CCTV ban will 'put pupils at risk'

GOVERNMENT PLANS to possibly ban CCTV parking cameras will put schoolchildren at risk, council leaders and head teachers have warned.

Councils use CCTV enforcement vehicles to tackle dangerous and illegal parking outside schools including cars blocking driveways, driving along pavements and stopping on yellow zig-zag lines outside school gates.

They are often introduced at the request of parents or teachers concerned about the safety of schoolchildren and act as a visible deterrent to the thoughtless minority of drivers who put children's safety at risk.

The Department for Transport has launched a consultation in what the Local Government Association (LGA) has said is a plan to change the law to ban the use of CCTV for on-street parking enforcement and to only allow traffic wardens to film vehicles breaking the rules.

With recent road safety analysis showing more than 1,000 children are injured in road collisions around schools each month, the LGA and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) is warning the plans will end up placing schoolchildren at risk.

The LGA's economy and transport board chairman Peter Box said: "Camera cars have been instrumental in keeping children from being hurt or killed on the way to school, and CCTV also plays an important role elsewhere in monitoring traffic flow and keeping cars moving.

"It is impossible for councils to regulate parking outside thousands of schools by using wardens alone.

"Camera cars are deployed in response to pleas by parents and teachers about cars being parked illegally and recklessly outside the school gates.

"CCTV cars are a highly visible deterrent for those breaking the law and councils will often send warnings to drivers of the consequences of their actions before issuing them with parking fines.

"Banning councils from acting on these community concerns and using CCTV outside schools will put children at risk and leave them and their parents to run the gauntlet of the school run without any protection."

Sion Humphreys, policy adviser at NAHT, said: "Parking outside schools can be a big problem.

"Many drivers take risks to avoid the rush such as ignoring the hatched areas outside or speeding as they attempt to bypass the school queue.

"CCTV not only helps tackle the potential safety risks of dangerous parking and speeding but can also be an additional tool against anti-social behaviour."

By Peter Woodman, Press Association