Specialist nurseries for children in Leicestershire to be scrapped

Leicestershire County Council says it plans to stop using specialist nurseries for under 5's with additional needs by April 2027.

The council currently commissions four sites to provide specialist care to pre-school children with additional needs during term time:  

• Menphys at Sketchley Hill in Burbage and Wigston - the county council’s maintained Early Years specialist nursery.
• Lifted Beacon in Loughorough and Oasis Retreat in Melton Mowbray (Two specialist provisions attached to Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) settings). 

Under the proposals, mainstream nurseries would get higher funding rates for specialist places, meaning Leicestershire County Council would no longer need to commission the four specialist sites. Menphys in Burbage currently has capacity to care for 24 children per day. 

 The council said the aim is to phase the use of specialist nurseries out by April 2027.  Menphys at Burbage and Wigston would be re-purposed to provide SEND school places for children with additional needs.

Cllr Charles Pugsley, lead member for children and families at Leicestershire County Council, said: “Wherever possible, we should be trying to meet the needs of families of children with additional needs in their local communities.    

“As it stands, some families are having to travel miles in order to access the specialist nurseries and use their childcare funding entitlement.     

“Not only is this inconvenient, but studies tell us that children thrive and have better chances of meeting their full potential when remaining in their communities.   

“Also, there are simply not enough places at specialist nurseries available to meet the needs of all children with additional needs.   

“We are proposing to do what many other authorities have done already; focus instead on making sure there are more specialist trained staff and more specialist provision on people’s doorsteps.   

“As the specialist nurseries are term-time only, this would also give greater opportunities for children with SEND to access funded year-round nursery places.   

If the proposals go through, the council said children who are currently attending specialist nurseries would be supported to transition into a new setting.

Specialist nurseries would be given a 12-notice period before the changes were implemented. 

You can take part in the consultation here:  www.leicestershire.gov.uk/have-your-say/current-engagement/plans-to-provide-more-send-nursery-places-in-local-communities

We have contacted Menphys, Burbage and Lift Beacon for a comment.