Iain Dalton, Save Little Owls nurseries steering committee member and Socialist Party
Despite Leeds City Council closing three council-run Little Owls nurseries at the end of summer parents, carers and their supporters are fighting on to prevent the privatisation of up to 12 more across the city.
Around 25 adults and children marched through Harehills on 28 September, from the threatened Shepherd’s Lane nursery to the local park. Parents were joined by local trade unionists, including Unison members representing nursery workers.
We received solidarity messages from other nursery campaigners in Hackney and Hillingdon, and from National Education Union executive member Sheila Caffrey.
None of our local elected councillors or MP attended the rally, disappointing given the previous support newly elected Green councillor Mothin Ali had given the campaign.
But we did receive support from many local residents we passed along the way. ITV regional news featured the march as the top story that evening, with myself and other parents interviewed.
The council is due to report on the expressions of interest from other providers in the near future, and has also held consultation sessions with parents and carers on a more flexible basis for attendance than previously, a result of the pressure from the campaign.
During this process, representatives of the campaign were invited to meet with senior council officers responsible for children’s services, and we put forward the following minimum standards parents had agreed that would need to be maintained to protect the quality of childcare provided by Little Owls nurseries:
- Nurseries are not run for profit
- No involvement of private equity firms
- Maintenance of quality standards of childcare service – including for special education needs and disabled children and their parents
- Significant and meaningful ways for parents to feed into the service
- Year-round service with before – and after – nursery/school care, from three months to five years
- Staff terms and conditions are not diminished in either the short or long term
- Fees to remain affordable in line with the median rate for Leeds
- No additional costs on top of funded hours
But the campaign has continued to also demand that the proposals are withdrawn and that instead the council joins with us to demand the funding necessary to continue to provide high-quality childcare in the city.
This is especially the case given the Labour government’s announcement of £15 million to create 300 new state-run nurseries in schools – we are calling for such funding to be used to keep the state-run nurseries in Leeds that already exist open, rather than trying to start again from scratch. Leeds City Council should back us up, withdraw the proposals and bill the government for the money needed to Save Little Owls nurseries!
