West Lothian council proposals to close nine nurseries met with shock from parents

Parents have reacted with shock at proposals to close nine council nurseries in West Lothian.

In a social media post published on Wednesday, the local authority revealed that due to a “reduction in the demand for places” several facilities could close.

The council said there are currently thousands of empty places due to an oversupply of early learning and childcare provision in the area.

Mother-of-three Jade Lang said the news was a shock and a concern. Her son attends Deans North Nursery, one of the facilities now listed for possible closure.

“That’s me just found out this morning, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” she said. “I’m quite sad actually as my little girl went here and now her brother and I was going to send my youngest boy here too.

“Obviously, I’d wanted to keep the three of them at the same nursery as they know all the staff.

“It will have a great impact on parents here as they rely on the transition going smoothly from nursery into primary school.”

STV News broke the announcement to most parents at the gates to Deans North Nursery on Thursday morning, who said they had not been told about the proposals.

Several parents who found out through social media accused the council of trying to save money “at the expense of our children’s future”.

Responding to the council’s social media post, Lynn Armstrong said: “I am now looking at the possibility of moving (my son) to a new nursery for around seven months to move again and then move to a school he has never been to and with potentially no friends from nursery.

“I am also angry that no one told us this may happen when we applied.”

Jade McDowell added: “This is absolutely shocking. No email to the parents whose kids have places in January 2025 in these nurseries either to give the heads up, we have to read about it on Facebook”.

Lesley Simpson said the proposals were “disgusting” citing that one of the nurseries set to close is already at capacity meaning any closure would make “zero sense”.

The nurseries which would close in August 2025 if the plans were to be agreed are:

Deans North Nursery School
Fauldhouse Nursery Class
Glenvue Nursery School
Ladywell Nursery School
Linlithgow Bridge Nursery Class
St Anthony’s Nursery Class, Armadale
St Joseph’s Nursery Class, Whitburn
Bathgate West Nursery School (currently an inactive service)
Our Lady’s Nursery Class, Stoneyburn (currently an inactive service)

The announcement came on the same day that charities and campaign groups called for an urgent review into childcare in Scotland due to nursery fees rising and waiting lists for private nurseries also growing.

Data from charity and campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed shows 80% of parents have already received an increase or are expecting costs to go up.

Accessibility is also a problem, with almost half (48%) of parents facing a waiting list of six months or longer, while a third (30%) say there is a nine-month waiting list to access their local childcare provider.

Less than a third of parents also believe the Scottish Government will deliver on its promise to expand funded childcare for all children under three.

Carole Erskine, the charity’s head of policy and campaigns in Scotland, said: “Our data shows that childcare in Scotland is neither affordable, nor accessible.

“The Scottish Government has repeatedly paid lip service to this issue, claiming they will bring costs down, but to date, we have seen little action.

“Meanwhile, waiting lists are so long, some parents are forced to put their baby’s name down for a place when they are in their first trimester of pregnancy.”

West Lothian council’s own officers have recommended the nursery closures citing an oversupply of early learning and childcare provision in the area.

They say their data shows that the council currently has capacity for 6,814 children but are sitting with 2,017 empty places. If the closures were to go ahead, it would result in 848 places being removed.

Their report is being presented to the Education Executive for approval.

The council officers note that there “multiple alternative options” for families in the impacted areas.

The council have confirmed that there would be no job losses as a result of these proposals.

More details on the proposals can be viewed here on the West Lothian Council website.