Minister’s pledge for nurseries

The pledge by Education Minister Sam Gyimah to intervene in the row over the decision by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to close the Rainbow Nursery at the Hartlepool hospital, as well as the day nursery at North Tees follows a plea by Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham.

During a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Cunningham asked Mr Gymiah: “Can he suggest any intervention he could make?

“Could his officials speak to the hospitals about advice or other help that the Government could provide that would save the specialist provision of those nurseries for disabled and other special needs children?

“That would enable parents to set their anxieties aside.”

Mr Gyimah replied: “I suggest that the hon. Gentleman write to me, and I will then respond accordingly and get my officials to look into the matter.”

The closure would see the loss of 178 childcare places, for the children of both medical staff and the wider community, as well as 54 jobs axed.

A social media campaign has been mounted to stop the closures going ahead and a petition at ipetitions.com has attracted around 580 signatures.

Mr Cunningham said the decision “appears to have already been taken”.

The Labour MP has written to Trust chief executive Alan Foster asking for assurance that consultation will mean exactly that, and also asking what measures have been made to try to avoid closure, such as whether parents have been asked if they would be prepared to pay more for facilities, or marketing the service to ensure maximum capacity.