Cuts are ‘putting our kids at risk’
Councils are reducing ‘lollipop’ patrollers
A Sunday Po s t probe has revealed the number of crossi ng wardens has fallen steadily over the last five years, with almost one in 10 j obs axed or vacant.
Data obtained from 24 of Scotland’s 32 councils s h owe d that twothirds spent less on lol-llipop men and womenen in 2016-17 than they did in 2012-13.
In total, £ 6.87m was spent by local authoritiesties on school patrols five yearsears ago but this decreased byy £ 644,000 to £ 6.33m in the mostt recent fig-figures. The number of lollipopollipop peo-people also dropped fromom 1353 to 1226.
Road safety campaignersaigners have slammed the drop, whichhich they say will put children’s livess at risk.
Greg Marah, from thee road safety charity Brake, said: “School crossing patrols provide a vital service by helping children cross roads safely on their way to school.
“Co u n c i l s h a ve a duty to promote the use of sustainable transport, especially for children on their way to school. Lollipop people have a key role to play in making our streets safer, not least as they offer a friendly face that ABERDEEN ABERDEENSHIRE ARGYLL AND BUTE CLACKMANNANSHIRE DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY EAST AYRSHIRE EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE EAST LOTHIAN EAST RENFREWSHIRE EDINBURGH FALKIRK FIFE INVERCLYDE MIDLOTHIAN WESTERN ISLES ORKNEY PERTH & KINROSS RENFREWSHIRE SCOTTISH BORDERS SHETLAND SOUTH AYRSHIRE WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE WEST LOTHIAN
TOTAL: encourages active and sustainable travel.”
The decision of how much to spend and how many lollipop men and women to employ is up to each individual local authority, although there are national guidelines which suggest figures based on the number of predicted users.
Inverclyde Council increased its spending from £ 122,000 to £ 307,000 between 2012- 13 and 2016- 17, while Aberdeen City 23 123 30 20 56 61 43 60 48 174 67 90 32 54 2 19 77 122 35 4 67 56 90 1353 33 103 28 15 54 61 39 56 48 162 51 80 32 53 3 19 66 122 29 4 39 44 85 1226
Council increased its number of patrollerslers from 23 to 33 over the same period. But these councils were in the minority, as many drastically scaled back the number of lollipop men and women.
West Dunbartonshire Council cut spending by 45% from £ 291,000 to £ 160,000, with the number of crossing guards falling from 56 to 44, while in South Ayrshire, the number of patrollers dropped from 67 to 39 and spending fell by 38%.
Scottish ConConservative transport spokesman LiaLiam Kerr said the cutbacksbacks were “hhugely alarming”. He said: “CrossinCrossing guards are a vital part of ensuring both drivers and pedestrians are kept safe.
“During a time in which manufacturers are now making vehicles more powerful and faster than ever it’s only common sense to ensure we have enough lollipop men and women to keep children safe.”
A recent study by scientists at Iowa University found that visual judgement and motor skills are not fully developed for children under