OIC to take on running of new nursery

Kirkwall’s new nursery looks set to be run by Orkney Islands Council (OIC), after a vote by councillors today.

The local authority built the £3.1 million facility but could then find no private business to run premises, located next to UHI Orkney.

At Tuesday’s meeting of OIC’s policy and resources committee, elected members discussed the future of the 51-space service.

A spokeswoman for the council said the discussions were held in private because of the “staffing implications” of the proposals.

“The report detailed all the options available to the council – including re-running procurement processes to identify an operator, running the nursery as a council service and repurposing the building,” the spokeswoman added.

“After a vote, elected members ultimately went with the officer recommendation to run the nursery as a council service.

“That recommendation will now go to the general meeting of the council on March 10. 

“As there are staffing implications attached to this, it would be inappropriate for further details of arrangements to be given at this time before discussions with staff have taken place.

“More details will be shared with key stakeholders and the wider public in due course.”

In 2020, the council chamber was split over whether or not it was a good idea to build the nursery.

In the years since, the authority has twice gone to the market to tender for someone to run the facility, but this was unsuccessful.