Call for Herts County Council to buy St Albans nursery building from NHS to stop sell off

St Albans county councillor Chris White has called upon the County Council to indicate that it is prepared to buy the building which partially houses the Muriel Green Nursery, to stop it being sold off and putting the nursery’s future in doubt.

The call came after St Albans MP Daisy Cooper secured confirmation from the NHS that Hertfordshire County Council was to be given ‘first refusal’ on buying the building.

The first floor of the property was previously occupied by NHS services until early 2022. Following relocation of those services, the property was declared surplus by the NHS body for Hertfordshire and West Essex, the NHS Integrated Care Board (or “ICB”). Hertfordshire County Council currently hold a lease on the property.

Cllr Chris White said: “It is impossible to overstate the value of this facility to the community, both in terms of delivering basic nursery education and in terms of the role it performs in early years Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) education.

“Given the level of underfunding of special needs in Hertfordshire which has come to light because of campaigning by the Liberal Democrats, it is even more vital that what we have, is protected. We have seen warm words: but we now need to know what actions will follow.

“Parents and governors have had an anxious wait and it is time the waiting was over and the future secured.”

Daisy Cooper MP said: “Good quality child-care is incredibly hard to come by and potentially losing this provision in St Albans is deeply concerning.

“Families in Hertfordshire are already being short-changed by the government, as SEND funding in Buckinghamshire was £823 per head for 2021-2022, whilst for Hertfordshire it was only £549.

“I wrote to Herts County Council on 27 July 2022 inviting them to write to the Minister with this information. Despite my chasing several times, HCC only responded to me just before Christmas.

“Whilst I continue my campaign to call on the Conservative government to provide fair SEND funding, I’m also backing Chris White’s calls for the Conservative-led county council to start prioritising SEND, and to buy the Muriel Green nursery building.”