Little Owls Leeds: Parents slam council plans to pull out of running 12 nurseries in bid to save cash
Frustrated parents in Leeds have slammed council plans to pull out of running a dozen nurseries in the city.
It was revealed last week that Little Owls settings across the city are set to be taken over by schools, charities and private companies in an attempt by the authority to save cash.
But campaigners, who described Leeds City Council’s proposal as "incredibly disappointing", have called for a rethink.
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The authority has already closed three nurseries in Gipton, Seacroft and Chapel Allerton under plans to save £900,000 this year.
A further 12 were subject to a “market sounding exercise” to find other organisations to run them.
The YEP reported last week that a council report showed four of the nurseries – St Mary’s Hunslet, Parklands, Hawksworth Wood and Quarry Mount – could be taken over by neighbouring schools.
A formal procurement process will be launched over the other eight after 21 providers expressed an interest.
The council has said that it will provide a minimum of nine nurseries in the city, demonstrating its "commitment to early intervention".
A meeting of the authority’s executive board on Wednesday (October 16) will be asked to agree to press ahead with the nursery plans.
Reacting to the plans, a parent member of Save Little Owls campaign said on behalf of the group: “This is an incredibly disappointing decision. Little Owls nurseries provide superb support to all sorts of families all over our city. They are well run, affordable and the staff are excellent. Pulling the funding from these nurseries puts all this at risk.
“We urge the council to continue to work with parents to ensure that the future plans for these nurseries will meet the needs of families and communities.”
A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “The council has a duty to ensure there is sufficient childcare capacity in the city so parents and carers can work or train. Whilst we do not have to directly deliver provision, we are proposing to continue to operate a minimum of nine settings in Leeds.
“In providing its own direct nursery service, Leeds City Council remains an outlier among councils in England and this investment - at a time of significant financial stress for the council and local government in general - is a sign of the council’s commitment to early intervention and delivering the best start it can to children across the city.”
They added: “Following the market sounding exercise on the potential for alternative providers at 12 settings, the council will – subject to executive board approval - seek to transfer responsibility of four settings (St Mary’s Hunslet, Parklands, Hawksworth Wood and Quarry Mount) to nearby schools.
“For the remaining eight Little Owls settings (Shepherds Lane, City & Holbeck, Hunslet Rylestone, Rothwell, Meanwood, Bramley, Osmondthorpe and Burley Park), work will begin on the formal process of determining whether provision can move to alternative providers.
“We will continue to engage with parents and carers and will seek assurances that future provision will remain of high quality, with an appropriate level of fees, and continues to be child-centred and reflect the need to ensure the most vulnerable children in the city are well catered for.”