Parents and nursery workers shouted “shame” from the public gallery as a Reform UK-run council approved the closure of all 10 of its Stanley’s nurseries.
South Tyneside Council’s cabinet backed the plan at a meeting in South Shields Town Hall, bringing months of protests and campaigning to an end.
The nurseries will stop operating on 31 July 2027, but staffing reductions are expected to begin in December. A total of 116 people currently work across the 10 centres.
Parents now face the task of finding alternative childcare, while campaigners warn that some children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities, may struggle to find equivalent support.
Sophie Thompson, whose child attended one of the nurseries, said she was “gutted”.
“It’s really hard for working parents to get back to work and this just makes it even harder.”
Which nurseries are closing?
The decision covers all 10 nurseries operated through the South Tyneside Accredited Network for Learning in the Early Years, known locally as Stanley’s.
They are:
- Stanley’s at Marine Park
- Stanley’s at All Saints
- Stanley’s at Bede
- Stanley’s at Biddick Hall and Whiteleas
- Stanley’s at Boldon
- Stanley’s at Hebburn
- Stanley’s at Horsley Hill
- Stanley’s at Primrose
- Stanley’s at Ridgeway
- Stanley’s at Riverside
The centres provide childcare across South Shields, Jarrow, Hebburn and Boldon. Several are based in children’s centres or family hubs and have operated in their communities for years.
Stanley’s developed from South Tyneside’s network of Sure Start children’s centres. Campaigners argue that the services provide “far more than childcare”, including early-years support, advice for parents and familiar settings for children who need additional help.
A Save Our Stanley’s campaign was established after the closure proposals emerged. Parents, staff and trade unions held protests, organised public meetings and petitioned the council to retain the centres.
That campaign was unsuccessful.
Parents fear centres could close early
The official closure date is still ten months away, but some families fear the nursery network could begin to unravel much sooner as staff leave for more secure employment.
Eve Sanders has a child attending one of the centres and five-month-old twins waiting for places.
“My concern is for my baby girls.”
Sanders said workers were already beginning to leave and questioned whether the nurseries would retain enough employees to remain fully operational until July.
She also said families involved in the campaign had contacted several alternative nurseries without being able to secure places.
Her concerns are particularly acute for children with SEND. Parents may be offered another childcare place, but that does not necessarily mean the new setting will provide the same support, be located nearby or have staff familiar with the child’s needs.
The council says it will find a place for every affected child, including those requiring additional support. It has accepted, however, that those places may not be in the locations parents would prefer.
Private nurseries will be given time to expand their provision before the Stanley’s centres close.
For working parents, that promise leaves important questions. How far will they need to travel? Will the hours match their jobs? Will the fees be comparable? And will children who are settled with trusted members of staff have to start again somewhere unfamiliar?
Reform says the service is not financially viable
Councillor Michelle Fascione, South Tyneside’s lead member for children’s services, said the council had faced a “horrendous” decision but believed closure was the only realistic option.
The Stanley’s nurseries require an annual council subsidy of approximately £1.1 million.
Fascione said the authority had no statutory obligation to operate the centres and argued that continuing to cover the loss was “not viable” for the future.
She said Reform would have preferred to keep the nurseries open after taking control of the council, but concluded that “there was just no way it could be done”.
That is the council’s financial case. The response from parents is that closing the service does not remove the demand for childcare. It transfers responsibility to private providers and leaves families hoping that enough affordable places will appear before next summer.
The authority is still legally responsible for ensuring sufficient childcare is available locally, even though it is not required to operate the nurseries itself.
The review began before Reform took control
The nursery review was originally agreed while South Tyneside was under its previous Labour-led administration.
That matters. The financial problems surrounding Stanley’s were not created by Reform UK after the May election, and the party inherited a review that was already under way.
But the final decision belongs to the current administration.
Reform won 41 of the council’s 54 seats in May, reducing Labour to just one councillor. It had the numbers to pause the review, seek another funding arrangement or retain some of the centres. Instead, its cabinet chose to close all 10.
That leaves the party politically responsible for what happens next, including whether enough replacement places are created and whether children with SEND receive suitable support.
The decision also provides another test of Reform’s record in local government.
In Wakefield, the party’s administration ended universal school uniform support for around 30,000 children weeks after taking control.
In Kent, the council presented by Nigel Farage as a showcase for Reform government has faced criticism over its savings programme and management of public services.
Durham County Council, another flagship Reform authority, is attempting to manage an estimated £83.7 million funding gap.
South Tyneside now joins that list. Reform promised to find waste and deliver better value in local government. Its first major test involving children’s services has ended with 10 nurseries scheduled to disappear.
The argument is not over
The cabinet decision settles the immediate question of whether the council intends to continue operating Stanley’s. It does not settle what will replace the nurseries.
Parents will now be watching how quickly new places become available, where those places are located and whether private providers can meet the needs of every affected child.
They will also be watching the staffing position.
If employees continue leaving before the formal closure date, the transition could begin long before July 2027. Parents who were promised months to make new arrangements may find themselves needing an alternative much sooner.
That is why the anger in the public gallery was not simply about attachment to familiar buildings. It was about jobs, childcare, SEND provision and whether working families can trust that the promised replacement places will actually be there.
4 responses to “‘Shame’: Parents heckle Reform council as it votes to close 10 nurseries”
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You were all warned that if you vote for Deform this is what to expect.
It’s just like the American Maga voters finally finding out you get what you vote for. -
The closures do not end the Councils financial obligations to ensure any alternative provision is monitored to ensure standards are met. That cost may outstrip any perceived savings. Have they done the sums or just fudged it.
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You get what you pay for. You were gullible enough to vote them into power so you’ll just have to learn to live with it
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Quite right.
And people who believe stopping 18,000 asylum seekers coming into this country annually is somehow a panacea for underinvestment, need their bumps felt.
Hopefully the penny’s dropping….Farage is not a friend of working people, he is the ‘Establishment’ he professes to despise, and will cut their costs in whatever way he can.
Neither he nor his family are reliant on public services, they’re funded from abroad, as we know.
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