By Kelly Eve Education Reporter

Last updated at 16:40, Friday, 09 July 2010

The future of the Chatterbox nursery run by Carlisle College is in doubt as public spending cuts take hold.

Parents of the 22 children who go to the nursery and its three members of staff face an uncertain summer as a consultation is launched into the operation.

The term-time nursery on Chatsworth Square has run at a loss since it opened around a decade ago.

The college has covered the loss, this year alone topping £25,000, every year since the nursery opened but says it can no longer afford to subsidise it.

Low numbers and uncertainty over the building are also factors affecting its future.

Chatterbox closes for the summer break next week and the consultation is not due to finish until the end of August. Options are being explored. They could include trying to operate all year round in a bid to make it viable.

Last month it was confirmed that the college was looking to axe the equivalent of six full-time jobs as part of efforts to cut £300,000 from spending, reducing the wage bill by 3.5 per cent.

Further education colleges across the country are facing similar financial pressures, with some having to make stringent cuts of 10-25 per cent.

Dave Armstrong, regional officer for Unison which represents the nursery employees, said: “The staff have been told the creche could be closing. They finish for the summer soon.

“They were having one-to-one consultations with the staff on Wednesday to discuss what options there are. Staff are devastated. They knew they were up for a review and decisions would have to be made but there is some annoyance that their ideas put forward had been ignored, for instance, improving the public interest in the nursery to get more children there.”

Parents of four of the children who go to Chatterbox are students at the college. The remaining 18 are from families who choose to send their youngsters there from across the city.

The college says students who use the nursery will not be disadvantaged. The four and a further 33 students get Government grants, with support from the college, to help meet their childcare costs to encourage them back into learning.

The majority use the grants to pay for childminders and nurseries closer to their own homes. Those grants will continue.

A spokesman for Carlisle College said: “It is with the deepest regret that we have to examine the future of our nursery. Though this is a great asset for any college, low numbers of students using the nursery for their children combined with current budget constraints could lead to difficult decisions being made.”

First published at 14:08, Friday, 09 July 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk