Council Early Learning Centres

The Christchurch City Council is to continue “business as usual” at the Council’s Early Learning Centres at QEII and Pioneer Recreation and Sport Centres.

However, as there was no acceptable purchase offer for the Tuam Street Early Learning Centre, it will close at the end of this year.

In June last year the Council confirmed its commitment to Early Learning Centre support and to the continuation of childcare provision at QEII and Pioneer Early Learning Centres. It decided to seek proposals for outsourcing the operation of the QEII and Pioneer centres and to sell the Tuam Street Early Learning Centre as a going concern, or to close the centre if a buyer could not be found.

The Council has now considered an evaluation of the proposals received in response to the RFP and made the decision to close the Tuam Street centre (for which no acceptable proposals were received) and to decline all proposals received for QEII and Pioneer. The Council will continue to operate these two centres meantime.

Proposals for QEII and Pioneer took into account the loss-making nature of their operation and the likelihood that this would deteriorate once a new operator faced additional overheads like building rentals and maintenance costs, not currently charged to the centres.

“Instead of handing these challenges over to another operator, it is better if we address them ourselves and revisit the outsourcing option later on,” says General Manager of Community Services, Michael Aitken.

Mr Aitken said it was too soon to know what impact the closure of the Tuam Street centre would have on staff, as there were vacancies at the other two centres that may well be taken up by those staff. “We are committed to working with staff and unions to find employment options for the staff wherever possible.

“It is business as usual at Tuam Street until the end of the year. By then, the Council will have moved from the civic building to the new council building in Hereford Street and families will have had more than six months to explore alternative childcare arrangements,” he says.

ENDS

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