Plans to shut Linlithgow Bridge Nursery will cost the council money say campaigners
Plans to shut Linlithgow Bridge Nursery school will cost the council money rather than add to the £1m savings it hopes to make from the county closure programme., campaigners have claimed.
Neil Brady-Campbell told councillors their calculations on saving were wrong, adding that moving all children from Linlithgow Bridge nursery to Linlithgow Primary nursery could actually see an increase in teacher costs by £45,000.
He made the claim at a meeting of West Lothian Council’s Education Executive, where councillors voted to close eight nursery schools – including Linlithgow Bridge.
Mr Brady-Campbell said: “The education department’s approach has left parents stressed, bemused and confused.”
He said that many parents of children with ASN favoured Linlithgow Bridge because it offered a smaller and more focused environment for their needs.
“It makes a significant difference for children, especially those needing additional support,” he said.
Parents learned first through the council’s Facebook page that the nursery would close, many of them, including Mr Brady-Campbell within a month of their three-year-olds starting at nursery.
He told councillors: “Asking a three-year-old to walk one point five miles crossing three busy roads during the school run is an accident waiting to happen. “
He added that officers’ response to this point at a public meeting was that the council was fulfilling a statutory duty by providing alternative provision and if parents did not want to walk, they could consider car share.
Mr Brady-Campbell said that the plan flew in the face of the council’s active travel programme and would inevitably lead to more cars on the roads and around the busy Preston Road where Linlithgow Primary and Nursery is.
On finances Mr Brady-Campbell added: “Let’s be blunt. We’re here to save cash and that even doesn’t stack up.”
He described the work of one mother who had studied the council’s projected savings from the closure.
“She projected that the savings were incorrect and managed to cost the council £45,000 a year due to required staffing ratios. She got the officers to look at the numbers and they were wrong, over £100,000 wrong. The savings were downgraded from £241,000 to £135.000 a reduction of 44%.
“If the numbers are 44% out who in their right mind believes the council’s set of numbers anyway, so yes we are bemused.”
“You have before you over 140 responses. The common thread is a rejection of proposals to close the nursery.”
Responding to the financial question officers pointed out the figures supposed all children enrolled at both schools would attend all the time, requiring more staff to meet the ratio needs.
Children do not all attend at the same time, and the supposition also takes not account that not all parents would choose to move their child to Linlithgow Primary many opting instead for private provision.
Linlithgow is the best served area in the county for private nursery needs, said officers in response.
Officer responses to questions raised at the public meeting held in Linlithgow Bridge detailed available nursery space in the town.
Greg Welsh the head of early learning and childcare also told councillors in the Tuesday meeting that the total numbers leaving primary seven classes in the town’s five primary schools this June would be 191. The total P1 intake acros the five schools in August is 120.
Mr Brady-Campbell faced lengthy questioning, largely supportive from members and union reps.
Local Lib Dem councillor Sally Pattle was barred from voting on the decision under Standing Orders because she had publicly supported the parents’ campaign. Councillor Pauline Orr, who doesn’t have a vote on the Education Executive had also supported the campaign and attended the meeting from the public benches.
Councillor Tom Conn, Linlithgow’s Labour councillor is a member of the Education Executive, and he told the committee he would support the closure decision.
He told the meeting: “I have to say the wider constituents were probably slightly dispassionate in comparison to the parents, and I understand that. In my decision I have also taken into account wider issues in the Linlithgow Bridge area and the future development that has been touched upon today. Linlithgow Bridge is on the River Avon so there is no expansion to the west.”
He pointed to the existing surplus spaces at the nursery, suggesting that would only grow without more housing development in the area, adding to that the falling birth rate and the growth of private nursery providers.
He said: “One of the things we are discussing today is about protecting the future. Linlithgow Primary nursery provides good nursery education and will continue to do so in the future As I said earlier, I didn’t wish to make this decision, but I will support the proposals of officers.”
After the meeting Councillor Orr said she was bitterly disappointed. She added: “However, community members argue that the unique benefits provided by Linlithgow Bridge Nursery, especially its capacity to support children with additional needs, were not sufficiently considered.
“The sentiment among many parents is that young children are not merely numbers to be redistributed based on capacity metrics. Concerns have been raised that such decisions overlook the individual needs of children, particularly those requiring specialised support.”
Council Pattle told the LDRS she was deeply disappointed at the “far-reaching decision” to close eight nurseries.
She added: “In my own ward, I still cannot understand how Labour councillors could decide that it makes sense to close Linlithgow Bridge Primary School Nursery Class when presented with overwhelming public opposition, and scant evidence to support the proposal, other than the financial bottom line.”
“I don’t believe the meagre financial savings identified by closing Linlithgow Bridge Primary School Nursery Class will offset the negative consequences for the parents and families of Linlithgow Bridge, or the wider community of Linlithgow.”
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter