Thank you to those who have been in touch regarding Lewisham Council’s decision to withdraw the role of school crossing guards.
I would like to commend and thank the crossing guards for their amazing and long-standing service to the community. I know they will be missed by many.
I contacted the Council to highlight constituents’ concerns, and they assured me that the decision was made after years of deliberation. You can read this response in full below:
“We understand this is a deeply felt issue for many, and we want to be clear that this decision was not made lightly. It follows several years of work, reviews, and scrutiny.
Back in 2019, we began reviewing our road safety service. We found that by investing in permanent crossings – like zebra or puffin crossings – and expanding School Streets, we could provide safe places to cross at all times of the day, not just during school hours. This meant that School Crossing Patrols (SCPs), who are only in place at the start and end of the school day, could be replaced without reducing safety. Having both a permanent crossing and a lollipop person in the same place can also confuse drivers and duplicates resources.
The formal decision to stop the SCP service was taken by the Mayor and Cabinet in December 2022, as part of wider budget savings. This was not an easy decision and was reviewed closely by councillors – including scrutiny committees in November 2022 and February 2023. They agreed it should only go ahead once new permanent safety measures were in place at each location. Since then, we’ve worked hard to secure funding and install new crossings or make improvements to existing crossings- either standalone or as part of School Streets. All locations will have either a permanent crossing or be part of a School Street. That’s why we are planning to end the SCP service at the end of the current school year in July 2025, ahead of the new school year in September.
Schools have also engaged with us positively – they understand the financial pressures the council is under and have focused on when and where new crossings are being introduced. Because staff were at risk of redundancy, these discussions needed to be handled confidentially, which meant we couldn’t consult more widely with parents/residents at the time.
We would like to reassure the community that our commitment to pedestrian safety in Lewisham remains fully committed, especially to our children.”
For clarity, the Government is introducing a new initiative ‘School Streets’ which intends to tackle congestion, improve air quality at the school gates, make it easier and safer to walk and cycle to school and create a friendlier and calmer environment for everyone upon arrival.
It will work in the following ways:
- The street directly outside a school will have measures introduced to significantly reduce the volume of traffic when children arrive in the morning and leave in the afternoon.
- The street will become a pedestrian and cycle zone at these set times.
- Motorised vehicles will not be allowed to enter the street between these times unless they have been granted an exemption – these will be kept to an absolute minimum to improve road safety for everyone near the school gates.
- The School Streets programme will be in operation in term time only.
School Streets are one of a range of measures that local authorities can deliver to make it safer and easier for children to walk, wheel and cycle to school. Other interventions supported by Active Travel England include infrastructure improvements on school routes and training and engagement activities such as Bikeability cycle training and Living Streets Walk to School Outreach programme.