Proposals to close a day nursery for pre-school children have been approved for consultation by members of Bolton Council’s Cabinet.
Parents with children attending, and staff working, at Harvey Nursery in Shaw Street will have 30 days to register their views on the proposed closure.
The results of the consultation will be taken back to The Cabinet at a future date before a final decision is made.
Bolton Council has had to find £100m of savings since 2010 and is no longer able to subsidise the running of the nursery.
Harvey Nursery is financially unsustainable and has an annual deficit of almost £68,000 which is likely to increase with each year it stays open.
If the proposals go ahead, the closure would result in the reduction of 20 posts (15.58 FTE), of which six (5.18 FTE) are currently vacant.
Bolton Council would seek to redeploy affected staff to other vacant posts within the authority or accept applications for voluntary early retirement or voluntary redundancy.
If approved, staff would work with parents to find alternative provision and the nursery would continue to operate until the end of term in July 2018, to assist that process.
There are currently 60 children at the nursery, aged between one and four.
The nursery is located within Harvey Children’s Centre.
Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Linda Thomas, said: “The proposed closure of Harvey Nursery is as a direct result of budget pressures. The council has been subsidising the running costs for some time and it is with great sadness that we now have to consider closing it.
“Harvey Nursery is a popular, good quality nursery, so the decision to go down this route is regrettable but unavoidable. Each year we have had to find more and more savings within the council, and we are now in the position where our options are running thin. However, I must stress that we are in consultation so no final decision has been made.
“If the proposals go ahead we will make sure parents are provided with sufficient information to make an alternative choice of childcare. There are many other nurseries in the vicinity offering good provision and a number of free places and funding options for parents.”
The Cabinet met on Monday, September 11 and staff and parents have been informed of the proposals.