This article appears as part of the Lessons to Learn newsletter.

Parents in the Scottish Borders have a dilemma.

On the one hand, they may have won a significant concession from the council and a promise that their nurseries will stay open this year.

On the other hand, to put it bluntly, these parents feel they have been burned before.

They find themselves in a position where things look good on paper, but there is still plenty of wiggle room for the council to go in another direction and peace of mind relies on trust that is not easily given.

Five nursery provisions in the Scottish Borders were recently earmarked for mothballing by the council. However, after a controversial set of events, the council now looks set to reverse that initial decision and open a consultation process with parents about the future of these nurseries while promising to keep them open for the upcoming year.

Open revolt from parents at affected nursery settings significantly contributed to this turnaround – as did media interest. Many communities were left in the dark until the eleventh hour, and some have told us that they worry about what would have happened if a few families had not caught wind and raised their concerns with councillors early enough to gain momentum that eventually forced a policy change.

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