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High Court case over closure of nurseries dropped

High Court case over closure of nurseries dropped

07 November 2024  

In a major victory, parents who filed a judicial case against Hackney Council acknowledged that their consultation on closing children's centres was 'unlawful'.

As part of their proposals to reduce 129 of 600 subsidized childcare spots, Hackney Council sought to close the Fernbank and Sebright children's centres in Stoke Newington and Haggerston.

However, activists said that the council's consultation had "misled the community" and that alternative possibilities had not been considered, so they filed a lawsuit.
Hackney Council acknowledged that its consultation materials were "not sufficiently clear" before a final hearing and announced that it was "settling by consent" after consulting with solicitors. The council promised to disclose its plans quickly.

According to the council's plans, childcare services at Oldhill Children's Centre in Clapton and Hillside in Stamford Hill would only be available during the school year.

Solicitors were instructed by families whose children attended the impacted nurseries to contest Hackney Council's plans to shut down the facilities.

The organisation called "Save Hackney Children's Centres" received legal aid and generated funds through a crowdfunding website.
The council acknowledged that their "Children's Centre Childcare Consultation," which took place between January 31 and April 24, 2024, was "illegal" prior to a final hearing at the High Court.

The judge ordered the council to reimburse the campaigners' legal bills after the council decided to discontinue the action.

"The truth is that closing Sebright and Fernbank children's centres and reducing services at Hillside and Oldhill is a political choice, made at the expense of the youngest members of our community who cannot yet speak for themselves," stated Natalie Aguilera, whose child attends Fernbank Nursery. According to her, the families urged the council to "commit to not cutting or closing its children's centres" and "urge the council to recognise the clear strength of feeling in the community."

"My family depends so heavily on these services," stated Tim Cowbury, whose two daughters are enrolled in nursery school. "Hopefully, the council will not proceed with any changes to these essential services because it recognises the enormous impact that would have been on local families had it implemented its proposals."

A representative for Hackney Council stated: "The council stands by the need to make changes to the way we provide subsidised childcare in order to make our early years provision more sustainable, as a result of rising costs, staffing challenges and overall financial pressures on local authorities." "However, based on the advice we have received, we do not believe it is in the best interests of the residents to use any additional resources to defend the legal challenge," they continued.
"We will take this opportunity to review our approach on how to make our early years provision more sustainable in the future, and present future plans as soon as it is practically possible."





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