REPRESENTATIVES from Callington Town Council will be meeting with Cornwall Council to discuss further options for the future of the One Stop Shop.

The One Stop Shop in Callington is at risk of being lost as part of Cornwall Council’s need to make substantial budget savings of £196-million over the next four years, with savings of £1.8-million having to come from the existing £4-million library and One Stop Shop service budget.

The county council has been in consultation with the public about the future of the library and One Stop Shop services for several months. It originally called for businesses, organisations or town/parish councils to consider taking over the services or consider transferring the services to a trust, commercial organisation or to introduce further modern technology across the service.

Following a consultation, the council’s communities policy advisory committee (PAC) was due to make a decision on the recommendation to formally procure a service provider for the whole face to face service but, after listening to the views of members, the decision was postponed so further work could be done before a decision is made.

Cornwall Council is now meeting with groups and organisations that had previously expressed an interest in delivering the service.

Callington Town Council had put forward a ‘tentative enquiry’ to see if the One Stop Shop was something it could take on but would only do so if there was large support for it from the public.

Now, town council members will meet with representatives of Cornwall Council to find out more about what it would involve.

Town clerk Helen Dowdall said: ‘We wanted to meet with Cornwall Council to have some frank discussions and clarify exactly what we can and can’t do. We don’t want to take it on without knowing how many staff we could have or other things like that.

‘We want to know, black and white, what can be done so we can make some informed decisions before we agree the precept for next year.

’We have now agreed a date to meet with senior officers of Cornwall Council at the end of the month to get a true and accurate position statement from them on where Cornwall Council stands regarding its services.’

If the town council does take over the One Stop Shop, it would mean an increase in council tax.

The town clerk added: ‘If people aren’t prepared to pay for it then we won’t take it on, but if they feel it is something we need and are happy to pay for it, then we will do what we can to save it. We want people to be fully aware that if we take it on, we would have to raise the council tax and we want to know if people are prepared to take that on or not.’

A spokesperson from Cornwall Council said: ‘Following recom-mendations from the communities policy and advisory committee in July, we are currently re-engaging with organisations who previously expressed an interest in delivering library and One Stop Shops within their locality.

’We have also invited other organisations to come forward by September 3, with new expressions of interest in taking on the operation of other libraries and One Stop Shops.

’Cornwall Council officers are currently collating a considerable amount of data relating to each site to produce examples of accurate costings, service delivery information, HR, legal and IT considerations. The examples will provide interested parties with information to help them fully understand the opportunities available and considerations necessary in taking over the running of library and One Stop Shop services.

’This work is being progressed as quickly as possible and we are communicating with interested organisations to inform them of progress, as we are very keen to continue and progress discussions.’