Councillors want more info to justify closure of Brighton nursery

Councillors have voted to be given more detail about the state of a building that houses a nursery that the council plans to close.

The also voted for the disclosure of an “equalities impact assessment” to understand how the most vulnerable families would be affected by the planned closure of the Bright Start Nursery, in Brighton.

The vote followed a protest outside Hove Town Hall by parents, children and supporters before a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting where the closure of the nursery was discussed.

And some parents addressed the meeting of the council’s Children, Young People and Skills Committee today (Monday 9 January) as part of their campaign to save the nursery.

The council said that it would save £104,000 in subsidies by closing the subsidised nursery which is based in the Old Slipper Baths, in Barrack Yard, off North Road.

This year, the council said that it had also spent a further £68,000 to cover “pressure funding” as costs soared. Some councillors were worried that more extra funding would be needed in future if the nursery remained open.

One parent, Sussex University lecturer Suda Perera, said that many of the children at the nursery had special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Dr Perera warned that “mitigation” measures might cost the council more than it saved by closing the nursery which is next to the Prince Regent Swimming Pool.

Green councillor Hannah Allbrooke, who chairs the Children, Young People and Skills Committee, said that the nursery was not a specialist provider.

Councillor Allbrooke said that any child with an “education, health and care plan” (EHCP) would receive support.

But all those who were recognised as having SEND who were currently at the nursery were among the 26 children due to start school in September.

This would leave 23 children – all three and four years old – in need of a new nursery place in September, she said, which would be just after the proposed closure date.

Another parent, Paul Gilbert, also a Sussex University lecturer, asked if the council could look at using money raised from the “community infrastructure levy” (CIL) on developers.

Dr Gilbert said that the government had recently made clear that councils could spend CIL proceeds on childcare facilities.

Councillor Allbrooke said that the council was awaiting more detailed clarification from the government about the way that CIL proceeds could be spent.

But she indicated that, given the council’s own policy processes, this would be too late to affect the decision on Bright Start’s future.

The final decision, she said, was due to be made at the annual budget council meeting next month.

Given the council’s financial position, it had to focus on statutory services – those that it was legally obliged to provide, and she added: “Sadly, nurseries are not a statutory service.

“So many councils no longer run nurseries. So many of them cut them years ago. We are very lucky in the city. We have kept so many services running as long as we can but we are at the end of the road.

“No one became a councillor to make these savings. We are doing what we can to try to protect the services we have.”

Green councillor Jamie Lloyd said: “It is a brutal situation. No one goes into politics to destroy public services.”

Councillor Lloyd said that having to close the nursery was absolutely heartbreaking and added: “Having met parents with their babies outside brings tears to my eyes. There is nothing in us that wants this.

“We are dealing with the brutal tail end of 13 years of austerity, the consequences of it coupled with inflation, covid, all the rest of it.”

A report to the committee said that the nursery was in a building that required repairs and maintenance that would cost more than £500,000.

Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn called for the “condition survey” and fire risk assessment to be shared with the committee before the final decision was made. She also called for the “equalities impact assessment” to be made available. Both requests won the committee’s backing.

Councillor O’Quinn said: “The stuff that needs doing now seems quite minimal – things like skim plastering and cleaning out the guttering, a bit of redecoration.

“It seems quite small. I know the building survey is based on years. I know that most of us who have a property, if we were given a survey of what our house might cost in maintenance over 15 years, we might get a bit upset. It’s a long period.”

She asked whether the nursery could move up the road to the Brighthelm Centre to keep a good staff team together and retain a much-valued council-run nursery in the centre of Brighton.

The council’s executive director for families, children and learning, Deb Austin, said that the council was in a “dire situation” financially.

Both of her children had gone to Bright Start, she said, and she knew that the proposal would affect children, families and the staff who worked there.

Ms Austin said: “This is a reluctant proposal that we have to put forward because, since 2013, children’s services have made £42 million in savings.

“We are faced with having to make really difficult proposals to the administration to balance the budget.

“We are in a situation now where we can’t make any more efficiencies because there are no more.

“We have salami sliced to the extent where we have to put forward some unpalatable proposals around stopping services – that’s across all directorates in the council.”

Conservative councillor Anne Meadows asked if Bright Start is still used for council staff only, where parents used to get a “generous deal” where the fees were linked with wages.

She was told that the nursery was open to all and that all parents were charged the same rates.

Labour and Green councillors agreed to send more information to the council’s Policy and Resources Committee which is next due to meet on Thursday 19 January. It has also scheduled a special budget meeting on Thursday 9 February.

The annual budget council meeting where the council tax is also due to be set for the year ahead is scheduled to take place on Thursday 23 February.