Scrutiny deadline day in fight to save nurseries
BBCCampaigners hoping to challenge a council's decision to close 10 publicly-run nurseries are facing a nervous wait to see if the plan will be called-in for additional scrutiny.
The plan axe the South Tyneside Accredited Network for Learning in the Early Years (Stanley's) facilities was confirmed last week, but it could be delayed if councillors refer it back for scrutiny by the end of Friday.
Save Our Stanley's has been urging South Tyneside Council's scrutiny committee to examine the decision and claimed several councillors had pledged support for a call-in.
The Reform-run authority said it would inform members "if and when such a request is received and assessed as being valid".
A call-in allows councillors to intervene when they feel a cabinet decision needs to be revisited or possibly changed.
If the council gets a valid call-in request, the matter goes before the overview and scrutiny co-ordinating and call-in committee to decide if it should be referred back for reconsideration.
A valid request must include any three members of the council alongside the chair and vice chair of that committee.
'Devastating' closures
Councillor Rachael Taylor, leader of the authority's Green group, wrote an open letter to committee vice-chair Jason Diamond urging the Reform UK councillor to back the request.
"It is about whether councillors should have the opportunity to scrutinise such a significant decision properly before it is allowed to stand," she wrote.
"There are still questions being raised by parents, staff, trade unions, campaigners and councillors. The call-in provides a democratic mechanism to examine those concerns."
Diamond has been contacted for a comment.
Parents said the nursery closures, planned for July 2027, were "devastating", but the council said subsidising the nurseries at £1.1m a year was "not viable for the future".
South Tyneside's lead member for children's services Michelle Fascione said she could understand why people were upset, but the local authority had no statutory obligation to provide the nurseries.
However, she accepted the council had an obligation to provide alternative provision for all children.
