Allens Croft childrens centre nursery

6th January

I have been contacted by a number of residents regarding funding cuts of nursery places in Birmingham. As you may be aware, the Government is imposing some changes on the way that nurseries are funded, which could have a significant impact on the service you receive.

The greatest area of concern for me is the requirement to take money away from the Council run nurseries like Allens Croft Children’s Centre and hand it to private sector nurseries. At present Birmingham is one of the few Local Authorities nationally that funds full time places at nurseries, but under the Government’s new arrangements funding will only be available for 15 hours a week for all nurseries, public and private. If Birmingham wants to continue to offer full time places across the city, it will have to find the money itself.

The Council has recognised the problems this will cause for its nurseries by committing to a two year “safety net” arrangement 90%, while allowing any setting receiving an increase in funding to benefit from that increase. However, I want to make sure that the nursery’s future is secure beyond those two years and, more importantly, that residents who currently benefit from full time free places are still able to do so.