蜜芽传媒

Members of the Save Little Owls Nurseries campaign have give their thoughts on the proposals.
Last year, Leeds City Council closed three of its Little Owls sites and said it would pull out of running 12 others as part of its drive to address a budget shortfall of 拢273m over five years.
A Leeds City Council spokesperson said:
鈥淭he full and rigorous review of our Little Owls nurseries was undertaken to address the service鈥檚 ongoing deficit amid the council鈥檚 increasingly challenging financial position while ensuring sufficient early years places across the city.
鈥淲hile we do not have to directly deliver provision, we have already committed to continue operating nine nursery settings in Leeds.
鈥淔ollowing the recent exercise seeking interest from alternative providers, we now also propose to continue operating a further five nurseries (Burley Park, City & Holbeck, Hunslet Rylestone, Osmondthorpe and Quarry Mount) for which no suitable alternative providers were found, thus ensuring sufficient high-quality childcare places in these areas.
鈥淔or the settings where alternative providers did express an interest (Bramley, Meanwood, Rothwell and Shepherd鈥檚 Lane), work is now underway to evaluate these submissions. Discussions are also ongoing for three sites co-located with schools (St Mary鈥檚 Hunslet, Parklands and Hawksworth Wood). Further updates will be given in due course. However, we want to reassure families and staff that in the event these discussions do not reach a satisfactory conclusion, the council鈥檚 default position is to retain direct delivery of these settings.
鈥淲e would like to once again thank parents, carers and staff for their support and patience through this process and reaffirm our commitment that all ongoing provision continues to be child-centred and ensures the most vulnerable children in the city are well catered for.鈥�