Nursery set to charge 25% extra on fees for parents

Parents have received a letter stating their nursery bills will soar by 25% following on from the privatisation of Shepherd’s Lane Little Owls Nursery.

Little Owls Nursery bills are currently set to £61 per day, and this will rise to £76 per day in 2026 once the takeover has been completed, on average an added £70 per week in costs.

In July 2025, it was announced that Littles Owls Nurseries in Harehills and Rothwell would be sold from Leeds City Council to Sunshine Community Nursery Ltd and Sweet Peas Day Care and Teaching respectively, with the council citing budget shortfalls for the privatisation.

According to council estimates, this change will save the council approximately £124,000 across 2025-26 and a further £500,000 the following year.

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Ever since the council announced the potential privatisation of the nurseries, disgruntled parents have set up a protest group, Save Little Owls, and have been campaigning against the decision.

Iain Dalton, a spokesperson for the campaign group said, “throughout our campaigning over the last year and a half, Save Little Owls Nurseries campaigners have warned that any attempts to privatise nurseries would likely lead to detrimental changes for parents and carers as the new private owners sought to protect and increase their profits,” in a recent press release.

“This is why it has been so vital that our campaign has existed to organise the opposition of parents, carers and trade unionists against these proposals, meaning that at least 3/4 of nurseries the council had suggested could be privatised remain in council hands without these fee hikes.”

Upon speaking further to Dalton, he said, “the council have said that they were carrying this out due to their funding crisis and that they only had a statutory duty to ensure that there was sufficient nursery provision, not to provide it themselves.”

Leeds City Council have said, “both Leeds based providers bring a wealth of experience in supporting young children and their families, along with a commitment to staff wellbeing. They have demonstrated their ability to deliver high-quality, inclusive childcare and early education and their application provided strong assurances regarding their capability to deliver a viable business model.”

“Ongoing focused work will follow at a setting level, to ensure that each of the retained Little Owls nurseries are as effective and efficient as they can be going forward.”

Dalton further explained, “we have always said privatisation would come with increased costs to parents or even a reduction in opening hours for the nursery.”

“We proposed to the council instead that they should work with us as parents, plus with their trade unions who represent the nursery workers to campaign to reverse the funding cuts they’ve had from central government.”

The council originally operated 24 Little Owls Nurseries in Leeds, with three sites shut down in 2024.

While only two sites have been privatised, there were discussions within the council on the potential privatisation of ten other Little Owls Nurseries.

These ten other nurseries have managed to survive the privatisation, as the council failed to find a suitable alternative provider.

The Save The Little Owls campaign group will continue to protest against further closures and privatisations of the Little Owls Nurseries.

Leeds City Council have promised to “remain committed to transparent communication… and families will continue to receive updates relevant to their nursery setting.”