Labour councillors from East Lancs believe that state-maintained nursery schools are in the midst of a Government funding crisis, which could affect hundreds of pre-school children with special educational needs across the county.

Rossendale Cllr Alyson Barnes and Blackburn with Darwen Cllr Maureen Bateson have jumped on board to try and protect them by signing a petition showing their full support for extra funding.

Cllr Barnes, the Labour Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for Rossendale and Darwen is backing the 'Campaign to Protect Maintained Nursery Schools' after she discovered one of Rossendale's outstanding maintained nurseries, Staghills, was under threat.

Cllr Barnes said: "We are working with the headteacher at Staghills to raise awareness of the threat.

"Maintained nursery schools offer outstanding education and care to some of our most vulnerable children but without a guarantee of future funding, they will not be sustainable."

A maintained nursery school is a local authority school for pre-school children run by a headteacher and specially qualified staff.

They are often in deprived areas and their admission policies prioritise the children in greatest need, meaning that they are able to support children with special education needs and are able to take children which other settings do not have the expertise to support.

According to the 2016-17 Ofsted report, 63 per cent of maintained nurseries were rated outstanding.

In 2017, a new funding formula was introduced by the Government to provide £55 million each year in supplementary funding for maintained nurseries.

However, this funding is set to end after 2019/20.

In October, a survey by the Local Government Association revealed that almost two thirds of councils fear that maintained nursery schools in their area will close unless future funding is protected.

This means thousands of children with special needs could miss out on vital daily care and support.

Cllr Barnes continued: "My concern is what will then happen to these children. All of our children are entitled to a good education and this includes early years education.

"The Government must ensure that there is a funding solution in place for maintained nursery schools."

Cllr Barnes said it was recently reported that Lancashire nurseries receive the lowest level of funding in the country, with some authorities in England receiving almost double the hourly rate per child that nursery schools and care providers receive in Lancashire.

Executive member for children, young people and education at Blackburn with Darwen council, Councillor Maureen Bateson, is also supporting the campaign.

She said: "The amount of money the Government has given to nurseries has left some of them struggling.

"For example, Turncroft, the only maintained nursery in Darwen, is just about balancing its budget, though this may change.

"The maintained nurseries in Blackburn are all in deficit, and they are very worried about the potential settlement.

"Luckily we do have some transition money, but only for one year.

"Early years is a really important element for children and we will continue to lobby for more funding from the Government to keep them running and help them through the funding crisis."

Headteacher of Staghills Nursery School, Linda Connolly, said: "It is acknowledged by the Government that maintained nursery schools perform a different role to other forms of early years provision.

"They transform lives, helping to close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.

"Without the funding guarantee from the Government, nursery schools like Staghills are facing an uncertain and desperate future."

Despite this, a Department for Education spokesperson said that they would continue to use the Disability Access Fund, worth £12.5million, and the early years national funding formula, meaning councils can direct more funding to where need is higher.

The spokesperson said: "Children with additional needs should have exactly the same access to early education as every other child.

"That is why we are supporting councils and childcare providers to provide the right support for these children through our Disability Access Fund.

"This is on top of the £6 billion of funding specifically for children with more complex special educational needs and disabilities.

"Maintained nursery schools make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children, alongside wider government support including our free childcare offer for two-year-olds – that’s why we are providing local authorities with around £60million a year up until 2020 to protect maintained nursery schools funding."

"We continue to work closely with headteachers of maintained nurserie schools to better understand the value these nurseries offer, so I would urge councils not to make premature decisions on the future of these nurseries as this work continues."