Rising costs and fewer pupils test preschool team
BBCStaff at a preschool have said they fear for its future due to a declining number of children enrolling and rising costs.
Key worker Heather Curtis said only 26 children had been enrolled in Toad Hall Preschool in Peverell, Plymouth for September, despite the school having a capacity for 60.
Teachers said they believed the low national birth rate was one reason for the reduction in three and four-year-olds who had been signed up to join the school.
Curtis said increases to the national minimum wage, national insurance contributions and rising costs meant the team could not "balance the books".
Curtis said: "Things cost more money nowadays but we can't really charge for extra things, what comes through the door is what we have to spend."
Secretary of the Toad Hall committee Ross Farr-Semmens said the preschool had been unable to provide its 10 staff with the full amount of holiday pay during the summer.
He said the committee had launched a fundraising campaign to ensure it could reopen in September and had explored different sources of funding.
"It just feels that we have to go over and above to keep ourselves afloat," Farr-Semmens said.
Staff at the preschool said it would start accepting two-year-olds for the first time from September.
Plymouth City Council said it was aware of the challenges facing Toad Hall and had been in touch with the provider ''to understand its current position and explore available options''.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said "nurseries and preschools were at the heart of their communities".
"We know providers face wider cost pressures, which is why we have increased funding rates above inflation and are backing the workforce with financial incentives and new training routes," they added.
The government said it was investing £9.5bn to fund 30 hours per week of childcare for working parents, saving families £8,000 a year.
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