Government Petition Video

A short video by Alastair Toft detailing the cuts and the petition. Don't forget to sign it here!

Petition the Government to stop Local Authorities cutting School Crossing Patrols

The Government's e-petition service has now been set up and a petition has been accepted from Save Our Lollipop People. This is the text of the petition ...

The Government should intervene to stop Local Authorities across the country cutting the School Crossing Patrol Service, which is not currently a statutory requirement. This is a matter of national road safety and should not be decided by local authority accountants. All evidence shows that removing the service will lead to injuries and deaths to young people. In the words of Prime Minister David Cameron, (when adding his support to the UN Decade of Action For Road Safety in May 2011): “Road accidents are still the leading cause of death for British teenagers and young adults – with the loss of six or seven people in road crashes every day.” Where a school crossing patrol is in place and meets the national criteria, Local Authorities should not be able to cut the service and endanger young lives.

This petition needs 100,000 signatures before the matter has to be debated in the House of Commons. Please follow this link and sign up to keep our children safe. 

Unison Gives the Facts On Lollipop Cuts

Unison, the public services trade Union, have released a new fact sheet for members and MPs.

When you come to the end of a lollipop... POP goes children’s safety. ...

UNISON believes that school crossing patrollers, often called lollipop people, provide a vital service to the community. Cutting their short hour low paid jobs (average £3,000 p.a.) is a false economy, especially when young lives are at stake.

It details the history of the service, in addition to the reasons why these cuts are unacceptable. Click here for the full sheet.

Parents Speak Out to Protect Lollipop Ladies and Men Across Wandsworth

From This is Local London today the following report

Worried parents and children took to the streets last week outraged that the lollipop ladies and men who protect their children outside schools could be axed by the cash-strapped council.
Pupils and parents voiced their fears after it emerged the school crossing service, which costs Wandsworth Council £200,000 a year, was under threat.
It is consulting primary schools about them taking over the cost of the service, with the council proposing that it retains responsibility for training, uniforms and equipment.
Fircroft Primary School, in Tooting, has launched a Save Our Lollipop People campaign on its website and parents of youngsters at Honeywell Junior School and Belleville Primary School, both in Battersea, have begun collecting signatures on petitions.

Local MP Sadiq Khan who is a parent from Fircroft lends his support to the Campaign

 To read the full report please follow this link

Children Protest to Save Lollipop People and WIN!!!

Children in Dulwich in London have protested against the cuts to three lollipop patrols - and won. Well done those children. It proves you never to young to stick up for something you believe in. That is now four London Boroughs that are protesting, Brent, Lambeth, Wandsworth and Dulwich. Cuts by the boroughs on spending on crossing patrols coupled with cuts by Boris Johnson to the Capital Road Safety Budget. Madness. Report on BBC Newsround

Free Range Kids - A Sustrans Campaign

Sustrans has launched a new campaign Free Range Kids with the aim of encouraging Goverment and Local Authorities to work more closely together to make it safer for our children to get out of the house and out of the car and enjoy being free, as many of us were when we were children. Saving our Lollipop People is part of this process of giving children more freedom to feel save as they move about in the community. Sustrans are proposing an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons to raise awareness of this matter and needs as many MPs as possible to sign up to support it. By following the link you can find a letter to send to your local MP asking for their support.

And so it goes on, and on...

The wheels of democracy turn so painfully slow. On Monday the Dorset County Council, Policy Development Panel met for the second time to discuss the situation with School Crossing Patrols following the consultation process. I know that all the schools have been consulted because the BBC carried out the same consultation (in slightly less time) and the majority decision was that schools would not be spending their children's education budget on road safety.

I know for a fact that DCC officers have been asking local councils and parish councils if they will provide the funding and likewise the replies have been negative.

The third idea was seeking sponsorship. I don't believe for one minute that the PDP has been tasked with finding this sponsorship or even that county council officers have been instructed to spend the next 3 months ringing around all the firms in the county seeking this sponsorship. Therefore they should have been able to reach a decision on the strength of what they discussed on Monday.

Of course the panellists will be claiming expenses for these meetings, which is more money that could be saved if they just got on and made a decision.

You wouldn't run a private company like this. If there was a problem of this magnitude to be sorted you wouldn't have meetings at 3 monthly intervals, you'd sit round a table for a long as it took until the matter was resolved.

When DCC was approached by our local BBC correspondent for a comment about the meeting on Monday this was the response.

Angus Campbell, leader of the county council, said: "I know that the future funding of school crossing patrols is a difficult and sensitive issue about which many people are anxiously concerned. A panel of councillors has been looking into this. They are due to complete their discussions in September, after which there will be a wider discussion leading to a decision by the county council in November. I look forward to hearing the panel's views as a valuable contribution to our decision-making."

Colin Jamieson, chair of the Policy Develop Panel on school crossing patrols, said: "The county council faces making tough decisions in order to make the level of savings required of us. We are engaging with schools, town and parish councils and county council officers on the options for how the safety of children is safeguarded. We aim to have our ideas ready in September." 

In the meantime, all the hard working School Crossing Patrol staff continue to live in a state of anxiety unsure whether they will still be working this time next year. This is a shameful way to treat people.