Nurseries in Leeds could be forced to close if new Government plans go ahead
Nursery schools in Leeds could be forced to close, according to one teaching union.
Nursery schools in Leeds could be forced to close if the Government goes ahead with plans to offer parents 30 hours of free childcare, a teaching union has warned.
The National Association of Headteachers is warning pre-schools could "cease to be financially viable" because of costs associated with extra places.
It's also belived there could be huge cuts in funding if the proposal to double the current 15 hours of free time was introduced.
Emma Murphy, manager of Domi Domigo Day Nursery, told Radio Aire she fears they may have shut down themselves: "As a relatively new nursery we are still running on a fine line in terms of the profit we make, and any extra costs on that is going to have a big implication".
"If a child has 30 hours we'll obviously be doubling the number of days they have in our nursery, which would result in us having to cut the number of people we can take on."
Emma says she also worries it will effect families in Leeds who are most worse off: "Long-term those reduced places will be filled up more quickly. Everyday there's a fear we will have to close down, but as a result we'll be looking at reducing the number of funded places available - it's a choice of funded places with less money or full paying parents with more money".
In response to providing additional free hours to parents, the Department for Education say they'll be providing nurseries across the country with an extra ÂŁ6bn of funding a year by 2020.