Funding pressures force closure of parade community preschool in Hilsea

Manager and founder Cathy Robinson said the decision was the result of insufficient funding.

“The early years system is completely broken, there’s not enough money,” she said.

She explained that the nursery education funding rate the school receives per hour no longer matches the new national minimum wage, which increased in April.

Robinson described the recent expansion of free childcare, giving working parents 30 hours a week of state-funded provision during term time, as “the last nail in the coffin”.

She said this, combined with rising costs, had added to financial pressures stretching back to the pandemic.

“Covid had a big impact, we’re a term-time-only school but to serve the community we stayed open for 52 weeks to support key workers and vulnerable children.

“We had other children, including SEND children, from other settings that were closed. We never got any reimbursement for all the extra weeks we paid staff for.

“We had to pay for our own PPE, our own cleaning services and since then we’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Robinson said the local Hilsea community is “outraged”, with parents “up in arms”.

“Hilsea is a very tight-knit community, we all care about each other, it’s a family and everyone is devastated. We’ve had parents come in crying.”

As the founder of the school 25 years ago, she added: “This is my baby, I feel like I’m losing part of me.”

Portsmouth City Council, as the local education authority, allocates national government funding to early years settings.

A spokesperson said: “We understand that the closure of The Parade Community Preschool has been upsetting for families and staff.

“As a privately run setting, the decision to close was made by the provider due to national funding pressures, and not by the council.

“Our Early Years and Childcare Service is here to support families in finding alternative childcare, and we encourage anyone affected to contact us for guidance and assistance.

“You can find more information at: portsmouth.gov.uk/services/children-and-families/childcare/finding-childcare.”

Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin said she was “heartbroken” over the closure, praising Cathy, Jane and their team for providing “outstanding care” and going “above and beyond” for vulnerable children.

She said she was “deeply concerned that this crisis was allowed to unfold without proper intervention”, noting the nursery’s high number of children with SEND who received vital one-to-one support.

Ms Martin added that “this should never have happened” and urged other providers in “dire financial straits” to seek help early.

She said “questions remain” over the council’s role, citing delayed Education, Health and Care Plans and whether it had “appropriately flagged financial difficulties” as the nursery’s landlord.

The MP said she would continue supporting the nursery’s staff “in whichever way I can”.

However, a council spokesperson said the Portsmouth North MP had been fully briefed. They added : "The MPs office has been fully briefed on the situation but the information shared isn’t reflected in (her) comments (above).

“No children at the preschool have EHCPs or are awaiting them. As a landlord we have kept a low rent because of the preschool's importance to the community. As a council we have been available to offer support and advice but are unable to do anything about the underfunding of the sector that has led to this closure."

The Department for Education was approached for comment.