Parents criticise Gipton North and Kentmere Little Owls closure consultation

By Daniel Wilkinson

The parents and carers of children at Little Owls nurseries have criticised a ‘fundamentally flawed’ Leeds City Council consultation on proposals to close three nurseries – two of which are in East Leeds.

Gipton North, Kentmere in Seacroft and Chapel Allerton Little Owls are earmarked for closure as the council looks to make savings of £58 million.

The council has delayed the possible closure of the centres until August at the earliest, following parents’ feedback.

But the Save Little Owls Nurseries campaign has said some online consultation events were announced at less than a week’s notice and at times when parents would be putting children to bed.

Amy Greenshields, a parent at Kentmere Little Owls, said: “This is incredibly annoying, as when the consultation for my children’s nursery will take place I will be away for work. There is no way my husband would be able to go to the event with 2 children to feed and get to bed at the same time.”

Parents and carers that are part of the Save Little Owls nurseries campaign are asking Leeds city council to:

• Put in the public domain all documents relating to the review of Little Owls nurseries
• Withdraw the current proposals to close three Little Owls nurseries and explore options for a further 12 nurseries
• Work with trade unions and community campaigns to demand sufficient funding from central government to fully cover funded nursery places

A spokesperson from the campaign said: “The council clearly never intended to consult parents with its original decision planned for “mid-April 2024”, and now we have instead this rushed consultation.

“This is why we are calling for the council to shelve these proposals and put their review and ‘sufficiency analysis’ into the public domain and run a proper consultation with multiple sessions to ensure all parents, carers and families with places can take part.”

A petition to save the nurseries from closure can be found here.

 council spokesperson said: “We are hosting 15 online engagement sessions and those who are unable to attend but would still like some more information can receive a copy of the presentation slides and support with any questions about the proposal from their daycare manager.

“All views are important to us, whether or not you attend an engagement session, so we have set up a dedicated e-mail account that everyone can submit comments to: LittleOwlsReview@Leeds.gov.uk.

“As we have previously stated, we understand the concerns of parents, carers, staff and communities which could be affected by the proposals.

“These are proposals at this stage and we are continuing to engage with parents, carers and other stakeholders before any final decisions are made.”

Councils across the country are experiencing severe financial stress as a result of significantly increased costs to provide services and rising demand, especially for vulnerable young people and adults. This is being seen especially in supporting looked after children, those with special care and education needs as well as for adult social care, while a nationally-agreed pay increase for council staff has also added to budget pressures.

The position in Leeds reflects the impact of funding reductions from central government, cost increases and demand pressures for council services since 2010. Between 2010 and the end of 2024/25, the council will have had to deliver savings totalling £794million.