Nursery Axe ‘Forcing City Parents To Give Up Work’

Parents are having to give up jobs to look after their children after the local council told them it would no longer provide them with full-time nursery places.

Headteachers are calling parents across Edinburgh to tell them that they will no longer get places for their children.

Almost one in three nursery places is to be scrapped as part of the city council’s attempt to save £1.8 million from the early years budget. In a couple of years, the total number of full-time places will be cut from 1,054 to 700.

The move by the local authority’s ruling Liberal Democrat-SNP coalition is in stark contrast to the SNP nationally, which has a key aim of increasing nursery provision.

As part of the cost-cutting measures, the council has tightened the admission criteria for full-time places at its nurseries. It now gives priority to children at risk of abuse and those on the Child Protection Register.

Other children must have needs on a sliding scale to qualify: the criteria include mental health issues and families under severe financial stress.

Under the new rules, the children of asylum seekers and travellers will have greater priority than the offspring of teenage mothers, who want full-time provision so they can return to school.

Allison MacLeary has been told by the headteacher at Grassmarket Nursery that her four-year-old son Donnie is unlikely to keep his full-time place. She now fears she will lose her job and will be unable to work at all. She said: “I have worked as a personal assistant for three years on a flexible basis whenever I am needed. Grassmarket has been great; they allowed me to amalgamate my hours over three full days and change my days as and when I’m needed to work.

“I had to let my boss know when it looked like the nursery might close and she’s already looking for someone else because she needs someone who can be flexible.

“There are huge waiting lists at private nurseries and the cost of childcare would probably be higher than I would earn anyway, so I’m going to be jobless.”

Grassmarket Nursery had faced the axe under controversial proposals to close 22 schools, including six nurseries, to save £9 million and fill a £10 million deficit in the local authority’s budget. However, those plans are expected to be formally withdrawn at an emergency meeting of the council on Saturday after the SNP withdrew its support.

Rachael Hay was told by Westfield Court Nursery that her son Christian, four, is to lose his place after Christmas.

She said: “He did qualify for a full-time place under the old criteria, but under the new criteria his needs have gone right down the list.”

Christian had been due to start primary school in August, but was kept back a year to help his development – and having a full-time nursery place was crucial in making that decision.

Mrs Hay said: “He’s very socially immature for his age. He would cling to the teachers rather than mix with the other children at nursery. I’m worried this is going to be a backward step for him.”

Andrew Burns, Labour’s education spokesman in the city, said the new admissions policy had not been approved by any committee of the council.

“I find it unacceptable that a revised set of criteria, which could have a very significant impact on nursery provision, is apparently being implemented without any democratic approval from elected members,” he said.

Marilyn Maclaren, the council’s education convenor, said: “Free full-time nursery places have always been provided on the condition that they may be reviewed and a review is currently under way. The council only has a statutory obligation to provide free part-time nursery places to children from the age of three and it will continue to do so. We will also continue to offer full time places to those who need it most.”

‘I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO’

NATASHA Kirby fears she will have to drop out of university if she loses full-time nursery care for her daughter Giselle, four.

“My course will be going full-time in January studying languages,” she said.

“It is going to be quite demanding and I don’t know what I’m going to do with my daughter.”

“They are only going to be taking children from the top criteria so your child has to be on the at risk register and Giselle will lose her place.”

Her dream of working for a degree at Edinburgh University then finding a career to support her daughter appears to have been dashed.

She said: “I’m single and my family are all in Australia so I have no-one else to help. “This is emotionally upsetting for a lot of mums.”