University of Exeter - Nursery outsourcing raises ire

A petition objecting to the University of Exeter's decision to outsource its nursery to a private company has attracted 789 signatures. The petition calls on the university to delay the tendering process and questions the grounds on which the decision was made. Most of the staff in the department of politics have signed a position paper saying that the proposal "gives rise to the greatest concern". The petitioners said that only one other member of the 94 Group of universities, Essex, has wholly outsourced its nursery to a private company, and that nursery's Ofsted report is far weaker than Exeter's. The university has argued that the move will cut costs, and that childcare is not part of the core business of the university.