Plans to close Ripon crèche: what we know so far

Members of the council's cabinet will be asked to approve the closure when they consider a report at their meeting next week, on February 6, which says the Harry’s Place crèche continues to lose money, despite a recent push to promote it.

The council has revealed that between April and December last year, there were an average of just two children in each two-hour crèche session, which required a subsidy of £114 per child.

In the summer last year, the council consulted leisure centre users to find out why the facility was no longer popular and if anything was preventing them from using it.

Nearly 100 people responded. Some said the crèche sessions didn’t match with the times of classes or fitness activities they wanted to join.

Others reported that cost was an issue. The need for a parent or carer having to stay on site at the leisure centre while a child was in the crèche was also said to be a barrier.

In response, the ‘stay-on-site’ restriction was lifted. Harrogate Borough Council said has been a slight increase in the number of children using the crèche since the consultation, even with a price rise, but the council said it is not enough to make it financially viable.

In the long-term, Harry’s Place would require a subsidy of £20,000 every year.

If members of the cabinet approve the closure proposal, three members of staff will be affected by the decision. The council began formal consultation with them this month.

It is proposed that the crèche will close at the end of March.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said: "We are committed to avoiding redundancies, and our first choice will be to find our colleagues new roles."

Harrogate Borough Council's cabinet member responsible for the crèche, Coun Stanley Lumley, said: “We don’t take these decisions lightly and it is with a heavy heart that the recommendation has been made to close Harry’s Place.

“Despite our best efforts since the summer, and a push to promote the crèche, the number of children using hasn’t increased enough to make it viable.

“We cannot afford to subsidise loss-making facilities like these at the expense of the other services we have to provide.

“We are supporting the members of staff who are at risk because of the recommendation to close.”