Battle to save Staffordshire school crossing patrols

Staffordshire County Council announced plans to stop paying for the 248 patrols and instead urge businesses and communities to pick up the task under its proposals for 2019/2020.

It is a move that would save the cash-strapped authority £290,00 in 2019 and £250,000 the following year – but the deputy opposition leader will appeal to the council to reconsider the plan at its meeting on Thursday.

Councillor Charlotte Atkins said thousands of people have signed petitions against the move, which will be presented to the council.

She added: “Parents are very concerned about the fact that funding for school crossing controls is going to end next September.

“The county council is trying to get district councils to take up the funding of it, but they can’t employ the staff, they would have to be employed by the county council and funded by district councils.

“Nobody can stop traffic apart from the police or county councils.”

Other proposals the council has made include back office redundancies and increasing council tax. A review of the back office support staff, which include human resources and communications workers, is set to save around £3m, it is hoped.

Councillor Atkins added: “They have also said schools could fund them, but schools are making staff redundant, including teachers, they don’t have that sort of money lying about.

“I’ve spoken to a number of school crossing controllers on my own patch, including one who has done the job for 26 years.

“This woman was telling me she gets quite a lot of abuse from drivers, it’s not an easy job.

“But on the positive side, it’s not just about children crossing, they’re also a fantastic resource for stopping bullying because kids trust them.

“It seems to be a fairly small price to pay for the safety of our children.

“It’s very complacent of the county council to believe somehow other authorities will come up with the money when all authorities face a budget pressure.”

Helen Fisher, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “Due to unprecedented financial challenges, we have no choice but to consider which non-statutory services we can continue to fund and, very reluctantly, this includes the school crossing patrol service.

“Our patrols are all fantastic and we know they are valued by school, parents and their local communities.

“Although these are still very much proposals, I do hope that many communities will step forward to fund patrols if the plans go ahead.”

Regional organiser of Unison, Tony Jones, described the plan as ‘a disgrace’ and said it would be ‘putting our children at risk’ if it goes ahead.

The council’s final proposals and budget will be presented to full council in February once the full national funding is known.

People can find out more about the proposals and have their say until December 31. There is also a fundraising pack online at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/patrols