After a public rally of more than 1,000 people in Salford in March and a meeting at the Palace of Westminster last month, campaigners including Salford Mayor Paul Dennett, Unison officer Ameen Hadi and staff and parents from the affected nurseries will use the meeting to call on the Government to take two steps to guarantee the future of the five settings:
Salford faces the closure of five nurseries, all rated Outstanding by Ofsted, in what the council says is a ‘direct result’ of government changes to the use of the Dedicated Schools Grant.??
The council has said that while it pays £3m a year to run Little Hulton Day Nursery, Winton Day Nursery, Barton Moss Day Nursery, Belvedere Day Nursery and Higher Broughton Day Nursery, it only receives £1.5m in income from charges. ??More than 300 places and 100 jobs are set to be lost as a result of the closures.
The nurseries were originally faced with closure this August, but after a 300-strong public meeting and discussions with parents and unions, Mayor Dennett agreed to invest a further £1.5m to secure them until at least August 2019.
Campaigners have said they will require Government help to secure the nurseries beyond that date.
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