Funding received from mobile phone and internet service provider Talk Talk means that schools in Battersea, Tooting, Balham and Wandsworth Common will benefit from the presence of a patroller, bringing the total number of schools in the borough with patrollers on the routes to their gates to 34.

Transport spokesman Cllr Russell King said:
“As a result of the successful discussions we have had with Talk Talk and also with school governors and parent & teacher associations, the routes to 34 schools will be patrolled. This news will be welcomed by parents at these schools who attach great importance to their patrollers and are greatly reassured by their presence.

“The council has an excellent record of ensuring the safety of children on our roads and that will continue. We have spent millions of pounds on making the roads around our schools safer for children and their families and we will continue to invest in road safety improvements in the coming years.”

The council identified that few schools in London have patrollers and very few parents in the capital allow young children to walk to school on their own, especially if that journey involves crossing busy roads. A minority of schools in the borough have benefited from having patrollers in recent years. Most schools in the borough have not received this service for at least two decades.

Similarly, older children that are allowed to walk to school on their own manage to safely cross roads every day that do not have patrollers.

Councillors on the strategic planning and transportation scrutiny committee will be asked to endorse the sponsorship proposals next month.

December 4, 2012