By Don Mort, local democracy reporter
The council is set to pull out of running a dozen nurseries – including Bramley, Burley Park and Hawksworth Wood – to save cash as talks are held with alternative providers.
Little Owls nurseries around the city could be taken over by schools, charities and private companies.
Leeds City Council has already closed three nurseries in Gipton, Seacroft and Chapel Allerton under plans to save £900,000 this year.
A further 12 were subject to a “market sounding exercise” to find other organisations to run them.
A council report said four of the nurseries – St Mary’s Hunslet, Parklands, Hawksworth Wood and Quarry Mount – could be taken over by neighbouring schools.
A formal procurement process will be launched over the other eight – Shepherds Lane, City and Holbeck, Hunslet Rylestone, Rothwell, Meanwood, Bramley, Osmondthorpe and Burley Park – after 21 providers expressed an interest.
The report said: “In the event that those detailed discussions do not progress to a satisfactory conclusion the council’s default position will be that settings are retained by the council and directly delivered.”
The council’s executive board will be asked to agree to press ahead with the nursery plans at a meeting on Wednesday (October 16).
The council has said it faces a budget shortfall of £273m over the next five years.
The report said the Little Owls budget was overspent by £1.9m in 2022/23 and £840,000 in 2023/24.
It said: “As the financial position of Leeds City Council becomes increasingly challenging, the Little Owls current ongoing deficit, exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, has come under additional scrutiny and has stimulated a full business review.”
The closure of Little Owls Gipton North, Chapel Allerton and Kentmere saw 80 children moved to other Little Owls settings.
There were no redundancies after 34 staff were transferred to other nurseries.
The report said: “Work is now under way to close down the buildings as bases for delivery of Little Owls nurseries. Family Services will continue to be delivered at Kentmere and Chapel Allerton.”
Parents of children at Little Owls Bramley marched through the centre of Bramley in June over the ‘privatisation threat’ it faced.
Little Owls nurseries look after children aged between three months and five years. The council currently has 21 of the nurseries following the three closures on August 31.
WLD has been following local government cuts since 2020 through our Cutswatch series, which can be found here.
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