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FROM LEFT: Shaunagh de Boinville, of The Children's House, Basingstoke MP Maria Miller and North West Hampshire MP Sir George Young with nursery pupils

THOUSANDS of nursery places in Hampshire could be lost if Government plans go ahead, operators claim.

The Association of Private, Voluntary and Independent Providers (Hampshire) is warning that many members could be forced to close or go totally private if the Government changes the way free nursery education is delivered from 2010.

Basingstoke MP Maria Miller arranged to discuss the issue with parents at Heather Rabbit Nursery, in Nately Scures, Hook, last Friday.

Nursery owner Rosemary Ward claimed two nurseries in the county had already closed because of the funding problems.

She added: "The Government is making it impossible because we cannot run for £3.20 an hour."

Mrs Miller and North West Hampshire MP Sir George Young visited The Children's House, Grantham Farm Montessori School, in Wolverton Road, Baughurst, where the Hampshire association launched a "Save Our Nurseries" campaign to highlight the problem.

Shaunagh de Boinville, owner of The Children's House, said three and four-year-olds are currently entitled to 12-and-a-half hours of free nursery education each week up to a maximum of two-and-a-half hours each day.

She said the Government grants to cover this are insufficient to meet their running costs, but nurseries can supplement this by charging fees for other hours the children attend - particularly as parents often leave children for longer than two-and-a-half hours on days when they use the nursery.

Under the proposed changes, the free entitlement would rise to 15 hours a week, with an unlimited amount each day until the 15 hours have been reached, giving nurseries far less flexibility to recover the shortfall, she added.

Mrs de Boinville said: "We would either have to drop out of the scheme or we would have to close.

"It's going to be a huge problem in Hampshire because there will be thousands of places lost because of groups dropping out or closing."

Mrs Miller, Conservative shadow family welfare minister, said: "My main concern is to ensure parents have access to the full entitlement of 12-and-a-half hours a week and some nursery operators feel that the money available does not match the costs they incur. At the moment, this is not being addressed by central Government.

"The way the funding works is creating a problem for parents and nursery operators."

She said the problem could hit Hampshire hard because at least 80 per cent of child care and nursery support is privately provided.

10:27am Monday 17th March 2008

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