Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) nursery schools, (b) day-care facilities and (c) children’s centres in (i) Birmingham, Erdington constituency, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) the UK have (A) declared insolvency and (B) closed due to funding shortages in each of the last three years.

Caroline Dinenage

Nursery Schools

The Department for Education’s register of educational establishments in England and Wales indicates that from the 31 August 2013 to 31 August 2016 eight maintained nursery schools closed, and 10 amalgamated or merged with another school. No closures were recorded in Birmingham, Erdington or the West Midlands.

The Department does not collect information on the reasons for the closure of nursery schools. Local authorities have a duty to secure sufficient childcare in their local area. In consultation with their Schools Forum, they are responsible for deciding how best to distribute early years funding across their locality.

There is a presumption against the closure of any nursery school. The local authority must consult on any proposed closures, clearly demonstrating the rationale for so doing.

Day-care facilities

The Department does not collect data on the number of childcare businesses that have closed. The Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the childcare market continues to expand.

• The number of registered places in full day care settings rose by ten per cent between 2011 and 2013.

• The long term increase in the number of full day care providers continued in 2013. In total there were 17,900 full day care settings in 2013 (compared to 17,600 in 2011).

Children’s centres

Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. The Department does not collect information on the reasons for the closure of children’s centres.

According to data supplied by local authorities, a total of 259 children’s centres closed in the calendar years, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Forty nine of these closures were in the West Midlands. None of these were in Birmingham.