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Parents 'devastated' as pre-school closure confirmed

Simon Ward
BBC News, East Midlands
BBC Two mums and their daughters are smiling for the photo in a park near the Saffron pre-school in Leicester. BBC
Parents had started a petition to keep Saffron Pre-school open

A pre-school in Leicester is to close after the charity that runs it was unable to agree a deal with the city council on rent and service costs.

The pre-school operates in part of the Linwood Centre owned by Leicester City Council on Linwood Lane.

However a rent review by the local authority saw a proposed annual increase for rent and service costs from less than £5,000 to £75,000 annually, with the council saying charges had remained low for years.

Parent Zahra Chaudhary, who started a petition to keep the pre-school open, said: "Everyone is devastated. Parents are scrambling to find other childcare places."

The photo shows a window with the words Save Saffron Pre-school in red lettering.
Hopes of saving Saffron Pre-school from closure have been dashed

The pre-school is run by a national charity Early Years Alliance and has provided 24 Ofsted-registered places for children aged between two and five since 2009.

In June parents became worried when managers informed them that closure was being considered because Leicester City Council was proposing to charge more for rent and maintenance.

The council said the costs had been low for years and it had first set out the proposed increases last year.

In a statement it said: "The proposed increases, set out in April 2024, would see the pre-school's total annual rent rise to £31,095 for the space that it occupies, bringing it in line with market rents, with the annual service charge rising to £44,430 to reflect the actual costs of the electricity, water, sewerage and other services that it uses."

The photo shows a wider perspective of the brick building owned by Leicester City on Linwood Lane.
Saffron Pre-school uses part of a council building in Linwood Lane

Early Years Alliance confirmed the pre-school will subsequently close on Friday.

In a statement it said: "It is with great sadness that we can confirm that Saffron Pre-school will be closing at the end of this term as a result of unsustainable financial pressure.

"Throughout the consultation period, we have worked hard to explore all possible avenues to safeguard the future of Saffron. However, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to find a way forward to keep our pre-school open"

Miss Chaudhary said: "Everyone is really sad, people are upset. In terms of the council it seems like profit over people."

While her daughter is due to start at a primary school, she says other parents with younger children will be searching for childcare places which may be hard to find.

Responding to the closure, Leicester City Council said: "We have only recently found out that the pre-school is closing this week.

"They did not take up our offer to meet with them to negotiate their lease, or for any rent increase to be deferred for a further six months, on top of the 12 months we had already given them.

"We are sorry that they have decided to close, and our children's services team will now support those families affected, to help them find alternative provision nearby."

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