While anxious not to appear complacent, Wolverhampton Council, which expects to make Pounds 250,000 available next year for measures to improve teacher and pupil safety, believes it is “more ahead of the game than some local authorities”.
The National Union of Teachers has renewed calls for ministers to ensure grants to improve school security, available in 1997, will be “new money”.
The NUT is also demanding that the Government meets the full cost of improvements. Ministers currently expect local authorities to contribute 40 per cent.
Wolverhampton had already submitted a motion to the Council of Local Education Authorities’ conference later this month urging the Government to “act more quickly and decisively”.
Launching a consultation paper on ways to curb stalking, Home Office minister David Maclean this week suggested that proposals to facilitate injunctions against offenders might be used to remove people who loiter outside schools.