Forum Topic

Lollipop men/women

My local lollipop man aka school crossing patrolman on Windmill road opposite the Globe pub ,has told me that he and all the other lollipop men in Hounslow have been given their redundancy notices. A seasonal present from our Council ,they will cease work in spring. These people are extremely valuable to our society ,not only for their immediate safety value to our children but also in that they keep a weather eye on whats going on in their area . These valuable public servants earn peanuts, they should be retained in the interests of public safety Graham Bingham

Graham Bingham ● 5356d14 Comments

Sounds like another FoI request clarifying that is in order!  It has been my experience that the true figures from budget savings are difficult to pin down. The savings from cutting the lollipop service entirely would, as a percentage of the Council's overall spend (over £500million as I recall) be minuscule. One has to ask whether this is a serious proposal. Or perhaps, like a stage magician telling us to watch his right hand while it is his left that is really doing everything, it is merely a distraction from other cuts that are even less acceptable.

Jon Hardy ● 5313d

I made a FoI request to Hounslow on the total costs of the service for the whole borough £122,900 ie just slightly more than half the cost of employing the chief executive.

Graham Bingham ● 5314d

"I cannot believe that the risk to road safety would be justified by the peanuts that would be saved in cutting this post."I totally agree Jon. It would be nice though if a current Concillor could reply to my December post which reads:"Thanks John (Todd)  - are you saying then that the lollipop men and women are not necessarily going to be made redundant and that its just a general letter to all staff warning that all jobs are now vulnerable? Are all Chief Officers and Assistant Directors being given the same letter?"

Steve Taylor ● 5314d

That is certainly NOT the perception of the parents of children attending the Malborough School off London Road (one of the busiest roads in the borough at peak times.) So concerned are they that they have started a petition to retain their lollipop person who does sterling work during rush hour in both ensuring children get to school safely and keeping interruptions to traffic flow to a minimum.I cannot believe that the risk to road safety would be justified by the peanuts that would be saved in cutting this post.

Jon Hardy ● 5314d

I recall it being claimed a couple of years ago before the local Council set its Budget that Lollypop Men/Women were all about to be axed but in the end it transpired it was just the vacant posts that were being proposed and some these had been unfilled for yearsThe problem then as I suspect is the case now is that the vacancies simply cannot be filled as the working hours both the times and the amount are unsuitable for the vast majorityI am sure that there is no real threat to this valuable service or at least I certainly hope not

Paul Fisher ● 5350d

Nothing stopping people volunteering? However I wonder if the Government have given any thought as to how volunteers are to be CRB checked and who is expected to pay. This would apply to quite a lot of volunteering activities I imagine.

Vanessa Smith ● 5350d

No,  I haven't seen a lollipop person losing it but your post reminds me of the time my wife returned to her car in the 'Old Deer Park'  with my then 5 year old placid,timid,  very shy daughter, who had  just won a helium balloon, shaped like a teddy bear,  at the Richmond fair.  There was a parking attendant standing by my wife's  car looking at his watch and as she approached he started writing a ticket.  (she had overstayed by about 2 minutes) She begged him not to issue the ticket but he told her he was just doing his job and he plonked the ticket on the windscreen, shrugged and strolled off.  My upset wife muttered and cursed and young placid, timid, very shy daughter (who normally wouldn't say boo to a goose) watched in silence and then suddenly took off after  the parking attendant, caught up with him, and started beating him on the back with her balloon.  Needless to say my wife had to try stifle her laughter and point out that the man was just doing his job and she couldn't go around smacking people with her balloon!! I wasn't there but I told my wife that just to hear the story and picture it in my mind was well worth the £60 penalty she had to pay. 

Steve Taylor ● 5350d

Lollypop people have been a topic of conversation here since hubby retired.  We were sitting around discussing (brain cells encouraged by some good wine) what he might like to do as a p/t job and somebody hit on 'lollypop man'.  The instant it was said everyone broke out into broad smiles as we were all picturing him chasing a driver down the road waving the lollypop stick.I bet Lollypop people have a few good stories!  Does anyone know of a lollypop person losing it?

Sarah Felstead ● 5350d

Any regular pedestrian will tell you that a serious number of drivers ignore red lights zebra crossings and other road safety measures around schools.I remember somebody from the Council telling me that the traffic wardens were withdrawn from around school areas at opening and closing times because the parents creating mayhem with their cars might be booked/upset.  If we were acting sensibly we would send them there to enforce pedestrain safety.Cutting lollypop people is just plain daft but I suppose the number of accidents they have prevented cannot be measured so somebody thinks they are being very clever with this cut or is this cut being chosen for political publicity?Sad sad sad.

Sarah Felstead ● 5350d

This is almost certain to be the case in every local authority soon, according to the BBC news this morning the Government think council's are "lazy" if they can't make huge savings and not affect services! Never mind you'll be able to bid to take over some services and run them yourselves - now won't that be fun? You can work all day then come home and start again - the queues are forming now - not!

Vanessa Smith ● 5352d

Thanks John - are you saying then that the lollipop men and women are not necessarily going to be made redundant and that its just a general letter to all staff warning that all jobs are now vulnerable? Are all Chief Officers and Assistant Directors being given the same letter?

Steve Taylor ● 5353d

All LBH staff are receiving a letter notifying them that they are vulnerable to redundancy, as their post could be deleted. It also informs staff that their duties could be changed, as could their terms and conditions of service. Other local authorities are taking this action, and most primary care trusts have also sent out similar letters to their staff.

John Todd ● 5353d

It would be interesting to know just how much will be saved by cutting these jobs. From what I have seen (and I pass three different lollypop men every day - sometimes four if I am running late ;-) )  these people are well respected by the pupils, parents and drivers who all obey them with no question. The lollypop men and ladies are also extremely considerate of rush hour traffic and do not stop traffic unnecessarily.  They thus ensure a quick solution to keep traffic moving. Pupils using zebra crossings tend to take pleasure in strolling slowly across busy roads or pressing buttons at traffic lights when it is not necessary. In my view the loss of these valuable people is not only a loss to the schools but will cause more stress to parents and will cause more traffic delays. One wonders how these cuts can be justified when Council Directors and Assistant Directors, and Heads of Dept are earning salaries well in excess of £100K  - even up to £154K at Hounslow Council. Some of whom wouldn't last 3 months in the private sectorThe mind boggles!

Steve Taylor ● 5353d

Distressing for the individuals concerned, but personally I think lollipop men/women are rather outdated in this day and age.  It rather angers me when there's a zebra/pelican crossing 100 yards up the road yet the lollipop person stands somewhere else, where there's no crossing whatsoever - in my view it almost encourages children to cross the road away from a crossing which is utterly stupid/dangerous.Again, in an ideal world we'll all like to keep them as part of our lovely, utopian community - then we wake up and realise every Council has got to make millions of pounds worth of savings.

Adam Beamish ● 5356d