Cuts to school crossing patrols expected to be signed off

Several Rochdale schools could soon have to pay for the lollipop men and women that help their pupils cross the road.

Plans to charge ‘a number of schools’ in the borough for crossing patrols are expected to be approved by the council next week.

It is understood the proposals will be rubber-stamped by Rochdale Council cabinet members behind closed doors on Tuesday.

The exact details of the plans are not publicly available, having been marked as ‘restricted’.

But it is understood the new charges would apply to dozens of schools which have pedestrian or pelican crossings nearby, or whose schemes have not been operational for some time.

However, primary and secondary schools located where there is thought to be a high risk to pupils crossing the road will continue to be funded by the council.

Council leader Allen Brett said the authority’s financial situation had made it necessary to bring in the charges.

He said: “We don’t think we can any longer pay for this service for schools that don’t meet a certain criteria, but we will offer the service at around £4,000 and the schools can pay for it out of their budget.

“Surveys show that certain school crossing patrols are not needed and some are not staffed at the moment because they can’t get people to do them.

“We have offered to continue the service, even where we don’t think it’s justified, but it will be paid for out of school budgets. Almost all the schools are in surplus at the moment, we are not the first council to do this.”

Councillor Brett says there has been ‘very little’ objection to plans to charge schools for the service, and he has been reassured by council officers that child safety would not be compromised under the new scheme.

The savings generated from the scheme will not form part of the budget presented to the full council next Wednesday – just 24 hours after the cabinet meeting.

It is yet to be decided whether the fees will come into force from the beginning of the new financial year, in April, or the new school year in September.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter