Campaigners ‘thrown a lifeline’ in fight to save council-run nuseries in Tower Hamlets
Mums picket Tower Hamlets Council over nursery closures. Picture: Mike Brooke - Credit: Mike Brooke
Parents fighting the closure of three council-run nurseries and a specialist deaf unit in the borough have been “thrown a lifeline” by councillors.
Earlier this month Tower Hamlets Council defied parents who argued that plans to shut the subsidised day nurseries would leave women without childcare options and force them out of work.
Executive mayor John Biggs made the decision to permanently close Overland Nursery, which houses the deaf unit, John Smith nursery in Whitechapel and Mary Sambrook nursery in Wapping, saying the facilities were “too costly” and helped relatively few children.
However, his Labour colleagues “called in” the closure plan and are urging the mayor to think again.
At an overview and scrutiny meeting on Tuesday night councillor Marc Francis said the local Labour party had fought against the closure plans when they were proposed under the former disgraced mayor Lutfur Rahman.
You may also want to watch:
He said: “This is about the way decisions get made in this town hall.
“In 2014 the previous mayor came forward with a plan to close these nurseries. We fought it.
Most Read
- 1 Fury as family homes vanish when Isle of Dogs landlord converts to bedsits
- 2 Man sentenced after teenage boy groomed on Snapchat to sell heroin
- 3 'Racist consultation' protest rejected on Tower Hamlets street closures as Labour sticks to its manifesto
- 4 Covid vaccination hub opening in Westfield next week
- 5 NHS nurse assaulted at east London hospital
- 6 Airbnb house party violence leaves police officer with broken finger
- 7 Council fined for Alexia Walenkaki's playground death in Mile End and says sorry to family
- 8 Police hunt after stabbing in Cable Street: One man hurt
- 9 Man sentenced for assault on Homerton Hospital nurse
- 10 Death of woman, 75, in Mile End fire could have been avoided
“There has been a suggestion that people have been playing games with us to get us through elections.
“We are now [making] the same point Lutfur Rahman made to close the nurseries down.”
Ten of the eleven 11 overview and scrutiny committee councillors endorsed the call in.
The decision will now be considered by the council’s legal officer and the monitoring officer.
If they decided the closures contravene the council’s policy framework, it will be sent to full council later this year.
If the officers advise that the closure decision does not contravene council policy, it will be referred back to the mayor for reconsideration.
