Thursday September 10th 2026
Protests at nursery plans.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Scottish Borders Council has been required to issue a full apology after an ombudsman upheld a complaint that a public consultation over proposed mothballing of nurseries was “unreasonable”.
In April 2025, the council’s Executive Committee approved a proposal to consult on mothballing five Early Learning Centres – Channelkirk, Cockburnspath, Ednam, Walkerburn and Yetholm – due in part to low enrolment numbers.
But amid the public backlash members of full council agreed to “set aside” that decision on May 9th.
A motion was approved to keep all the nurseries open for the next academic year, with continued engagement with parents and carers.
In May and June of last year a consultation on Early Learning and Childcare provision was held.
Now a Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has upheld a complaint regarding the consultation process and has required SBC to make a “meaningful apology that recognises the impact on the parent community and the children”.
The council must also make adjustment to the public record to acknowledge the “weight of parental opposition to the proposals, the failings of the consultation, and the misleading nature of the ensuing report”.
Additionally, learning and improvement action has to be taken to include a policy on the agreed approach to public consultation; commitment to engaging with parents on education policy development; measures to ensure that any legal concerns are dealt with appropriately and improvements to complaints and FoI systems.
The ombudsman, while acknowledging that the consultation was required to take place within an unusually short timescale, found shortcomings in the way it was planned and carried out.
Consultees were not given clear information at the outset about the purpose and scope of the consultation, or how their views would influence the decisions being made.
Nor was it clear from the outset what opportunities would be given for consultees to provide their views, beyond an initial meeting and online form.
Weaknesses were also found in the recording and reporting of consultation activity.
The quality of records of meetings varied, no notes were taken at later meetings where detailed proposals were discussed, and the report provided to elected members “did not adequately reflect the extent of parental opposition and procedural concerns raised during the consultation”.
In addition, concerns the complainant asked to be referred to the council’s legal team were not passed on and there was no evidence that the council had considered seeking the affected children’s views.
It was unclear also whether or how SBC had utilised their Community Engagement Strategy and Toolkit.
The report states: “While we recognised the challenging circumstances and compressed timescales involved, and that the consultation ultimately resulted in tailored solutions for each setting, we concluded that shortcomings in the planning, conduct and reporting of the consultation were such that the complaint should be upheld.”
In response, David Robertson, Scottish Borders Council’s Chief Executive, said: “We operate a diverse and complex range of public services for the people and communities of the Borders. Local people quite rightly have high expectations of their council. Sometimes we fall short and may make mistakes.
“We engaged in good faith with the ombudsman throughout their full investigation of this matter and accept their findings in full.
“While the SPSO recognised the challenging circumstances and compressed timescales within which the consultation was undertaken, it concluded that aspects of the planning, conduct and reporting of the consultation fell below the standard that consultees were entitled to expect and we are sorry about that.
“We will now take the action the SPSO requires, including a review of our Community Engagement Toolkit to ensure that it reflects the findings of this investigation and we will ensure that it is embedded across the organisation. We will also issue a full apology to the complainant.
“While we do accept the shortcomings in the process we followed, it is important to note that all of the five nurseries involved now have arrangements, co-produced with local parents, that have ensured they remain open providing high quality early years learning experiences for children.”
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