Corporate and Public Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee met Tuesday night in Walsall Council House. First up on the Agenda was a deputation backing up an online petition asking the council not to stop the funding for what is termed as Category 2 school crossing patrols.

Have to say I was more than disappointed with the way the debate developed and the lack of any real outcome. Instead those members of the public who came to the meeting to in support of the petition were treated to an unseemly political knock about which ended in a set of recommendations which criticised the Cabinet but contained no alternative actions which could be considered .

Let me explain. The whole point of petitions going to an Overview and Scrutiny Committee is so that the issues can be clearly defined. Questions should be asked of the Cabinet member who has day to day responsibility for those issues and probably the most important part of the process, the debate should lead to a set of recommendations to Cabinet which will add value on determining the next steps. This last point is something which Overview and Scrutiny struggles with in Walsall.

Couple of things need explaining before we go any further:

1. What is an Overview and Scrutiny Committee?
2. What is a Category 2 School Crossing?

Taking these in order. Councils which operate “executive arrangements” (those who have a leader and cabinet, as they do in Walsall) must have at least one overview and scrutiny function. Scrutiny committees have powers to call council officers and Councillors to come and give evidence to them, and in particular hold members of the Council’s Cabinet to account for their actions and also to add value by making positive suggestions to help make better decisions.  Councillors who are members of a Scrutiny Committee can not be members of the Cabinet.

Having cleared that up now let’s move onto question 2. What is a Category 2 School Crossing?

The council operates 83 school crossing patrols across the borough. School crossing patrols fall into two categories:

Category 1 is for a school crossing patrol warden to be on duty at specific times during school opening hours because of the potential road safety risks and is not supported by secondary crossing facilities i.e. pelican, zebra crossings etc.

Category 2 is for a school crossing patrol warden supported by secondary crossing facilities i.e. pelican, zebra crossings. Therefore these are risk-scored lower than a Category 1 crossing.

Getting back to the events of Tuesday night. When questioned by the Committee about what alternatives had been considered the Cabinet member listed a number which included schools being involved in projects such as A* to look at positive ways to make the journey to school safer, schools being asked to pay for the service along with enforcement action against motorists who park where they shouldn’t or who drive in an unsafe way through School zones. After this it all got a bit fraught with claim and counter claim

Really do think that it is about time for a long hard look at how the Overview and Scrutiny experience for both the public and members of the council can be improved.