Greens accused of ‘lying to parents’ as Hackney nursery fees set to rise

Hackney’s new Green-led council has been accused of “lying to parents” after the Town Hall sent a letter to families confirming a rise in nursery fees from the start of the autumn term.

In the letter, dated 12 June, the Town Hall’s head of Family Hubs, Children’s Centres and Early Help Systems, Sarah Bromfield, outlined a series of changes to childcare fees coming into effect on 2 September. These include a 3.8 per cent rise for families in bands 1–3 — those earning up to £70,000 annually.

The letter prompted an angry response from parent and Protect Hackney Nurseries campaigner Ella Whelan, who wrote on X: “Ha! One of @TheGreenParty’s pledges in Hackney was to stop fee increases for nurseries. They even showed up at our protest. Guess what just landed? More fee increases. Can you explain why you lied to parents @ZoeGarbett @ZackPolanski @hackneygreens @mayorofhackney?”

A manifesto pledge

In a statement to the Citizen, Whelan said she had founded the Protect Hackney Nurseries campaign in April 2025 to oppose fee increases brought in by the previous Labour administration. The group had held protests outside Hackney Town Hall, she said, and had been joined by Green councillors including Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, who were “all too keen to pledge support for our campaign”.

The Hackney Greens’ manifesto for May’s local elections, in which the party swept to a landslide majority at the Town Hall, included a pledge to “review recent nursery fee rises and work with families and providers to implement alternative fee structures”. The manifesto also pledged to campaign nationally for free childcare.

“And yet, yesterday we received notice that fees were rising again,” Whelan said. “It’s pathetic.”

‘Set by Labour’

Responses to Whelan’s post pointed out that the increase had in fact been agreed by the previous Labour-controlled council at a budget meeting on 4 March — more than a month before the Greens won the May 7 elections.

Mayor Zoë Garbett, in a statement to the Citizen, said: “This proposed increase was set by the previous Labour administration, without any opportunity given to change course.

“I have asked for the much-needed review into nursery fees to be fast-tracked, and expect to see this happen immediately. I welcome parents and community members engaging with me on this issue, and am inviting them to meet with me.”

‘They have the mayorship’

Whelan was unmoved.

“This isn’t good enough,” she told the Citizen. “Zack Polanski and his team ran on a campaign for real change, and yet we’re supposed to believe they can’t do anything in a council which they run, in a borough where they have the mayorship? The Green Party’s manifesto also pledged to campaign the government for free childcare — and yet seem unable to even freeze the rises in a council under their own control.

“As parents we feel used and abused. Rises in nursery fees will price out the poorest in a borough which is already becoming unaffordable for anyone on a normal salary. It is perfectly within [the Greens’] power to amend the budget and prevent families from being financially crippled.

“Despite their campaign promises for change, they are no different to Labour and seem to have no appetite for change.”

‘Business-as-usual’

In a further statement to the Citizen, Garbett acknowledged that the letter had landed badly with parents.

“Parents have every right to be worried by this,” she said. “Hackney voted us in to review nursery fees and try to make childcare more affordable over the term; instead, this letter signalled business-as-usual.”