Closure may follow pay rise

Nursery workers who successfully battled for increased pay last year are now worried about the future of their local authority nursery centres. Following strike action last June, nursery officers in the London borough of Ealing negotiated a fair pay and grading claim (News, 9 August 2001). But now the council is assessing its under-fives services and the four nursery centres, Disraeli, Hanbury, Hanwell and Windmill, where the nursery officers work, plus five nursery schools, are reported to be under consideration for closure. Responsibility for the nursery centres was moved from the social services department to education last year.