MSPs have spoken out against West Lothian Council’s proposals to close nine nurseries.
Council officers are recommending the nursery closures as there are more child places available than required.
Local authority nurseries have capacity for over 6,814 nursery children in West Lothian. However, the council has over 2,000 more places than is required this year, almost 30 per cent more than needed to meet demand.
Council officers have recommended that Deans North Nursery, Glenvue Nursery School, and Ladywell Nursery School, all in Livingston, close in August. The others earmarked are Fauldhouse Nursery, Linlithgow Bridge Nursery, St Anthony’s Nursery in Armadale, St Joseph’s Nursery, Whitburn, as well as Bathgate West Nursery and Our Lady’s Nursery in Stoneyburn.
Almond Valley MSP Angela Constance said: “I am deeply concerned about the potential closure of these nurseries and the impact this will have on local families.
“Parents have consistently raised concerns about early years provision, yet the council has failed to take their views on board.
“If these closures proceed, families will have fewer options at a time when they should be benefiting from the Scottish Government’s 1140 hours of funded childcare, which is designed to provide flexibility and support to working parents.
“It is unacceptable for families to bear the brunt of poor planning, and I will continue to hold the Council to account to ensure that the best interests of children and parents come first.”
Ms Constance’s SNP colleague Fiona Hyslop also spoke out against the council’s proposals.
The Linlithgow MSP said: “Parents across my constituency have contacted me to share their concerns about these closures, which are taking place at a time when parents should be benefiting from flexibility and choice as the Scottish Government are funding 1140 hours of early learning and childcare, saving the average family £5000 per eligible child.
“West Lothian Council have not listened to what parents told them in the original surveys about the provision of early learning facilities in the county, in previous consultations, and ignored parents in this latest closure consultation.
“When these plans were initially announced I called on the council to undertake an independent review into the planning and provision of the extension of early years education and childcare.
“I am concerned that this has not taken place and parents are now faced with losing these essential childcare and early learning facilities. Some of these nurseries serve communities where families face the highest level of poverty, and they need more local support and services not less.
“It is unacceptable that the parents and children of these nurseries are paying the price for the poor planning and policy delivery in early learning and childcare by West Lothian Council.
“Following my previous correspondence to the Chief Executive of West Lothian Council on this matter, I have written again to express my views on this issue and will update my Constituents when I have received a response.”
A decision will be made on the recommendation at Education Executive in March.
The council would aim to deliver as much continuity as possible for parents, staff and young people should plans be approved.
Greg Welsh, the council’s Head of Education (Primary and Early Years) said: “The data shows us that we have more physical capacity than we need – nearly 30 per cent more. That is significant and we know that birth rates have and continue to fall which means that demand will continue to reduce in the years ahead.
“Currently we have more nursery settings than is required and we cannot continue to operate this way if we are to ensure that the organisation remains efficient and delivers best value within available resources.
“By reducing the physical number of nurseries, we would be better placed to allocate a finite number of staff and resources across a smaller number of nurseries, within the same communities.
“Concentrating resources within a smaller number of nurseries would support improvement in the quality of nursery provision in the remaining nurseries as a result of more efficiently deploying resources.
“Even with nine less nursery buildings, multiple options for parents and young people would still be available, such is the oversupply of physical nursery places.”
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