Nine early learning nurseries in West Lothian have been recommended for closure this August which the council admit will leave some parents “disappointed”.
Council officers are recommending the nursery closures as there are more child places available than required.
Shutting down the nursery services will address the falling numbers of children and the high number of surplus spaces currently within council nurseries.
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.
Demand is likely to reduce further in the years ahead due to changes in demographics – with a falling number of births in Scotland. Although a small number of areas have seen growth in the number of young people, population changes across the country is reducing overall demand for spaces in many council nursery and childcare facilities.
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 (the last two are already inactive services).
A decision will be made on the recommendation at Education Executive in March.
It should be noted that in 2019 the council had 68 funded nursery ELC (early learning centre) options for parents/carers for 4,290 eligible three and four-year-olds (88.4 per cent of those came to council settings) and the council now has 95 funded nursery ELC options for 4084 eligible three and four-year-olds (78 per cent of those came to council settings).
This is due to a huge increase in partner nursery providers. The data provides evidence that there is an over-provision in ELC options in West Lothian.
The Scottish Government’s introduction of “funding follows the child” means that parental choices have changed significantly with many parents now able to choose to use their funded nursery provision at private nursery providers and childminders in West Lothian. This has further reduced the demand for council nurseries.
Even with less nursery buildings, the council would still have more than enough capacity to meet demand in each of the community areas affected given the availability in local alternative nurseries.
The proposed changes would see a Community Based Approach to nursery provision being put in place. This means that children would still have options to attend an alternative council nursery within their existing community. 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.”
A formal statutory consultation has been undertaken with parents and stakeholders on the planned reduction.
“We do not take a change like this lightly and we know that some parents will be disappointed with our recommendation,” Mr Welsh added. “However, we all know that councils the length and breadth of the country are under significant pressure to balance their budgets, such is the growth in demand for services set against the funding available to us.
“Services cannot remain the same if we are to meet our legal obligation to reduce spending and balance our budget. This is a practical step to address the oversupply of council run nursery and early learning facilities in West Lothian, whilst ensuring that there is more than enough choice for parents in the communities affected.”
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