Reform council showed 'courage' in closing nurseries, says Richard Tice
The Reform UK Deputy Leader told LBC he had "great confidence in all of those councillors leading the way"
Reform UK'S Deputy Leader has said he believes a Reform-led council’s decision to close ten publicly-run nurseries was part of having the “courage to make important decisions”.
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Richard Tice told LBC that the Reform-led South Tyneside Council was making a "bold decision" when it came to closing the ten Accredited Network for Learning in the Early Years (Stanley's) nurseries.
The decision to close the nurseries was met with calls of “shame” at a cabinet meeting from concerned parents and 'Save Our Stanley's' campaigners.
The nurseries are set to close in July, 2027, but reductions of the 116 staff will begin in December, 2026.
Mr Tice told Sunday with Lewis Goodall: "Individual councils have to make important decisions. Leadership is not easy."
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"But having the courage to make important decisions and in order to get the bills down, spend the money properly, means I've got great confidence in all of those councillors leading the way," he added.
"That's why they voted for us to take bold decisions."
South Tyneside’s former Labour council began the review of the publicly-funded nurseries, and this review was continued by Reform UK following their local election win. .
The council's lead member for children's services, Michelle Fascione, said that although Reform said it wanted to keep the nurseries open “there was just no way it could be done.”
"The council unfortunately doesn't have a statutory obligation to provide these nurseries and it's been costing us £1.1m a year to subsidise and it's not viable for the future.”
One concerned mother called the closures “devastating,” saying: "It's really hard for working parents to get back to work and this just makes it even harder.”
"It hasn't been a very nice situation for any of the decision-makers at all, it's been horrendous if I'm honest," said Fascione.
Tice also told Goodall that he believes the new Prime Minister is just a "continuity" leader with “a bit more vibes,” ahead of Andy Burnham’s first Labour conference speech as party leader.
“He's sitting on the fence on all the critical issues,” said Tice.
“He's not cutting spending despite the fact that borrowing is going through the roof. He's not prepared to increase defence spending despite having a chancellor that was previously the defence secretary.
“And he still seems keen to give away the strategically important Chagos Islands. So in a sense, it's sort of continuity Burnham with a bit more vibes.” The MP for Boston and Skegnes added: “Andy Burnham's been in politics since he was in nappies.”