The One Show and Lollipop People

If you were unable to catch the piece that The One Show did about Lollipop People last week you can follow this  link and watch it on You Tube. We may have saved the majority of our Lollipop People in Dorset but across the country they are still under threat and this needs to be debated at the highest level. Please, sign the petition and ask your friends to as well.

HURRAY!

We have Won the campaign in Dorset and we have Saved Our Lollipop People or at least the majority of them.
At The Cabinet Meeting this morning it was decided to uphold the recommendation of the Panel that all crossing patrols should be retained and paid for except for 5 that no longer meet national criteria and another 5 that are on pelican crossings.
It is a victory for common sense and the rights of our children to be safe on their way to and from school. Special thanks to Dorset Councillors, Janet Dover, Karl Wallace and David Harris who spoke up in support of my campaign at the Cabinet meeting back in January and continued to work towards a successful conclusion.
Also thanks to Dorset MP's Annette Brooke and Richard Drax for speaking to the Transport Minister Norman Baker. Also a 'well done to us' to Liz Norman and Liz Howard campaigning from Ferndown.

The ONE SHOW Tonight

The One Show tonight at 7.00pm has a piece about the campaign in Dorset and the threat to the Lollipop People across the country. A tribute to the Lollipop People I hope.

If you have seen the show and followed the links please, please take the time to click on the red button and sign the petition to get the Lollipop People's future discussed in the House of Commons. Make democracy work for us.

One Step Closer

The campaign to Save Our Lollipop People in Dorset was one step closer to success last night as the Overview Committee voted to uphold the recommendations of the Panel that the county continues to fund all those sites that meet the national criteria. The Committee also agreed to fund the 5 patrols that were on pelican crossings.
The decision of the Committee will have to be approved by the full Cabinet on Wednesday 5th October before we can rejoice.
To read the press coverage follow these links BBC, Dorset Echo,

This is still a national issue and although many other authorities will hopefully follow Dorset's lead there is still a threat to the service and the safety of the children around the country. Please sign the petition to get the matter debated in the House of Commons.

Almost There?

Today the recommendations of the Dorset County Council Policy Development Panel (set up to look into the future funding, of the school crossing patrols service), will be considered by the Environment Overview Committee. They will then report to the full Cabinet on the 5th October. The full cabinet were originally to have met in December so we are fortunate that the fate of our Lollipop People is being decided sooner rather than later.

If you are interested in reading the recommendations this is the link but the gist of it is that the Panel recommends that DCC continue to fund the service as there in no funding available at the present time, from either schools, parish councils or sponsors. They do however, recommend that DCC do not fund 10 sites where either the crossing no longer meets national criteria or there is an alternative means of crossing safely.

I hope the glorious weather we are experiencing is making the committee feel generous and they will endorse the recommendations. The rest of the country are watching to see what Dorset will do.

What a difference 3 pence could make

Having considered that I might be asked by the One Show how the school crossing patrols should be funded, I have done a bit of calculating and worked out that for the 20,000 SCPs in the country to be funded it would cost the 31,000,000 vehicle drivers 2p more on their road tax! Seems like a good idea to me, in fact they can have 3p and pay the whole lot a more reasonable wage.

Young People and Traffic are a Fatal Combination

Anyone who believes that young people do not need help to cross the roads in this country and do not need the help of a Lollipop Person outside school should read this headline...


Five schoolchildren in serious road accidents in Birmingham in 24 hours

and reconsider their views. To read the full report in the Birmingham Mail follow this link