Little Owls Leeds: Parents slam 'devastating' decision to close Seacroft, Chapel Allerton and Gipton nurseries
Frustrated parents were left “devastated” by council plans to permanently close three nurseries in Leeds - and potentially privatise others.
Leeds City Council gave the green light to the closures at a meeting yesterday (June 19), meaning it will pull out of running Little Owls centres at Kentmere, Gipton North and Chapel Allerton.
The move came as a huge disappointment to families, who also expressed anger that 12 Little Owls centres could be taken over by new providers.
Hattie Hodgson-Crome has a child at Hawksworth Wood, which is one of the 12 nurseries that could now be privatised. She said: “I was just incredibly disappointed.
“Throughout this process, we feel that the council has been making decisions in a short-sighted manner, driven solely by the need to balance the books.
“The meeting yesterday only seemed to focus on the closure of the three nurseries, ignoring the fact that 12 others could be privatised which would have a massive impact on childcare. It doesn’t even appear to have crossed their minds.”
Several parents have expressed concern that the privatisation of nurseries could mean higher costs, prompting protests.
Hattie criticised the council’s consultation process, arguing that many parents felt left out.
The 33-year-old, who works in communications, said: “The council held a meeting for each of the nurseries on Microsoft Teams, which were all between 5pm and 7pm. For parents of under 5s, that is the worst possible time.
“I was trying to be in the meeting while getting the youngest child ready for bed.”
Hattie is just one of a large number of parents united in their disappointment at both yesterday’s decision, as well as the consultation process.
Tanis Izabelle, a data analyst from Gipton, said: “We were quite shocked by the decision.
“The consultation had so many flaws and some parents weren’t even aware it was even happening. This has devastated parents and damaged the reputation of the nurseries.”
The 32-year-old initially wanted to send her two-year-old to the Little Owls nursery in North Gipton, which is one of the facilities that will close following yesterday’s announcement.
However, she was told when applying that there was a year-long waiting list, so she sent her son to another Little Owls nursery in Harehills.
But, because the nursery shares cover with the Shepherd’s Lane Little Owls nursery in Chapeltown, she fears that provision could become complicated.
The situation has also made her consider whether she would have more children in the future.
“I had to give up my job previously because I couldn’t get a childcare place,” she said. “Now I’m working again, the situation puts me off having children in the future. It’s very much off the cards.”
Her partner, Iain Dalton, also expressed frustration at yesterday’s decision. He said: “It’s very disappointing that the council wouldn’t consider delaying it until they knew what funding there would be after the general election, because childcare has been a talking point in a number of campaigns.”
The 38-year-old, who works for an online bookshop, added: “The attempts to prettify something that’s clearly a bad situation is very frustrating.
“Everyone understands that council finances aren’t what they would like them to be, but it’s frustrating they’re not working with us to fund childcare.”
Yesterday’s meeting heard that nine Little Owls nurseries will continue to be directly operated by the local authority under the measures.
Council figures show that the service was overspent by £1.9m in 2022/23 and £841,00 last year. The review was designed to eliminate the Little Owls overspend and save £900,000 this financial year.
Elsewhere in Leeds, a consultation was recently launched on the future of the nursery at Moor Allerton Hall Primary School as parents were told that dwindling numbers and staffing costs were affecting the school’s budget.
It has since emerged that a private company could take over the pre-school, as the headteacher said in a letter to parents that the school has already “negotiated highly competitive rates”.