Falkirk Council is planning to remove 150 three and four-year-olds from their settled nursery place where they currently receive their 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare, to a council-run, term-time only, setting.
The proposals are set out in the Council’s Revenue and Budget 2025/26 and Financial Strategy ahead of a full council meeting on Thursday (6 March).
According to the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) Scotland, there are 14 private nurseries in the Falkirk area but one of them is closing in April. The council has told the remaining 13 nurseries that they need to remove between 10 and 15 children each. For the second year this is likely to include their funded two-year-olds as well.
NDNA Scotland is opposing the proposals on the grounds it removes practical choice and will ‘seriously’ threaten the sustainability of existing nursery provision for current and future families. It has also warned that if nurseries are unable to remain sustainable, this could impact the number of places in the future for under-twos who are not funded.
It says the Council’s proposals go directly against the Scottish Government’s principles of provider neutrality, funding following the child and parental choice as ELC core values.
Susan Hill, owner of Wellside Kindergarten, one of the settings that would be affected, said, ‘We can scarcely believe that the council could hold us in such contempt and treat us in this way. We have been delivering high quality funded ELC places for 25 years as a partner provider for the council.
‘Working families need the flexible provision we deliver. How are we supposed to decide which children from which families would need to take up their hours elsewhere? What if they are moved to a council-run nursery ten miles away? Or if they have to move one child but keep a younger sibling in our nursery because there are no council places for under twos?
‘What will this mean for families in Falkirk over the next few years when all the private nurseries have had to close? Private nurseries should not be paying the price for the council’s financial situation. I really fear for the future of the nursery, for our children and staff and for the families who will have a huge amount of upheaval if this proposal goes ahead.’
NDNA’s chief executive Purnima Tanuku commented, ‘This cost-saving measure that Falkirk Council has come up with is an appalling plan which would upset the lives of 150 families and many more going forward. It would also seriously threaten the sustainability of the 13 nurseries left in the district.
‘Private and voluntary nurseries are vital for working parents because they deliver high quality education and care all year round. Most open around 8am and close around 6pm. Council nurseries do not offer this flexibility and so could lead to additional care having to be put in place so parents can continue working.
‘Moving children disrupts their continuity of care. But also these nurseries would not be able to guarantee future funded places, so parents are likely to take their children elsewhere.
‘This is a short-sighted proposal which will result in a much reduced, more rigid local offer for early learning and childcare in the years to come.’
Parenting campaign organisation Pregnant Then Screwed warned if given the green light, the move would see women being forced to leave the labour market.
Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, said the proposal is a ‘direct attack on parental choice and the principle of flexibility of care’.
He went on to argue that there is no financial case for the move, explaining, ‘The PVI sector delivers 15 per cent of the early learning and childcare provision in Falkirk yet receives just 7.3 per cent of the Council’s ELC budget. It is the most cost-effective way to provide high-quality nursery education, and yet it is being undermined. This decision smacks of institutional bias — Falkirk Council both funds PVI nurseries and runs its own competing provision, making this an unfair playing field where private and voluntary nurseries are at risk of being squeezed out.’
