FINANCIAL pressures have caused the closure of another nursery in East Cornwall ? it has left a gaping hole in childcare provision for children under the age of three in Callington. Cotton-tail Nursery, on the outskirts of Callington, will close at the end of July, just a year after nearby Celliwic Pre-School shut its doors. Chris and Jan Stevens built up the nursery at South Coombeshead Barns into a well-respected, high quality education and care facility over the last eleven years. They have indicated that it has become very hard to generate a sound income in the nursery business. Despite concerns expressed to Cornwall County Council?s family services department Mr and Mrs Stevens said the major issues of childcare funding and organisation had not been addressed and it was no longer viable to continue running Cotton-tails. The Childcare Act 2006 places duties on local authorities to take a strategic lead in planning and supporting childcare. ?We did warn family services that if we did not receive any help at all then we would not exist and that is precisely what has happened,? they said. ?There appears to be a funding bias towards school nurseries and in the meantime the independent ones are falling by the wayside.? In a letter to parents, the couple said the economics of the nursery, which was currently caring for 40 children, had been affected by the move to place three-year-olds onto school sites and the inability of the educational grant for three and four year olds to keep pace with the rising nursery costs. Nurseries are prevented from charging parents top up fees over and above the nursery education grant. The National Day Nurseries Association claims that day nurseries are losing an average of £1.66 per pre-school child for free 2.5-hour sessions of nursery education. A report found they receive an average of £7.92 for delivering each session ? just £3.12 an hour. ?All providers are given the same funding regardless of whether they operate in a subsidised village hall or purpose-built premises with much greater overheads,? said the Stevens in their letter. Mr Stevens told the Times that universities were given ?top up? funding by the Government when closures looked imminent, but nurseries did not have ?the same sort of clout.? ?We now have serious concerns for nursery education in the immediate Callington area unless the situation is addressed rapidly,? the couple added. ?We predicted this situation in 2004 and have constantly re-iterated it at county level. It fills us with great sadness that the prediction appears to have come true.? The lack of income in nursery education has hampered the Stevens? plans to sell their premises as a going concern for the past three years. Contracts have now been exchanged for a non nursery use and despite the search for a new, cheaper location none of the venues have proved fruitful. Caradon area manager for family services Maureen Hunt said family services worked with nursery providers across the county to ensure it met its statutory duty to develop childcare and provide choices for families with young children. ?Although there is some childcare in Callington, we are aware that there is a need for more and are working to a clear strategy to develop the childcare market in the area,? she said. ?We need to target childcare provision to best suit the needs of the community and are speaking to local parents, childcare providers and employers to ensure that provision development matches these needs.?
