CORNWALL COUNCIL

SCHOOL CROSSING PATROL SERVICE POLICY

Policy for Provision of School Crossing Patrols (SCP)

1.  Introduction

The purpose of this policy is to set out the principles for the provision, maintenance and management of School Crossing Patrols (SCPs) in Cornwall.

This policy is based on the national guidelines ‘School Crossing Patrol Service Guidelines’ latest revision November 2014, prepared by Road Safety GB. These guidelines are endorsed and supported by the Royal Society for the prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

The standards set out in the guidelines are nationally accepted as best practice and are considered appropriate as a framework when considering all issues relating to School Crossing Patrols. This document sets out local amendments considered appropriate for Cornwall Council.

2.  Policy Background and underlying principles

2.1 Cornwall Council Transport Policy

SCP’s provide an important service which support the aims and objectives of the Council’s Local Transport Plan providing parents and guardians with the confidence in the safety of their child on the journey to and from school. As such, SCP’s support the following Local Transport Plan goals and objectives:

Goals

·  Tackling climate change - supporting sustainable travel

·  Respecting and enhancing the environment

·  Encourage healthy active lifestyles - health benefits of walking and cycling

·  Community safety and individual wellbeing – improving road safety

·  Supporting equality of opportunity – through improved accessibility.

Objectives

·  Support communities to live locally and reduce the need to travel (Objective 2)

·  Increase public confidence in a safer transport network. (Objective 13)

·  Improve access to employment, education, healthcare and leisure. (Objective 15).

·  Encourage community participation in shaping and delivering transport services for their communities. (Objective17)

In addition to the local Transport Policy, the Education and Inspection Act 2006 (section 508A) puts a duty on schools to promote sustainable travel to school. School Crossing Patrols are one option that can contribute to this duty.

2.2.  SCP Legislation

Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 ‘Appropriate Authorities’ have the power to appoint SCPs to help children cross the road on their way to or from school, or from one part of a school to another.

An amendment to these regulations came into force on 30th January 2001 under part of the Transport Act 2000 which further allows SCPs to operate ‘at such times as the Authority thinks fit and can stop traffic to help anyone (child or adult) to cross the road’.

Cornwall Council is an ‘Appropriate Authority’. However, it must be borne in mind that the national guidelines, legislation and case law are clear that the provision of a SCP Service is not a statutory duty, and the responsibility for ensuring the safety of children to and from school, is and must remain a parental/guardian one.

Even where a SCP is provided, parents or guardians remain responsible for ensuring their children’s safety, just as they do when a zebra crossing or pelican crossing is provided. Parents should not assume that the Council has the responsibility for the safety of their children on the journey to and from school.

3.  School Crossing Patrol Requests and Identification process

3.1 Requests for New Sites

The decision to establish new sites is delegated to the School Crossing Patrol Service Manager subject to the following conditions:

·  The site meets the criteria set out in the latest version of the ‘School Crossing Patrol Service Guidelines’

o  Only sites with more than 15 children crossing the road in the busiest 30-minute period will be considered for establishing an SCP and meet the criteria stated below.

·  A site specific risk assessment is carried out in accordance with the latest version of the ‘School Crossing Patrol Service Guidelines’ and any issues requiring attention are adequately addressed

·  Funding is available to fill the post and make any changes to the location identified as part of the site risk assessment criteria

·  Funding is available for appropriate engineering measures

·  Consultation is undertaken involving the Head Teacher, local Member, Highway Team and any other appropriate stakeholders

Consultation with Highways must also be undertaken to see whether there are any proposed changes to the road.

3.2.  Criteria

Cornwall Council has adopted the national guidance for justification and establishment of sites.

The School Crossing Patrol Guidelines provide objective criteria which, in conjunction with local amendments, assess the justification of new or existing sites.

The criteria for the establishment of a patrol site are based on a Pedestrian (P) and Vehicle (V) Count (PV) which must reach a threshold value. Developed from existing criteria for the provision of potential zebra and pelican crossing sites, the criteria accounts for the need to allow both large and small numbers of pedestrians to cross roads safely in a variety of traffic flows and delays. The special crossing conditions associated with school times and large numbers of child pedestrians are also accounted for. All children aged 0-18 are included within the count. A site assessment also determines how many adjustment factors can be applied to a particular site. These take the form of environmental factors such as carriageway width, speed/visibility, junctions, accidents, traffic flow and age of pedestrians. Patrol sites are provided where the threshold value is met (with or without adjustment factors) and the site conditions are safe.

The guidelines use the busiest 30-minute period of the day and PV2 approach prescribed in the guidelines. P is the number of child pedestrians crossing the road and V is the two-way vehicle flow.

If the figure generated is over 4,000,000 a patrol is considered justified.

There is also a methodology for the application of adjustment factors to allow for types of vehicles, site characteristics and other factors. These include:

·  Wide carriageways (over 7.5m)

·  Narrow footways (under 2m)

·  Gradient (stepper than 5%, 1 in 20)

·  The relationship between speed of traffic and visibility

·  The quality of street lighting

·  Obstructions due to street furniture

·  Complex road marking layouts

·  Junctions nearby

·  Accident record

·  Very high traffic flows

·  Predominance of primary age school children

4.0 Operations Management and review

4.1 Site monitoring and Review

SCP sites will be reviewed periodically or earlier where circumstances change, for example if the patrol retires or there are changes in the road or traffic levels. The national guidelines give recommendations on the level of monitoring and management.

Given the geography of Cornwall and resources of the SCP Team some slight amendments to the guidelines have been adopted for the management of sites in Cornwall.

Based on the national guidelines, the management and operation of SCP’s will include the following:

Actions / Updated Policy
Site Visits / Guidance suggests twice a term. However distribution of sites and geography of Cornwall means once a term is the accepted practice
Site assessment / Once per site, per year. As per guidance
Site review / Site re-evaluation will be carried out on a regular basis – Aim for once every three years – As resources permit or when circumstances have changed significantly.
Where justification falls below criteria, follow process for removal of patrol service.
Disestablishment of sites / Considered when a site has not operated for some time, where there is a lack of support, where there are problems with recruitment and it is not possible to provide a consistent service.
As part of periodic reviews, sites falling below criteria will be proposed for disestablishment.
Process to include risk assessment and consultation with School and Local Member.
Sites will also be reviewed for disestablishment following the introduction of a formal crossing provision such as a zebra or light controlled crossing.
Final approval for the disestablishment will be provided by the relevant Chief Officer and Transport Portfolio Holder
Provision of SCP’s at formal crossing facilities / As a principle, SCP’s will not be provided where formal, permanent crossing facilities exist. Departures from this principle will require evidence of exceptional circumstances.

4.2 Disestablishing sites

A review may reveal that a site no longer meets the criteria or it has been vacant for a long period and it has been difficult to find someone to work as the SCP at the site. If this is the case, the SCP should be withdrawn, subject to consultation with the school concerned, the Local Member and Cornwall Council.

As part of the review, the site will be assessed in terms of a PV count. If the assessment falls below the criteria, a site risk assessment will be carried out to determine exceptional circumstances which may warrant continued provision of a patrol. The site risk assessment template is provided in Appendix 1 and is based on ‘School Crossing Patrol Service Guidelines’ latest revision November 2014. The information collected from this review, along with a recommendation from the SCP Manager will then be sent to the Local Safety Team and Strategic Client for consideration. Once the information has been reviewed the recommendation will then either be accepted or declined and fed back to the SCP team for action.

The following process will be observed for the disestablishment of any SCP facilities.

4.3 Patrols at Light Controlled and Zebra Crossings

In accordance with the guidelines, other circumstances such as the introduction of a light-controlled crossing facility will lead to the disestablishment of a site.

If a light controlled or zebra crossing is installed at the site of a SCP, it is proposed that the SCP remains for the remainder of the school term. This will enable the function of the new facility to be assessed. A SCP will only remain at a controlled crossing point if concerns are raised with the operation and no other physical remedial measures can be implemented.

4.4 Operation of SCP on Pedestrian Islands (Central Refuges)

It is advised that the operation of a SCP at such a site will follow the advice provided in the guidelines.

APPENDIX 1

School Crossing Patrol Service - Site Review Assessment/ Report

This assessment is to be undertaken in order to review a site for potential disestablishment.

Site Location: (Road Name and Town) ……………………………………………………….. Area: (East, Mid, West)………………………………….

SCP Co-ordinator for the area:………………………………………………………………….. Time patrol operates: …………to …………(am)

..……… .to ………...(pm)

Site assessment carried out by:……………………………………………………Date and time of site assessment: ………………………………

PV data:

Pedestrian and Vehicle data collected on:………………………………………………….. (PV recording sheet to be attached to this report)

AM value / Meet threshold for a SCP / PM value / Meet threshold for a SCP
PV2 value / Y / N / Y / N
PV2 value following adjustment factor review (see below) / Y / N / Y / N

SCP Guidelines Adjustment Factors:

All sites are to be assessed against adjustment factors regardless of whether they meet the SCP guideline adopted criteria threshold of 4 million.

Factor / Applicable to this site / Value for site / Comments/Issues to be highlighted to Local Safety Team
Carriageway width
Carriageway width (single carriageway) / Carriageway width between 7.5 and 10 metres / +1 / Y / N
Carriageway width in excess of 10 metres / +2 / Y / N
Footway width less than 2 metres / +1 / Y / N
Down gradient steeper than 12.5% (1 in 8) / +2 / Y / N
Down gradient less than 12.5% but greater than 5% (1 in 20 metres) / +1 / Y / N
Speed and Visibility
85%ile speed / Visibility (metres) / Y / N
Travelling between 30 and 40mph / Less than 50 metres / +3 / Y / N
Between 50-75 metres / +2 / Y / N
Between 75-100 metres / +1 / Y / N
Travelling between 40 and 50 metres / Less than 60 metres / +3 / Y / N
Between 60-100 metres / +2 / Y / N
Between 100-150 metres / +1 / Y / N
Street Lighting
Street Lighting / None / +3 / Y / N
Signing etc
Signs, Street Furtniture, Trees etc / Visibility obstructed within 100 metres of site / +1 / Y / N
Road Markings
Road Markings / Complicated by road markings within 50 metres / +1 / Y / N
Junctions
Junctions / On a major road and within 20 metres of a road junction / +2 / Y / N
On a minor road and within 20 metres of a road junction / +1 / Y / N
Accidents
Accidents / Accidents involving pedestrians on weekdays within 50 metres of the crossing point / One point per ped injury on 3 year average / Y / N
Weight of Traffic
Weight of Traffic / Where pedestrians flows are light, the vehicle flows are heavy and the criteria is not satisfied, then at 800 PCUs per hour it is recommended to add a further 1 factor / +1 / Y / N
Age
Average Age / Primary (up to 11 years) / +5 / Y / N
Secondary (12+ years) / +1 / Y / N
Total Adjustment Factor to be applied to PV count

Other information:

SCP Manager/Coordinator comments on: / Details/Comments
Perceptions of site i.e. speed of traffic, red light running etc
Complaints/comments received from parents/public i.e. any issues raised when current patrol off sick
Is the previous history of the site known in terms of whether the crossing was implemented post or prior to SCP being in post?
Is previous assessment data available? If so please provide details of scores/issues.
Any additional comments not highlighted anywhere else above

Photographs:

Any photographs of the site which help provide an understanding of the nature of the site and any concerns/issues should be inserted here.

[Insert photos]

Recommendation of SCP Manager/Coordinator: (SCP to remain/ SCP site to be disestablished/further investigation required by Local Safety Team) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Signed:……………………………………………………. Date: ………………………………