Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ask Sheffield Hallam University to reconsider its proposal to close its Collegiate nursery provision.

I would like to say how sorry I was to read of the proposed closure of Sheffield Hallam’s nursery. I know how devastating such closures can be and the impact this can have on families and the wider community.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.

The department does not regulate the contracts between private businesses and parents buying childcare from them, and it would not be appropriate to become involved in local decision making. We are therefore unfortunately unable to directly intervene in individual cases.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and where needed support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. No local authorities