MP Jo Swinson backs nursery campaign

She told the Kirkintilloch Herald she has written to the council demanding answers over the cash cut to Kidsplay in Kirkintilloch.

Staff there have been told by the council an application for vital money has been refused due to an administrative error by the nursery.

A petition on website change.org by owners Bertram has amassed more than two hundred signatures from parents and nursery supporters.

Ms Swinson said: “Parents whose children attend Kidsplay nursery will be extremely concerned that this error may deny important financial support to Kidsplay, putting the nursery places of local children at risk.

“I share the parents’ anxiety, which is why I have written to East Dunbartonshire Council asking for a full explanation as to why this basic administrative error may threaten the running of the nursery.

“Kidsplay is highly regarded in the community, and a vital resource for local parents and children, so East Dunbartonshire Council needs to respond to the accusation that they are letting a simple admin error needlessly disrupt the pre-school education of local children.”

The funding cut to Kidsplay comes as its owners the Bertram Nursery Group has discovered it has been shortlisted for Scotland’s Nursery Group of the Year.

The winner of the award by Nursery Management Today (NMT) will be announced in September.