Councillor Ian McLaughlan, portfolio holder for children and families, told Nursery World that one option could involve private providers closing their existing facilities and moving into daycare units in the children's centres.
He said, 'We have not taken a decision to hand them over lock, stock and barrel to the PVI sector. We want to discuss with the private sector how we get the overall number of vacancies down and how we enable private providers to deliver childcare in the children's centres.'
But Peter Kent-Baguley of the opposition Potteries Alliance accused the council of 'privatisation driven by political dogma'.
The council is anxious to offload the Phase One children's centre nurseries because if they were closed down the Government would claw back money already invested in them.
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