Sunderland City Council chiefs push ahead with closure process for Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School

Proposals for the future of Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School have taken a step forward following a decision by council chiefs.
Hetton-Le-Hole Nursery School, which is earmarked for closure.Hetton-Le-Hole Nursery School, which is earmarked for closure.
Hetton-Le-Hole Nursery School, which is earmarked for closure.

In 2020, Sunderland City Council revealed its intention to explore the closure of the nursery school due to its rising deficit since 2015 and low pupil numbers.

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Hetton-Le-Hole Nursery School, which is earmarked for closure.Hetton-Le-Hole Nursery School, which is earmarked for closure.
Hetton-Le-Hole Nursery School, which is earmarked for closure.

A pre-publication consultation, which was launched by the city council in early January 2021, received 490 responses in just under four weeks, with 95% opposing the closure proposal.

Despite this, Sunderland City Council’s cabinet have agreed to publish notice of statutory proposals to close the nursery.

Once published later in February, this will trigger a further four-week ‘statutory notice period’ before a final decision is made.

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Councillor Louise Farthing, cabinet member for children, learning and skills, introduced a report on the matter at a cabinet meeting on February 9.

“It’s always with great sadness that one has to present a report requesting the start of statutory proposals to close a school,” she said.

“In recent years because of funding changes and the increasing costs associated with delivering a maintained nursery provision, Sunderland’s maintained nursery schools have faced significant financial pressures.

“Hetton-le-Hole Nursery now has an unrecoverable financial deficit, it’s estimated that despite the best efforts of the nursery leadership and the council to reduce costs, that the nursery will have a budget deficit of over £170,000 by the end of the current financial year.

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“And this is projected to rise to more than £200,000 by the end of 2023. The nursery is no longer able to operate within its own budget and because of this it’s unfortunately not considered sustainable.

“I’ve investigated in great detail that the setting could not improve its position even if it had numbers of children attending.”

Cllr Farthing said the nursery school was “absorbing funding from the pooled lump sum payment to the detriment of other nursery schools not only in its own locality, but right across Sunderland.”

The council chief added that the council is committed to ensuring that there are enough nursery places in Hetton to meet demand, including proposals to establish nursery provision at the new Hetton Primary School.

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This nursery provision aims to ensure there is no loss of two, three or four-year-old capacity in Hetton as a consequence of the proposed closure.

If the closure is approved, nursery provision would be available from the existing Hetton Primary School site from September 2021.

According to a report prepared for cabinet, comments in the pre-publication consultation highlighted the quality of provision and staff at Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School and the ‘continuity of transition for young people.’

The report added that the council had considered all consultation comments to date but that “no alternative option has been identified that would increase the viability, and therefore long-term sustainability, of the nursery.”

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The existing pre-publication consultation will continue until February 14 and a four-week statutory notice period will follow later this month.

Comments received will feed into the final decision of the council’s School Organisation Committee of Cabinet.

If a closure option is approved, Hetton-le-Hole Nursery School would be anticipated to close its doors at the end of August 2021.

For more information and updates, visit the council’s website: www.sunderland.gov.uk/article/17835/Consultation-on-Proposal-to-Close-Hetton-le-Hole-Nursery

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