Council says ‘no hard plans’ to close nurseries this year after legal challenge

Hands off: Children’s centres protest. Photograph Beatrice Hackett

Plans to close down two children’s centres will not be brought back this year, according to Hackney Council. The Town Hall was forced to halt the plans to after parents took it to court. A High Court challenge over Hackney Council’s proposals to shut Fernbank and Sebright children’s centres in Stoke Newington and Haggerston was dropped after the Town Hall accepted its consultation was “unlawful”.

In early 2024, the council announced its plans to save £4 million from its early years budget within three years amid “insufficient” government funding and mounting financial pressure. But the families who launched legal action said the council had not explored other options and felt they had been “misled”.

In the aftermath, council officers produced a report about what went wrong with the consultation, bringing its findings to the council’s children and young people scrutiny commission on Monday 15 September, where the council confirmed it had “no hard plans” to make any changes this academic year.

“Now is the time to pause, reflect and plan accordingly, taking account all of the available data”, said Hackney’s director of education and inclusion, Jason Marantz. However, later in the meeting other officers said they would re-consult on the future of children’s centres at some stage in the future.

‘Perfect storm’ led to court

The council found there was “no single issue or fault found” that led to its settling the legal challenge out of court, but acknowledged it may have emerged from a “perfect storm of events”.

Campaigners ‘Save Hackney’s Children’s Centres’, brought their judicial review against the plans after raising money via crowdfunding and legal aid.

Solicitors for the campaign had earlier argued that the proposals would led to the axing of one in four of the borough’s subsidised nursery places, and that the council had not exhausted all of its options to make cuts elsewhere. Hackney Council denied this.

Protest and survive: campaigners contesting the closure of Fernbank children’s centre (Monday 22 April 2024). Photograph: Maya Sall / Free for use by partners of the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service

Ahead of a final hearing at the High Court in November 2024, the Town Hall accepted its consultation with residents held between January and April last year had not been clear enough.

Following the verdict, parents with children at the nurseries said the council had made a “political choice” to shut the centres down. The Town Hall had previously said there was a surplus of affordable childcare places in the borough.

‘Breakdown in trust’

Parents from the campaign came to the Town Hall meeting on Monday 15 September, where they welcomed the fact the council was “taking this seriously” and praised the commission’s engagement.

But they cast doubt on whether its ‘lessons learned’ document addressed underlying problems they said had led to the breakdown in trust between them and the council.

Documents submitted by the group stated: The whole process was a foregone conclusion, and as parents we felt this in every single interaction”.

Parents also felt their meetings with the council during this period were “really unpleasant, demeaning and aggressive”.

Families’ frustration and anger had focused particularly on the council’s unexpected decision to make changes to an independent review of the borough’s children’s centres, which was made exempt from the public. “[This] really affected trust and confidence and it clouded the whole experience,” said parent Beatrice Hackett.

Lessons learned?

Officers made several recommendations for how the council could better its consultations, especially for more ‘contentious’ proposals like these.

They suggested seeking independent support, getting more feedback from staff to make sure documents are clear to the public, and giving more detail on how the council assesses different options.

The campaigners welcomed officers’ time and effort, but added that their non-binding report had not brought any more transparency, held anyone accountable or explained what difference it would make to the council’s processes.

Ms Hackett said: “The real crunch point will be what changes come on the ground.”

Campaigners have pressed the council for a commitment not to close or make any cuts to early years services in the future. The Town Hall has warned that more “tough choices” lie ahead this year as the council tries to close its £50 million budget gap.