Ahead of budget discussions at a meeting of South Ayrshire Council tomorrow (1 March), a controversial proposal to remove school crossing patrols from all 48 locations has been dropped from consideration by Councillors.
Although the responsibility for getting children safely to and from school rests with parents and carers – and not the Council – there was strong opposition to the proposal right across South Ayrshire.
More than three-quarters of respondents to the Council’s Balancing the Budget consultation said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the proposal – this was the view of all sections of the community, not just those with children.
The main areas of concern related to the potential for increased traffic around schools as well as the potential risk to child safety.
As a result – and taking into account the Council’s better than expected financial position – ruling administration Councillors have removed school crossing patrollers from the list of savings proposals that will be considered tomorrow.
Councillor Peter Henderson, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, said: “The proposal to remove school crossing patrollers was one of the most talked about during our Balancing the Budget consultation, no matter where we were or who we were speaking to.
“And while there is no legal duty or requirement on the Council to provide this service, it’s clear that our patrollers play an important role in the community and are highly-valued by our people, so we will be retaining the current level of patrols.
“I know this will be a relief to the public as well as our School Crossing Patrollers and we thank everyone for making their views known.”
The Council’s full budget for 2018/19, including agreed savings proposals, will be set by Councillors tomorrow and published on the Council website when available.