Parents at a council-run nursery said that their views were not sought over the suitability of the existing building.
They spoke out after using freedom of information (FoI) rules to obtain a suitability report about the Slipper Baths building that currently houses Brighton and Hove City Council’s Bright Start Nursery.
The council wants to move the nursery, saying that the Victorian building is no longer suitable and it would be uneconomic to bring it up to scratch.
The report on the building, in Barrack Yard, Brighton, gives an overall suitability assessment of 25 out of 100, rating it as “poor”.
But parents who are fighting council plans to move the nursery to the nearby Tarner Centre were surprised to see that the report included scores for “service users” opinions, saying that they had not been consulted.
In one section – headed appearance and perceptions – it said that “generally our service users/visitors like the building”, with a score of three out of five.
And a score of one out of five was given to a line saying: “We generally receive positive comments about the building.”
Bright Start parent Ed Armston-Sheret, who led a deputation to the council last month, said that parents should have been consulted for the report.
He said: “It feels these scores have been calculated without any actual engagement with service users in order to get a predetermined outcome.
“I had to submit an FoI request to the council to get this information despite being promised it would be shared during a meeting in early November.
“It feels like getting blood out of a stone trying to get information out of the council about this decision and why it has been made.”
Mr Armston-Sheret said that the “unsuitability” of the Old Slipper Baths building was highlighted in a report to the council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee in November.
But parents are concerned about the suitability of the Tarner Hub which has limited outside space, compared with the Old Slipper Baths, is located outside the North Laine area and has a shared reception.
Mr Armston-Sheret also said that the council was not listening to people’s concerns after hearing officials say that parents were supportive of the move.
He said that many were worried about plans to reduce the opening hours, scrap provision for under twos and cut numbers by 70 per cent.
Proposals presented to parents included closures at Christmas, Easter and in August, as well as eight-hour days and just 16 places in each of two daily sessions.
The Bright Start campaigners hope to have one last attempt to persuade councillors to change their minds when the Children, Families and Schools Committee meets on Monday 22 January.
Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, the deputy leader of the council, said that the core issue with the Old Slipper Baths was the building.
Councillor Taylor, who chairs the Children, Families and Schools Committee, said: “The central issue is that the current Bright Start building is in poor condition and would need significant money to repair it.
“We needed to find a suitable new building to rehouse Bright Start – that’s the Tarner Family Hub, which is very near by and is co-located with other vital services for families.
“This is in stark contrast to the Green Party approach – they proposed the outright closure of Bright Start, with no alternative.
“We are one of the few local authorities in the whole country that still maintains a significant number of council-run nurseries and we are fighting hard to maintain that.
“When we get a Labour government, we hope to be able to expand nursery provision across the city.”
The Children, Families and Schools Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Monday 22 January. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
But Valley Gardens 3 going through is so much more important than providing bright starts for youngsters.
Now the council are all WFH, perhaps the transport chief Mark Prior could turn his office into a new nursery.