Redbridge set to outsource nursery provision

A council report shows that the authority wants to relinquish the management of its four nurseries – Loxford, Redbridge College, Ray Lodge and Hainault – in a bid to save £180,000.

Under the plans, Loxford Nursery will be taken over by charity Barnardo’s, which already owns the building in which the nursery is based.

In addition, responsibility for Redbridge College Nursery, located within the college’s campus, will be transferred to Redbridge College.

The authority, which owns the remaining two nursery buildings, is still seeking providers to manage the Ray Lodge and Hainault nurseries.

According to the report, the council would prefer a single provider to take over the running of both nurseries as part of a concession agreement for 15 years, with the new operator funding all running costs.

The report states that the “working conditions” of 10 employees will be affected by the plans but fails to give detail on whether the changes will affect frontline workers or management.

However, it does state that the posts of 26 practitioners working at the Ray Lodge and Hainault nurseries are safe and that they will continue to be employed by the new provider.

All four nurseries, which are attached to children’s centres, were judged to be “good” by Ofsted during their most recent inspections and councillor Elaine Norman, cabinet member for children and young people, said the plans would ensure that the quality of provision is maintained.

She said: “This isn’t about changing the standard of our nurseries, which we are very happy with. This is about upholding those standards while reducing the financial pressure on the council.

“It is important that we ensure that the borough’s children are getting the best level of nursery care while we address the financial challenges facing us.”

The report is due to go before the authority’s children and young people’s service committee on Wednesday.