Latest news with #crossingpatrols
BBC News
03-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Peterborough parents fight to save school lollipop patrols
Almost 500 people have signed a petition calling for crossing patrols near schools to be saved from a council's budget City Council announced cuts to crossing patrols at primary schools in Eye, Old Fletton, Newark Hill and Werrington to save money, leaving lollipop men and women authority said it was "one of a number of difficult decisions" that needed to be made in order to balance the petition has called for the decision to be reviewed as parents fear a child could be injured or killed if no action was taken. Kerri Deboo, a parent of a pupil at Werrington Primary School, said: "We're really worried about something happening to a child and feel there's been no robust decision making around it."Lisa Bryan had been helping children cross the road outside Eye Church of England Primary School in Peterborough for more than 26 years. She is one of four workers losing their Berry, another parent, said: "[An accident] is really now a matter of time. I know it sounds dramatic, but it is a 'when', not an 'if' now." 'Massive impact' Ms Bryan said the loss of the crossing patrols will have a "massive impact"."The traffic doesn't stop for me so what makes them think it will stop for parents, whether there is a zebra crossing or not. In the mornings, it's a fighting battle every day," she councillors previously used their community funds to keep Ms Bryan's job until the next academic year, but nothing has been put in place yet for Ellis, a Labour councillor and cabinet member for environment and transport at Peterborough City Council, said: "A proposal to remove the school crossing patrol service at four schools in Peterborough was agreed as part of the council's budget for 2024/25."Crossings and or speed restrictions such as at 20mph zones are in place at each of the schools and we are also providing road safety education for pupils."The petition will close on 11 June and will then be submitted to a cabinet it reaches 500 signatures before the deadline, it will also be eligible for submission to a full council month parents held a protest outside the Eye Primary School calling for the decision to be reviewed. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
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.'
