Latest news with #JasonPerry
Telegraph
02-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
‘Penny-pinching' London council axes lollipop ladies
Lollipop ladies and men are to be axed by a 'penny-pinching' south London council. Only six primary schools in Croydon still have crossing patrols to help children during pick-up and drop-off hours. But safety fears have been raised after the local authority confirmed plans to remove the service entirely in the borough by the end of the year as part of cost-cutting measures. Claire Bonham, a Liberal Democrat councillor, said she had been contacted by anxious parents worried about the move. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: 'They are rightly concerned that this will have an impact on their children's safety. 'Lollipop men and women are a valued part of the community, keeping children safe and providing a safe, reassuring presence for families on their way to school.' Cllr Bonham said she had written to Jason Perry, the council's Conservative mayor, 'to set out my opposition to cutting these services' which she said felt 'like penny-pinching'. Croydon's Labour Party has also criticised the decision, which was revealed following a freedom of information request by Inside Croydon, a local news website. The number of crossing patrols in Croydon had already been cut from 22 in 2011. Financial woes The council, which was controlled by Labour from 2014 to 2022 but is now led by a Conservative minority, has been struggling with its finances in recent years. The authority declared bankruptcy in 2023 and received a £136 million bailout from the taxpayer in February after projecting an overspend of £98 million this financial year. The council said the decision to axe lollipop men and women followed a 2022 service review, which was discussed in a committee meeting that year before being approved in a budget plan last October. It said the affected schools had been notified in March. A council spokesman said: 'Most patrols were phased out many years ago and risk assessments have been completed for the six remaining sites, with one now earmarked for a permanent crossing and three located on healthy school streets.'
BBC News
02-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Last lollipop patrols in Croydon to end this year
A south London council has said safety remains a priority as it plans to remove its remaining lollipop school crossing patrols by the end of the year. Croydon Council's cut, which affects six school sites across the borough, has been called "penny-pinching" by a decision, revealed through a Freedom of Information request by InsideCroydon, will see the crossing services during school drop-off and pick-up hours stopped at the end of the year. Road crossing safety is a non-statutory service, meaning the council is under no legal obligation to provide it. A spokesperson for the council said risk assessments had been completed and "road safety remains a priority". The six schools affected are:Cypress Infants and Juniors in South Norwood HillNorbury Manor Primary in NorburyOrchard Way Primary in ShirleyMonks Orchard Infants and Juniors in ShirleyOasis Academy Ryelands in WoodsideGreenvale Primary in SelsdonLib Dem councillor Claire Bonham told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she had been contacted by anxious parents in her Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood said: "They are rightly concerned that this will have an impact on their children's safety."Lollipop men and women are a valued part of the community, keeping children safe and providing a safe, reassuring presence for families on their way to school."Bonham said it felt "like penny-pinching" and said she had written to the council's Conservative mayor Jason Perry "to set out my opposition to cutting these services".Labour councillor Rowenna Davis, for Waddon ward, also criticised the budgetary school road safety patrols have been sharply reduced over the last decade. In 2011, there were 22, but a previous Conservative-led council cut that number in council said the recent decision followed a 2022 service review, which was discussed in committee in December 2022 before being approved in the budget plan in October added that the affected schools were notified in March this year.A Croydon Council spokesperson said: "Most patrols were phased out many years ago and risk assessments have been completed for the six remaining sites, with one now earmarked for a permanent crossing and three located on Healthy School Streets."The council said its road safety officer would continue to work with schools on its other programs.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Do Utahns support the flag ban? A new poll shows what they think
A majority of Utahns support a new state law banning the display of most flags by public school teachers and government entities, the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found. The law, known as HB77, Flag Display Amendments, prohibits municipal or state buildings, as well as public school employees acting within their official duties, from placing a flag in a prominent location on government property unless the flag is one of a dozen exceptions. Permitted flags include unaltered official country, state, municipal, military, tribal and school flags. The restriction on all other flags does not apply to historic versions of these flags, depictions of flags — including lapel pins and signs — or flags temporarily displayed by an organization authorized to use public schools. HB77 drew plenty of debate during the 2025 legislative session, but Utah's new flag ban enjoys the approval of more than 6 in 10 registered voters in the state, according to a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll conducted by HarrisX. 'The Legislature was aligned with the overwhelming majority of Utahns on this particular bill,' said Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute, in a Deseret News interview. Of the 800 respondents surveyed, 62% said they approved, 28% said they disapproved and 9% said they didn't know when asked whether they supported or opposed a new law limiting the flags that can be publicly displayed in schools and on government property. A plurality of voters said their support for the law was enthusiastic: four in ten strongly approved of the legislation, a quarter somewhat approved and the remaining 30% was evenly divided among those who somewhat disapproved or strongly disapproved. The poll was administered online from April 9-12 with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. 'The results are clear,' House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told the Deseret News in a statement. 'A strong majority of Utahns agree that symbols displayed in classrooms and government buildings should represent unity, respect for our nation and state, and a focus on education — not political or ideological distractions." Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, agreed with Schultz that the law was needed to establish 'a consistent standard' to ensure 'that public buildings remain welcoming to all Utahns.' 'This poll shows that the majority of Utahns support this approach and believe public institutions should remain dedicated to their core duties,' Adams said in a statement. The largest disparity in support for the new law came down to partisan affiliation. The survey found that 81% of self-identified Republicans support the law. Nearly 6 out of 10 Republicans indicated that they strongly support it. A slight majority, 51%, of independents also support it, while only 22% of Democratic support. Nearly 7 out of 10 Democrats said they oppose the law, with 46% signaling strong opposition. Support for the law was shared by men and women. The poll found 67% support among men and 58% support among women. Support increased with age: 57% of those 18-34 support the law compared to 72% of those 65 and older. 'It's a hard issue that really gets to the heart of perspectives on these social issues themselves,' Perry said. 'These issues sort of touch on a theme that we have seen for the past couple of sessions, that have had support from a majority of Utahns, but that is certainly not the case with Democrats in the state.' Proponents of HB77 who testified in legislative hearings, many of them parents of school-aged children, argued that a restriction on flags is a commonsense policy to ensure classrooms remain focused on teaching, not politics. Meanwhile, many of the bill's critics, who showed up by the thousands to protest its passage, framed it as a way to target the rainbow, or pride, flag that represents LGBTQ social movements, which they said helps some Utah residents feel included. 'What matters most are, especially in classrooms, the policies and practices and school rules that ensure that every child feels welcome,' Equality Utah policy director Marina Lowe told the Deseret News. 'The reason the (pride) flag started getting hung in the first place was because there were particular populations that were feeling marginalized and unwelcome.' While the pride flag is not mentioned in the legislative text, the sponsor of HB77, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, has suggested in some social media posts that one intention behind his bill is to remove pride flags from classrooms and municipal buildings. Lee modeled his bill after a similar proposal that failed in the final hours of the 2024 session when it was brought to the floor using a procedural trick. The resurrected version received additional pushback during the 2025 session after Lee expanded its scope to include flags displayed by a state or local government entity in or on government property. Following this change, Equality Utah came out against the bill. Lowe said she wants to encourage lawmakers to reconsider portions of the bill that constrain the free speech of governments, which, she said, should be accountable to voters, not the Legislature. Corinne Johnson, president of Utah Parents United, praised the willingness of the Legislature to wade into a controversial topic because, she said, it benefits all residents to prohibit public employees from flying divisive flags. 'To parents, it makes complete sense to us,' Johnson said. 'In an effort to try and be inclusionary to one group, we have now created division in our school environments.' Supporters of the law are not opposing one group or another, according to Johnson. The goal behind the law is to return a sense of neutrality to the places that are meant to represent and educate all Utahns regardless of identity, she said. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox addressed HB77 in a March 27 letter that included explanations for six bills he vetoed this year. Cox did not veto HB77. Instead, he let it become law without his signature due to concerns that it sought a culture-war win instead of consensus. Promoting political neutrality in the classroom is an important goal, Cox said. But the new flag law fails to address the use of polarizing symbols in public schools because it only applies to flags and it extends too much control over municipal leaders who wish to reflect certain values to their voters, Cox said. Cox also took issue with the process that brought the bill to his desk which he said did not align with the state's previous efforts to balance LGBTQ inclusion with conservative values around religion and gender. '(A)s tired as Utahns are of politically divisive symbols, I think they are also tired of culture war bills that don't solve the problems they intend to fix,' Cox said. 'There are so many examples of the LGBTQ community and the conservative community coming together to find helpful and hopeful compromise. I hope we can retain this as our model and North Star.' The bill passed mostly along party lines with a veto-proof majority, meaning that if Cox had vetoed the bill, lawmakers likely could have overrode his decision. Utah appears to be the first state in the nation to enact such a ban. Idaho recently passed a proposal focusing just on schools and lawmakers in at least four other states are considering similar legislation.
BBC News
14-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Riza deserves more from board and players
Ex-skipper Jason Perry says the future looks "bleak" for Cardiff City as they lost further ground in their relegation struggle with Saturday's defeat at home to rivals Stoke result leaves the Welsh club a point below fourth-bottom Derby County and with only one win in their last nine Championship former Bluebirds favourite Perry has sympathy for manager Omer Riza who he says has had "no support" from the club's hierarchy since being handed the reins following Erol Bulut's September a late own-goal gifted Stoke a 1-0 victory at Cardiff City Stadium, Riza admitted he is not certain he will be allowed to take the club through their final four games saying, "I don't know, you've got to ask the board, it's not my place to answer that question".Speaking on Radio Wales Breakfast programme Perry said: "When you're asking the board of Cardiff City, anything could happen, absolutely anything. "They could give [the job] to him and give it to him next season. They could get rid of him and bring somebody in. This is the biggest problem - the board above him."He's got no support. I do feel he's just left there and on his own so he's just going to have to find a solution. He's going to have to gather the supporters together, he's going to have to gather the players together."What we do know is they need points on the board urgently. They've only got four games to do that but it is looking bleak."Victory was a big step towards survival for the Potters who now have 47 points. Portsmouth have 46 and Hull City 44. Derby County with 43 - and a much better goal difference than the Welsh side - are in 21st place above the relegation line, while inside the bottom three Cardiff have 42 points and Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle both 40."Just looking at the team, they're lacking ideas," added Perry."We see the constant change in formations, constant change in personnel and it looks as though Omer RIza is just searching for a formula, a team, a method to win and unfortunately for Cardiff City and their supporters he can't find that solution."Cardiff visit Sheffield United on Friday, before home matches with Oxford United and West Bromwich Albion. They conclude their season at Norwich on Saturday, 3 May when Perry hopes his old club will still have a chance of survival."I think that's the best Cardiff can hope for, just looking at the way they are playing, how results are going. "That's not an easy game because they have such a big crowd, Norwich, and the players will want to give some sort of performance for their home crowd."Last game of the season you're just hoping Cardiff have an opportunity but it was a big defeat against Stoke City on Saturday, a huge defeat, and the players looked deflated and so did the manager."But as we speak they are in the Championship, they have four games, they need to group together, they need to find a formula, they need to find a little bit more effort, sad to say, but they have to do it for Cardiff City's future."
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bankrupt councils dish out £600k in ‘golden hellos'
Two cash-strapped councils have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on 'golden hellos' for new staff despite declaring bankruptcy, The Telegraph can reveal. Birmingham City Council handed individual payments of £1,000 to workers for agreeing to sign on between 2022 and last year, while Croydon Council paid them as much as £5,000 in the same period. The sign-on bonuses were paid despite declining public services with Birmingham forced to dim street lights and cut bin collections as council tax soared 10pc last year alone. Croydon, which declared bankruptcy in 2023, issued another £35m warning last year. The cash incentives were given to dozens of new recruits to frontline local authority services, according to Freedom of Information requests made by The Telegraph. Croydon spent £439,000 on starting bonuses between 2022 and 2024. It gave a 'welcome payment' of £5,000 to 74 staff during that time, while 15 received payments of £4,000 and three were paid £3,000. In the same period, Croydon declared effective bankruptcy three times between 2020 and 2022, while Birmingham went bankrupt in 2023. The starting bonuses at Croydon were approved amid a financial crisis at the town hall, which in November 2022 issued its third Section 114 notice, a legal mechanism that declares a local authority cannot balance its budget. It raised council tax by 15pc in 2023, which pushed up bills for the average household in Croydon by £235 a year to over £2,000. Croydon council taxpayers will see bills rise by 4.8pc between 2025 to 2026, with an average Band D property bill rising to around £2,480, a further increase of £113. Croydon is no longer under a Section 114 notice. Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Residents in bankrupt Birmingham and Croydon will be furious that their councils have squandered hundreds of thousands on golden hellos. 'Taxpayers deserve answers, not more reckless handouts from cash-strapped town halls.' The Conservative mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, blamed 'toxic historic mismanagement' at the time. The council received a £136m bailout from the taxpayer in February after projecting an overspend of £98m this financial year. Birmingham spent a total of £152,000 on its 'golden hello' scheme for new recruits. The initiative was introduced in 2022 to boost hiring in adults' and children's social care services, and by 2024 it had paid 152 new hires £1,000 each. The council defended the scheme as necessary to tackle difficulties hiring new social care staff which it described as 'one of the most acute national workforce challenges'. The city issued its Section 114 notice in 2023 and increased council tax by 10pc last year, with a further 8.5pc increase approved this year, taking the average Band D council tax to £2,236 a year. A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: 'National bodies such as the Local Government Authority and British Association of Social Workers have repeatedly highlighted recruitment into adults' and children's social care roles as one of the most acute national workforce challenges, particularly within frontline health and social care roles. 'The introduction of a £1,000 golden hello for recruits into hard-to-fill posts such as qualified social workers and occupational therapists represents a modest, proportionate and evidence-based incentive aligned with sector-wide practices. We do not pay golden hellos for officers in senior leadership roles.' Croydon Council was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
