Council's nursery closures decision 'devastating'

Parents have said a council's decision to close 10 publicly-run nurseries is "devastating".

South Tyneside Council confirmed it will close the South Tyneside Accredited Network for Learning in the Early Years (Stanley's) nurseries.

The decision was made by councillors during a cabinet meeting at South Shields Town Hall during which shouts of "shame" were heard from the public gallery, where a number of nursery workers and parents had gathered.

Sophie Thompson, whose child attended one of the nurseries, said she was "gutted" by the news.

"It's really hard for working parents to get back to work and this just makes it even harder - it's just devastating," Thompson said.

The council launched a consultation on its local childcare services earlier this year, including the possibility of closing the centres.

A plan to close the provision in July 2027 was recommended, with staff reductions to be made from December 2026.

A total of 116 people are employed across the 10 day care centres.

A campaign group called Save Our Stanley's was established and it staged a number of protests objecting to the plans.

Eve Sanders, whose child attends one of the centres, also has five-month-old twins on a waiting list to join the nursery.

"My concern is for my baby girls," she said.

"They're saying that they're closing in July but the staff have already started to leave. Why would the staff sit around and wait until July?

"My concern is the nurseries are going to close way before then because they haven't got the staff to look after the children.

"I think the council has been forgetting all of the other children that are on the waiting list, and have been for a long time."

Sanders said the campaign team had heard from families who had tried multiple nurseries and had not been able to get a space.

She said she doubted alternative provision could be made for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) before the July closure date.

"It'll not happen," she said.

A review of the nurseries was first agreed by the previous Labour-led administration, and continued by Reform UK, which now controls the council.

South Tyneside Council's lead member for children's services, Michelle Fascione, said she could understand why people were upset, but that she was certain that closure was the best option.

"The council unfortunately doesn't have a statutory obligation to provide these nurseries and it's been costing us £1.1m a year to subsidise and it's not viable for the future.

"As a new administration within South Tyneside, it would have been great for us if we could have kept them open, but in reality there was just no way it could be done.

"It hasn't been a very nice situation for any of the decision-makers at all, it's been horrendous if I'm honest."

Fascione accepted the council had an obligation to provide alternative provision for all children and said it would be "working really hard" to do so, including its SEND provision.

She said that the July closure date offered private nurseries the opportunity to potentially expand provision, and the council would provide spaces for all children.

However, she accepted they may not be in locations preferred by parents.

"We will find a place for each child," she said.

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