up,” he said.

Cllr Watts said having more computers meant more people were coming in to do things like homework.

“We won’t close any libraries,” Cllr Watts said. “Some may look a bit different but that’s not because of cuts. We want to make libraries more relevant to the future.”

The perennial problem of damp and repairs to council homes also cropped up.

“Damp problems are something we hear more and more about,” Cllr Watts said. “It’s getting worse. It’s hard as households get more and more crowded.

“I will also be really honest and say there are real problems with some of the council’s housing stock. Many of these are from the 1960s and not very well built. Some of them are coming towards the end of their life.”

But Cllr Watts also ruled out knocking down and rebuilding estates such as Bemerton, a suggestion made in 2011, saying the council was sceptical of the idea in light of lack of cash from central government.

He also defended the council’s repairs service, saying it had improved since they took the service back in house from Keir in 2014.

Responding to other questions, Cllr Watts defended the council’s decision to charge diesel car drivers extra for their parking permits and said the council was not considering a “major programme of road closures” to boost cycling as “some of the cycling lobby would like”.