Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the current number of school crossing patrol officers; and (ii) how this compares to (a) five years ago; and (b) ten years ago.
Minister of Education: The Education Authority (EA) has advised that it does not hold figures on School Crossing Patrols (SCP) prior to 2019/20. The EA has provided the table below detailing the amount spent on SCPs and the number of SCPs in each of the last five years.
| Financial Year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
| Annual Cost1 | £2.862m | £2.822m | £2.757m | £2.759m | £2.955m |
| Average number of SCPs2 | 457 | 449 | 431 | 388 | 365 |
These figures include annual pay awards which have varied from 2.3% in 2021/22 to 12.28% in 2023/24.
The number of SCPs in any given year varies and therefore the EA has provided the average for each year.
SCPs are automatically replaced within a 2 year period, i.e. someone vacates the post, however if the period is longer a new assessment must be completed to consider any relevant changes within that time.
Assessments are based on the criteria as set out in the Road Safety GB’s ‘School Crossing Patrol Service Guidelines.’
ENDS
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