Fears of maintained nursery schools closures

The Local Government Association has warned that thousands of children with special needs could lose daily care and support unless the government continues to provide extra funding for maintained nursery schools.

61 per cent of councils responding to the LGA survey fear maintained nursery schools, which play a significant role in providing care and support for more than 5,000 children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), will close in their area if this funding is not protected.

The government has provided £55 million each year in supplementary funding for maintained nurseries since a new funding formula was introduced in 2017. However, this funding is set to end after 2019/20. There are currently 397 maintained nurseries in England with more than 40,980 children enrolled, of which 13.8 per cent have SEND.

Alongside the 61 per cent fearing local closures, 52 per cent also said that the loss of funding would mean reduced support for children with SEND.

Therefore, the LGA is calling on government to commit to continue this funding for an extra year in 2020/21 to help councils keep maintained nurseries open before a long-term sustainable funding solution is found as part of the Spending Review.

Anntoinette Bramble, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “As our survey shows, councils have grave concerns about the future of maintained nursery schools if the current funding does not continue beyond 2020. This could have a detrimental impact on children with special educational needs, for whom maintained nurseries provide a lifeline of vital support.

“For example, unlike other nurseries, maintained nurseries have to have a qualified teacher designated as a SEND co-ordinator. This provision is now under threat unless government commits to an extra year of funding in 2020/21 as part of wider work to find a long-term sustainable funding solution in the Spending Review. This is on top of the overarching funding pressures councils are facing in providing support for children with SEND, which we would like to see the Chancellor address in next week’s Autumn Budget.”