NURSERY owners are urging council chiefs to allow them to claim back some of their business rates — or face the possibility of nurseries shutting.

Bolton Council is set to approve a report to pay £5.30 per hour for free nursery places for two-year-olds and £4 per hour for three and four-years-olds, with 38p extra for “deprivation”, next week.

Nursery owners say it costs between £5 and £5.50 per hour to provide a good quality service and will be operating at a loss — at the same time as facing hikes in their business rates.

The council is blaming Government cuts of £634,000 to early years funding — and accepts the problem has been “compounded by the government’s revaluation of business rates”.

Maxine Philips of Jelly Babies Nursery in Little Lever said: “What we are asking is for Bolton Council is to implement a government relief scheme allowing nurseries to claim back 50 per cent of rates collected. The business rates differ from one nursery to another, yet we are all providing a similar service

“There is transitional relief in some cases, but one nursery is facing a business rate hike of £2,000 per month. No nursery can afford that.

“With the hourly rate of the funded hours being cut by the Government for three and four-year-olds, for some nurseries this is a double blow.

“The Government wants to ensure that everyone is on a level playing field when delivering the 30 hours in September.

“We are treated as a educational facility in every way, but have to pay these business rates which differ hugely one to another.

“Some nurseries will have no option but to pass on the costs to parents which is unrealistic and will make their fees unaffordable or to cut corners on quality to try and make ends meet. Either way is not acceptable and Bolton Council need to realise the impact this will have long term for the families and working parents of Bolton.”

Deputy leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Linda Thomas, said: “The Government reviewed the way it funds nursery provision and unfortunately, Bolton suffered a major hit to its grant. Regrettably, this reduction in funding will have a detrimental effect on local nurseries, which are also struggling with increased business rates and additional costs from paying the living wage.

“However, we have listened to their concerns and reduced the amount of money we use for central costs so we can release more funding to help them pay for nursery places.”

Bolton Council said it provides charity and small business rate relief for eligible childcare providers. A nursery in a property with a rateable value below £12,000 would receive a 100 per cent cut in its rates bill from April 1. A rateable value up to £15,000 would attract relief, on a sliding scale. A not-for-profit nursery could apply for discretionary relief of up to 100 per cent.