A Lanarkshire college has announced that two of its nurseries will be closing from the end of the current term.
New College Lanarkshire is set to close nurseries in Coatbridge and Cumbernauld after staff were this week told that the college faces significant 'financial challenges'.
It has resulted in a real terms cut of around £4.3m in the next financial year.
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Over the last three years, the college has had to fork out more than £1m in additional funding in order to maintain the nursery provision.
A spokesperson for the college said: “Unfortunately, the college’s new financial situation means it is impossible to sustain this level of support and, as a result, the board was left with no realistic option other than closure from the end of the current nursery term.
“Both centres have offered a superb service for children and parents for many years and the board is extremely grateful for the invaluable contributions staff have made towards the education and care of young people in our region.
“However, the new financial reality resulting from the college’s real term funding allocation cut has made it impossible to continue to run the nurseries when our primary responsibility must be to achieve positive outcomes for our students.”
This decision came after a six-month, wide-ranging review of the nurseries involving staff, trade unions and external advisers.
All staff in the nurseries will be offered the options of redeployment within the wider college community or to apply for voluntary redundancy.
The college is also putting in place support plans for children and guardians, and for staff, with a designated person being available over the coming weeks to discuss the plans and their impact on individuals in detail.
These support plans will include advice and guidance on what assistance is available and what additional support can be offered.
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