Petition urging council to freeze nursery fee hike hits 500 signatures

Families protesting the fee increases outside the Town Hall in May. Photograph: Josef Steen / free for use by LDRS partners

A petition calling on Hackney Council to halt the upcoming fee increase for its nurseries has passed 500 signatures.

From 1 September, prices for council-maintained nurseries and children and family hubs will rise by around 7.5 per cent for households who bring in less than £55,000 a year.

Families with a total income of £55,000 or more will lose the subsidies they currently receive if they use these centres.

In their petition, campaigners claim some people are facing a fee hike in excess of £10,000.

They wrote: “Many parents are being forced to consider cutting their hours, leaving their jobs, or pulling their children out of nursery altogether. Some are even thinking about leaving Hackney.

“That means less income tax for the government — and less council tax for Hackney. It just doesn’t make sense.

“This comes just as the government and the mayor promised more support for childcare, but instead parents here are being asked to pay more than ever before.”

The petition asks the council to “pause the hikes, speak to families, and look at the real impact these increases will have”.

One signatory said the increases were a “slap to the face of hard-working families”, with another calling them “totally unfair in a borough that claims to be family-friendly”.

Families protested outside Hackney Town Hall earlier this year.

According to the council, 59 per cent of children receiving subsidised nursery places across its 11 children’s centres are from households earning less than £55,000, which means they will continue to receive the subsidy.

Census data shows that 11 per cent of all children in Hackney who used their subsidy did so at a children’s centre or family hub.

Cllr Anya Sizer, deputy cabinet member for families, early years and SEND, said: “We believe every child deserves the best possible start in life.

“That is why while many other local authorities chose not to subsidise childcare we maintained our network of children’s centres, providing a wide range of services, as well as nurseries for local parents.

“Now that the government has followed our lead with the national expansion of government-funded childcare, we can focus on ensuring that families most in need still get extra financial help to afford additional childcare.

“After carefully considering our options, we decided to maintain the council subsidies for families accessing childcare in our maintained children’s centres with an annual income below £55,000.

“This will ensure that some of our most disadvantaged children still have access to the support and high quality childcare they deserve.

“We recognise that these changes come at a difficult time, as families face rising living costs, but it was a choice we had to make in order to deliver essential savings to balance our budget and avoid the need for government support or extra council tax increases.

“This is the only way in which we will be able to continue to protect our residents in greatest need, at a time when many local authorities face financial struggles.

“The council will monitor the impact of these changes alongside the roll out of the 30-hours childcare entitlement from September to inform future decisions.”

From September 2025, eligible children from nine months old to four years old across the country will have access to 30 hours of funded childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year – up from the current 15 hours.

The Town Hall said its nursery fee increases were planned to coincide with the national funding boost to mitigate the impact on families.