On 4 August 2022, families in Hillingdon Borough were shocked to receive a letter telling them that all of Hillingdon’s Early Years Centres would be closing on 31 December 2022.  The Borough would lose Uxbridge Early Years Centre, South Ruislip Early Years and Children’s Centre and Nestles Avenue Early Years and Children’s Centre.

The decision came out of the blue for parents.  It had been made behind closed doors with no public consultation and no vote, using what the Council called ‘special urgency rules’.  It was a move that would leave 102 children in the Borough without nursery places in the new year.

Residents of Hillingdon have fought back against the closures, coming together to organise marches, protests and petitions.

Orest Bakhovski, one of the parents fighting against the closures said:

“By making the decision in the manner in which they did, the Council has effectively been marking its own homework with no regard for the impact on the community and working parents.  We are confident there are alternative options, which will mean nurseries can remain open, if only the Council was willing to listen.  The nurseries are a much-loved part of the community, with staff that are highly trained to deal with specific needs of children and families.  Particularly at a time when households need most support, the closure of the settings will be devastating.”

Under pressure from the campaigners, on 21 October 2022, Hillingdon Council announced a ‘pause’ to the decision in order to hold a meeting to hear petitions against the closure.  The meeting took place on 1 November 2022 and ended with the Council saying it would make a fresh decision on the closures, but failing to confirm when that decision would be made.

With many families unable to find accessible and affordable alternative childcare, parents had no choice other than to take legal action and have issued a claim for Judicial Review with the High Court.

The Judicial Review claim challenges the Council’s decision to close the early years centres on five grounds:

1. The use of special urgency powers to close a service is unlawful – the decision was taken in breach of the Council’s executive arrangements and was therefore in breach of section 9D of the Local Government Act 2000;
2. The Council failed to carry out a statutory consultation in breach of section 5D of the Childcare Act 2006;
3. The Council breached the public sector equality duty at section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 by failing to identify ways to mitigate against the negative impacts of the closures on children and failing to consider whether working mothers would be negatively impacted by the cessation of cheaper and more local childcare;
4. The Council failed to promote and improve the well-being of children contrary to section 1 of the Childcare Act 2006 and section 11 of the Children Act 2004; and
5. The Council unreasonably failed to make sufficient enquiries in relation to the financial implications of the decision.

Watkins and Gunn Solicitors, based in Cardiff, act for the parents and children bringing the Judicial Review challenge.  Senior Associate Solicitor, Lucy O’Brien, acting for the families said:

“Working parents are currently being faced with so many unprecedented challenges with the rapidly escalating costs of energy, fuel, food and housing, the last thing they need is the withdrawal of their only affordable childcare option. The Council’s decision to close all of its Early Years provision has been catastrophic for some of these families, with many parents in Hillingdon not knowing if they will be able to carry on working after December. Legal proceedings are always a last resort, but in this case, efforts to persuade the Council to keep the nurseries open have failed, and parents have no choice other than to turn to the Court.”

For further information on this case please contact Lucy O’Brien or  Jack Felvus.