Swindon Council’s Conservative Cabinet is recommending closing the Euclid Street Children’s Nursery following a Council consultation. In spite of parents in the local area valuing the nursery, the Children’s Nursery rated as Good by Ofsted and the nursery providing an income back to the Council that can be reallocated to other services. The Cabinet Meeting where the final decision will be taken on the nursery is to take place on Wednesday 16th March at 6pm.
Swindon Council’s Conservative Cabinet is recommending closing the Euclid Street Children’s Nursery following a Council consultation. In spite of parents in the local area valuing the nursery, the Children’s Nursery rated as Good by Ofsted and the nursery providing an income back to the Council that can be reallocated to other services. The Cabinet Meeting where the final decision will be taken on the nursery is to take place on Wednesday 16th March at 6pm.
The Labour Councillor for Eastcott Ward, Councillor Paul Dixon, said:
“It is scandalous that a nursery that is popular amongst parents in the local community is rated as good by inspectors and is making the Council a significant income, is now being closed by the Conservative administration. I feel for the parents and toddlers who will have to move from this nursery to another nursery further away, and I especially feel for the staff who have worked so hard to make the nursery a success and will now be under threat of redundancy.
When the Council originally proposed closing the nursery, the nursery was making the Council £74K per year. Yes there are repairs needed to bring the nursery up to scratch but the levels of income we receive from the nursery would cover the repair costs over a number of years. And given that the Council is spending £200,000 on the maintenance backlog at the Highworth Rec Centre and they are spending £82K per year on the Plas Pencelli outdoor education centre, it is deeply unfair that they aren’t willing to keep the Children’s Nursery.
The Labour Group had moved to save the nursery through our budget amendment, however the Council’s administration have decided they’d rather spend money on other facilities that is losing the Council money just for their own political purposes.”