SCHOOL SAFETY: U-TURN ON CUTS
PLANNED cuts to Derbyshire’s school crossing patrol service have been reversed after overwhelming rejection from schools asked to pay for the scheme.
Derbyshire County Council floated the idea in an attempt to save £300,000 this year. It asked schools and town and parish councils whether they would be able to pay £4,000 a year each to keep their “lollipop” staff.
But the Tory-led authority has performed a U-turn on the proposals after schools and town and parish councils said they would not be able to afford the costs.
The reversal has saved the jobs of 108 crossing patrol wardens across the county. The U-turn came on the same day that Tory councillors rejected a motion to write to Prime Minister Theresa May to call for an end to school cuts.
During the debate, councillors made references to schools in their divisions that were already having to cut staff hours, supplies – and let assistant teachers and caretakers go.
The council is now facing an uphill battle to make £70 million of cuts by 2022 as it spends more than it receives.
Leader of the opposition, Labour councillor Anne Western, welcomed the news on patrols but is wary of financial challenges the authority faces.
She said: “I’m pleased for the communities where this service will continue but worried about what other services will be cut to balance the books.”
Mrs Western feels this may be the start of many U-turns. In July, a leaked county council report showed 17 schools are to make staffing cuts this year – losing 51 teaching assistants and support staff.
Of these schools, 14 cited “annual budget deficit” as the reason for the redundancies.
The authority will now take the £300,000 in savings it had planned to make from the crossing patrol review from reserves instead.
Just five schools and four parish and town councils said they could pay for the patrols and 132 schools and 51 parish and town councils said they could not, or did not respond to the request.
The council’s deputy leader, councillor Simon Spencer, said: “We are looking at all our services to see where savings can be made.
“We wrote to schools, parish and town councils where there is a crossing patrol and asked them if they would be willing to fund the service or help find the money from local businesses or sponsorship.
“The feedback was that, while they valued the service, very few of them were able to help find the funds for their crossing patrol.
“I have decided that, because it is clear that this is a service that is valued across the county, we will keep the service as it is. We will not make cuts.”
In Derbyshire, school crossing patrol wardens earn £7.85 an hour and typically work for 40 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon, every weekday during term times.
They are paid the same monthly rate throughout the school holidays, earning around £2,198 a year.
A letter from the council’s strategic director for economy, transport and environment, Mike Ashworth – who oversees the school crossing patrol service – was sent to schools and parish councils to share the news.
A copy seen by the Derbyshire Local Democracy Reporting Service states: “Whilst I am sure you will agree this is good news for all concerned it is important to note that pressures on the council’s budget have not disappeared, and difficult decisions will need to be made to find the savings originally allocated to the school crossing patrol service from elsewhere.”