Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the call-in of Cabinet Member Decision PH41/2015 ‘Local Authority Nursery Review’.

Special Circumstances: The Council’s call-in procedure states that requests for call-in should be considered within five working days of having received the request.

The Committee considered the Call-In of Executive decision PH41/2015 ‘Local Authority Nursery Review’ that had been called-in by Councillor Williams on 23^rd July 2015 as per the agreed procedure.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Williams outlined his reasons for the Call-In. He advised that the two Children’s Centres, in which the nurseries that were being consulted upon to be closed were situated, were considered centres of excellence. He added that the nurseries offered excellent childcare and allowed residents to drop off their children and then attend the many courses offered by the centres.

Councillor Williams highlighted that many of the users of the nurseries and Children’s Centres were vulnerable, unable to travel, had high or special needs and were from deprived areas. He felt the nurseries proposed for closure could offer one on one care for children that other private nurseries could not. Furthermore, he stated that after carrying out some research, he did not feel that there were enough places available at other nurseries within an acceptable travelling distance.

In conclusion, Councillor Williams advised that the high level of public feeling demonstrated how valued the nurseries were to the communities. He added that he was concerned that the final decision regarding the closure of the nurseries had been delegated to the Director of People following the consultation rather than it being determined by the Cabinet Member.

The Chairman invited the Cabinet Member for School Improvement and Children’s Safeguarding to respond to the Call-In request. Councillor Jones advised that the decision to consult with residents to close the nurseries, which currently were not financially viable, had been taken as one of many measures to meet the £88 million Government cuts. He stated that a final decision had not yet been taken and the consultation period had been extended by two weeks to ensure all interested parties had chance to respond.

In response to Councillor Williams, Councillor Jones advised that private nurseries had the same level of staffing as the two nurseries in question and would therefore be able to offer the same level of one on one care required by children with special needs.

Councillor Jones advised that there was no proposal to close the Children’s Centres and that these would remain open to provide support to parents and children.

The Chairman invited questions from the Committee.

A Member of the Committee commented that the nurseries were at the heart of the Children’s Centres and that closing them could negatively impact upon the ability of parents and children to use the services provided by the Children’s Centres. In response, Councillor Jones advised that a large number of Children’s Centre registrations were not linked to the nurseries and it was expected that the proposed nursery closures would not negatively impact upon the centres. In response to a further question, Councillor Jones assured the Committee that there were no plans to close the Children’s Centres. He added that additional services would be provided through the Children’s Centres delivered by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.