Welsh nursery provision faces fresh threat

Rhondda Cynon Taf county council will meet on Friday to discuss cutting the nursery provision budget as part of a wider reduction in local service funding in order to fill a £30m funding gap in the council budget next year.

School music lessons, street cleaning and park services will also be affected by the cuts.

These potential cuts come not long after parents in Rhondda Cynon Taf successfully fought a legal battle over the council’s plan to cut full-time nursery education provision for three-year-olds.

Parents Against Cuts to Education in RCT won a judicial review in the High Court in London to overturn the council's plans for childrne to start full-time nursery at four instead of three.

The new cabinet has now ruled out any amendments to nursery admission arrangements until at least September 2015 as a result.

Commenting on the latest round of cuts, council leader Andrew Morgan said, 'I fully accept this will cause a great amount of public concern, and as a new leader, if I had a choice this is not something I would want us to do.

'The reality of the situation means we have no alternative other than to consider consulting on this area.'

Last week ministers announced that the Welsh local government budget will fall by £190m (4.1%) next year, due to Welsh funding being cut by £1.7bn in 2015.

'When you consider these figures in the context of rising demand for services such as social services, other financial pressures and the direction to protect the 5-16 schools budget, non protected areas of spending which are provided above statutory levels will therefore have to take the brunt of the cuts,’ Mr Morgan said.

Welsh Local Government Association councillor Aaron Shotton said, ‘Many of the services that communities take for granted are now at risk, including leisure centres, libraries, community facilities and day centres.’