Pen Green: Families protest at nursery funding change

Supporters gathered outside The Cube in Corby, ahead of a North Northamptonshire Council meeting

Parents, children and staff have protested against budget cuts to a children's nursery.

The Pen Green Centre in Corby, Northamptonshire, will have its budget cut by half, in a move campaigners described as "catastrophic".

Margy Whalley, who helped set up Pen Green in 1983, said the situation had left her "angry".

North Northants Council leader Jason Smithers said nurseries were "fairly funded from the resources available".

The Conservative-run authority has been allocated £933,309 from the government's maintained nursery schools grant programme for 2022-23 - down from £1,204,011 the year before.

That money must be used to support provision for children at four maintained nursery schools - Pen Green, Ronald Tree Nursery in Kettering, and Croyland and Highfield nurseries in Wellingborough.

Pen Green, which received £1,027,620 last year, will now see its allocation reduced to £503,987.

It will receive a one-off payment of £350,000 to help with the transition.

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The three other nurseries will each receive £100,000 one-off payments.

Parents said staff at Penn Green Centre were more like family than workers

Parents and nursery workers said fair funding was needed for all nursery schools across North Northamptonshire

But Ms Whalley said it was "not fair that the council seemed to be setting nurseries against nurseries".

"Corby has the worst statistics in the whole of Northamptonshire - the highest levels of poverty and deprivation," she said.

"We deserve a different kind of service in Corby.

"Pen Green's not just a nursery school. It's more than that - it's education, health, social care and family support."

A protest started outside Pen Green and move to The Cube in Corby

Lyndsey Barnett, executive head teacher at Croyland, said grants for nursery schools had not been "distributed fairly" over the last 20 years.

It had led to "the three nursery schools being unable to survive", she said.

"These additional services should be funded from other grants rather than at the detriment of the future of three nursery schools that are just as valued and important to the children and communities they serve," she said.

Supporters of Pen Green Centre for children and their families made banners and placards for the protest

Mr Smithers said: "We have seen and heard passion and commitment from all of our nurseries and their advocates... and I fully understand the strength of feeling regarding the funding.

"It is essential that we ensure all four of our nursery schools are funded fairly from the resources available.

"I am committed to supporting all four nurseries through the proposed funding changes over the next year whilst the Scrutiny Review takes place."