People across Leicestershire are being invited to have their say on proposals to create more accessible and inclusive nursery places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their local communities.
Leicestershire County Council is consulting on plans to shift the focus away from a small number of term-time specialist nurseries and instead increase support for children with additional needs in mainstream early years settings close to home.
Picture credit: Leicestershire County Council
Under the proposals, extra funding and specialist support would be provided to mainstream nurseries to help them deliver SEND places within neighbourhoods. This would be backed by enhanced funding rates and expertise from the council’s Early Years team.
Currently, specialist nursery provision is spread across four term-time settings in the county, meaning some families have to travel long distances to access childcare and use their funded entitlement. The council says moving provision into local mainstream nurseries would make early years education more accessible and inclusive, while also allowing children to remain part of their communities.
If the plans go ahead, the council would no longer need to commission places at the four specialist nurseries. However, it is proposed that some of the buildings could be repurposed to help meet growing demand for SEND provision for statutory school-aged children and young people.
Cllr Charles Pugsley, lead member for children and families, said the approach would better meet the needs of families across the county.
“Wherever possible, we should be trying to meet the needs of families of children with additional needs in their local communities,” he said. “At the moment, some families are having to travel miles to access specialist nurseries and use their childcare funding entitlement. Not only is this inconvenient, but evidence shows that children do better when they can stay within their communities.
“There are also simply not enough places at specialist nurseries to meet demand. We are proposing to do what many other local authorities have already done – focusing on more specialist-trained staff and better provision on people’s doorsteps.”
He added that, because specialist nurseries currently operate during term time only, the proposals could also give children with SEND greater access to funded, year-round nursery places.
Following the consultation, and subject to approval, the council aims to gradually phase out the use of specialist nurseries by April 2027.
Residents, parents and carers of children with additional needs, and those working in the early years sector are particularly encouraged to share their views as part of the consultation.
