High Court case over closure of nurseries dropped

A High Court challenge over plans to close children's centres in east London has been dropped after the council accepted its consultation was "unlawful".

Hackney Council wanted to close Fernbank and Sebright children’s centres in Stoke Newington and Haggerston as part of plans to cut 129 of 600 subsidised childcare places.

But campaigners said other options were not explored and the council's consultation had "misled the community", and they launched legal action.

Ahead of a final hearing, Hackney Council accepted its consultation materials were "not sufficiently clear" and, following advice from lawyers, said it was "settling by consent". The council said it would present future plans soon.

Under the council's plans, Oldhill children’s centre in Clapton and Hillside in Stamford Hill were also facing a proposed reduction to term-time-only childcare services.

Families with children at the affected nurseries instructed solicitors to challenge Hackney Council's proposals to close the services.

The group, known as "Save Hackney Children's Centres", raised money via a crowdfunding website and were given legal aid.

Ahead of a final hearing at the High Court, the council accepted its “Children’s Centre Childcare Consultation” conducted between 31 January and 24 April 2024 was "unlawful".

Following the council's decision to drop the case, the judge ordered it must pay the campaigners' legal fees.

Natalie Aguilera, who has a child at Fernbank Nursery, said: "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."

She said the families "urge the council to recognise the clear strength of feeling in the community" and said they wanted the council to "commit to not cutting or closings its children's centres".

Tim Cowbury, who has two children in nursery, said: “My family relies so much on these services.

"Hopefully, the council understands how significant the impact would have been to local families had it gone through with its proposals, and that it won’t therefore go ahead with any changes to these vital services.”

A spokesperson for Hackney Council said: "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."

They added: "However in light of the advice we have received we do not believe it is in residents’ best interests to use any further resources to defend the legal challenge.

"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."