A hunt for new lollipop men and women in West Lothian is set to start as the council look to fill ‘difficult’ positions
Despite regular recruitment drives the school crossing patrol service operates at around 75% of capacity, with a quarter of sites across the county difficult to fill with regular patrol staff, a meeting of the council Performance committee heard.
With a wage of £125 a week for patrol guides, veteran councillor Carl John expressed surprise that the jobs were hard to fill, noting that his own grandfather had worked well into his pensioned years as a crossing patrol guide.
A council spokesperson said there were no specific areas where it was more difficult to recruit than others. The split shift and relatively low pay means that the job is ideally suited to someone living nearby the crossing.
The council has recruited recently and will start another round soon.
The spokesperson added: “School Crossing Patrol Guides play an invaluable role in local communities across West Lothian, as a regular and friendly face helping pupils and their families to safely navigate their route to and from school on a daily basis.
“Although a non-statutory service, the Council has provided school crossing patrol guides for many years.
“Currently, there are 82 approved sites that have guides and roles are regularly available across the county. The positions average 10 hours per week, 1-hour morning and 1-hour afternoon for 38 weeks per year.
“We will be advertising school crossing patrol guide vacancies in the near future. Interested parties should keep checking the West Lothian Council section of the myjobscotland website where they will be advertised.”
By Stuart Sommerville Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
