Eight West Lothian nurseries to close their doors

Eight of nine threatened nurseries in West Lothian are to close their doors at the end of the summer term after councillors backed the controversial plans despite concern from parents and teachers.  

Among those to shut for the start of the August term will be Linlithgow Bridge, despite a robust defence from a concerned parent delivered for an hour before the decision making got under way. 

Only Glenvue Nursery School, Livingston, garnered enough support  on an opposition amendment to stay open, by one vote. 

The decisions were made during a marathon sitting of the  Council’s Education Executive which considered an agenda almost  800 pages long. 

Two of the eight nurseries to close are already shuttered – Bathgate West and Our Lady’s Nursery Class, Stoneyburn. 

The other six now scheduled to close are:- 

 Deans North Nursery School, Livingston 

Fauldhouse Nursery Class 

Ladywell Nursery School, Livingston 

Linlithgow Bridge Nursery Class 

St Anthony’s Nursery Class, Armadale 

St Joseph’s Nursery Class, Whitburn 

Head of Early Years and Primary Education Greg Welsh  said the collective closures would save £1.3m and enable  a better service and retained council  nurseries. 

But SNP councillors maintained said those hit the most would be those in poor communities – such as Ladywell and Fauldhouse-  where community ties had been strengthened  through nursery provision and  poor public transport and lack of car access meant that many parents would not take up alternative of  private of council provision. 

Council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick admitted: “ It is  the case there will be less staff for less children.” 

He outlined cuts to council funding and ten years of council tax freeze.  “Services cannot remain the same if we are to reduce spending and balance the budget.”   

West Lothian  has seen a boom in private nurseries since the Introduction of the Funding Follows the Child policy by the Scottish Government in 2019. This, coupled with  plummeting birthrate, means that the county already has a surplus of council nursery space. 

Teaching union the EIS, backed by local SNP councillors, repeatedly  raised questions about the effect of larger nursery classes and noisier environments on children  showing signs of needing Additional Support Needs ( ASN). 

Heather Hughes the West Lothian EIS rep warned that the numbers of children with ASN was  a “crisis” in  the county’s primary schools 

And the EIS  criticised  the plans for the nursery closures saying that no improvement to the education service had been identified other than financial savings. 

 Questioning Mr Welsh on the closure of Bathgate West Mrs Hughes asked: “What’s the educational benefit of closing this nursery? 

He replied:  “It has allowed us to utilise less physical building and assets  to deploy staff in a fewer number  setting. And therefore the concentration of resources could bring clear educational benefits  rather than across  a high number of locations where demand is showing that it is no longer required.”  

“You have increased nursery class sizes elsewhere so you’re telling me that actually benefits the young people especially those who are showing symptoms of Additional Support Needs ASN.   That’s what happened here.” 

Mr Welsh said the  changes complied with the Care Inspectorate rules and also  with statutory requirements in  terms of staff  child ratios. He added: “In terms of educational benefits we do believe we could realise those by concentrating our resources.”  

Mrs Hughes told councillors:  “We are not going to get into a fight about your budget. Children are not services. Children, and these young children are our future and all of our future. Research  shows that formative years are without the most important of all years. 

“There is not enough money being put into ASN and  there’s an absolute crisis in our schools with the number of young people presenting with ASN.”  

Neil Brady-Campbell  spoke for parents at Linlithgow Bridge , with the exasperated dad pointing out that a lack of flexibility had hit the number of parents using the nursery. 

“The  conversation we  wanted to have with the council was how can we improve the service and bring people back from the private sector. How can we build flexibility into the council nurseries that would encourage people. To use them?” 

He had wanted two full days for his three year old  and all  he was offered was five mornings a week. 

Mr Welsh said that private nurseries are by their nature much smaller organisations – only one operator has  three premises –   and therefore it was easier for them to provide a more flexible service. 

Councillor Pauline Stafford depute SNP group leader  had questioned the decisions to close  the eight nurseries.  Summing up on the closure of the Linlithgow Bridge  Nursery, she said: “We are well aware of what we are deciding here and what we stand to lose. 

“The educational benefits to this closure I don’t think have been sufficiently demonstrated especially on children with ASN needs,  and there’s  been a really strong campaign   from the community here that’s not been taken into consideration.  These decisions are short-sighted to the detriment of our children and are short term budget decisions.” 

By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter