Warwickshire nursery places get a lasting lifeline

beehiveweb.co.uk editorial team 2026-07-22 12:10 3 min read

A teacher leads young children in a music class while playing small handheld instruments.

More than 500 nursery places across Warwickshire have been protected from possible closure through an approved £8.23 million building programme.

The investment will replace or comprehensively refurbish 14 ageing nursery buildings on school sites. Warwickshire County Council said the premises are approaching the end of their usable lives, putting locally available early years provision at risk without major work.

Funded through the council’s Capital Investment Fund, the programme will run for three years and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2029.

More than 500 places protected across 14 sites

The immediate effect for families is continuity. Without the investment, nursery services operating from deteriorating buildings could have closed, potentially leaving parents to find childcare farther from home.

The protected provision includes places used by children receiving deprivation or disability funding and those who need special educational needs and disabilities support before entering statutory schooling. Maintaining those services is intended to avoid breaks in early support as children prepare to start school.

The council has not identified the 14 affected locations in its published announcement. It has also not provided individual construction dates or temporary arrangements for each nursery, so families will need site-specific information as the programme progresses.

Cllr Wayne Briggs, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for Children and Families, Education and SEND, said access to stable local childcare supports children’s development while helping parents remain in work.

“By replacing these ageing premises with modern, purpose-built environments, we are ensuring that over 500 children can continue to access local, high-quality childcare,” he said.

Twelve nursery buildings will be replaced

Most of the investment will go towards new modular facilities designed specifically for early years education. Twelve buildings will be replaced, one will receive a complete refurbishment, and one nursery setting will move into a repurposed area within an existing main school building.

The planned facilities will include refurbished outdoor areas and canopied spaces where learning can continue in different weather conditions. The buildings are also expected to have upgraded insulation, ventilation and heating systems.

Those efficiency measures are designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and ongoing operating costs compared with the ageing premises. The source announcement does not provide projected energy savings or a site-by-site breakdown of the £8.23 million budget.

Warwickshire County Council will remain the landlord of the buildings, while independent, private and voluntary nursery operators continue delivering services. The council expects the properties to generate rental income over their planned 60-year lifespan, although protecting the nursery places is described as the main purpose of the investment.

Construction will be phased through to 2029

Initial planning and groundworks for the first phase are expected to begin during the autumn term of 2026. Major construction will be concentrated in school summer holidays where possible to limit disruption to children, families and neighbouring school operations.

The phased approach means the 14 sites will not all be upgraded at once. The published programme sets an overall completion deadline at the end of 2029, but does not yet give opening dates for individual replacement buildings.

The next confirmed milestone is the start of planning and ground preparation for the first group of nursery sites in autumn 2026.

Source: Warwickshire County Council

Context & actions About this article

Source check How this report was checked

The figures, building plans and delivery dates were checked against Warwickshire County Council’s published announcement dated 22 July 2026.

Checks

Confirmed the approved capital investment as £8.23 million.
Confirmed that more than 500 places across 14 nursery sites are covered.
Checked the programme split: 12 replacements, one refurbishment and one repurposed setting...
Confirmed initial works are projected for autumn 2026, with completion by the end of 2029.

Warwickshire County Council Check wider coverage