Day nursery to close

WARRINGTON’S popular Westy Sure Start day nursery is to close in two months’ time.
The borough council, after twice failing to find a third party provider to run the facility, has reluctantly decided it must pull the plug
Currently the only registered full day-care provider managed by the council, the nursery on Reynolds Street has fallen victim to spending cutbacks.
Although there were some initial expressions of interest from operators, no formal applications to run the facility were received.
More recently detailed conversations were held with one specific provider but unfortunately they were unable to progress the opportunity due to unexpected reductions in their own budget.
Staff are currently being consulted and it is hoped alternative roles can be found for many of them elsewhere in the council’s children and young people’s services.
Parents will be supported by the council’s families information service who will help them look at their needs and the suitable alternatives – currently about a third of the children attending Westy do not live in the immediate area.
Tony Crane from the council’s children and young people’s services said: “It was a very difficult decision to close the nursery and one we hoped we would never have to make. We will be working with affected families over the coming weeks and months to help them understand their options going forward, particularly those who live in the nearby area.
“When the nursery first opened in 2004 it ran on grants and funding from central government. In 2007 this money was withdrawn and since then we have heavily subsidised this community facility. Sadly we can no longer afford to do that.”