Over 1,000 schools in Yorkshire face day of disruption

A MASSIVE walkout by public sector workers tomorrow will hit more than 1,000 schools and disrupt hospitals, bin collections and services for vulnerable people across Yorkshire.

There will be at least 859 schools closed in Yorkshire and another 172 which will only be able to open certain classes as trade unions unite in a battle over planned changes to members’ pensions.

Barnsley, Leeds and Rotherham Council have all confirmed that refuse collections will be cancelled tomorrow affecting more than 100,000 homes.

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The overall figure for Yorkshire will be much higher once other councils announce their plans.

Across the region, councils have warned day centres, libraries, children’s centres and community centres will be closed.

Wakefield Council has announced that all of its museums and castles will remain closed because of the strike while Humberside Police has cancelled leave for officers on the day of the action.

Some hospitals across Yorkshire are warning patients that services, outpatient appointments and operations could be affected by the industrial action but accident and emergency departments, urgent surgery and cancer treatment units will remain open. Hospitals in York may be forced to cancel appointments and operations and are encouraging patients to contact the relevant department. The hospitals drop-in radiology department for patients referred by their GP for an x-ray will not be operating.

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Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Bassetlaw and Montagu hospitals will be running a bank holiday-style service with most outpatient and non-urgent admissions cancelled.

The hospitals’ chief executive Ron Calvert said: “We accept that staff have a right to strike but we have asked them to consider the needs of patients. This is a national issue but, regrettably, has a local impact.

“We apologise to patients and visitors for the inconvenience caused by cancelling all non-urgent clinics and admissions. We have taken this step as a precaution, to ensure that we focus on urgent cases only.”

Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs Dewsbury and District, Pinderfields, and Pontefract hospitals, has said it will only be providing emergency and acute care with all outpatients appointments having been cancelled.

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Passengers arriving at the region’s ports and airports may experience short delays in clearing immigration checks, as some UK Border Agency staff take part in the dispute. However disruption on the scale expected at major London airports is unlikely.

A spokesman for Doncaster Robin Hood Airport said passengers arriving back to the UK will experience “minimal disruption” and passengers departing will be unaffected.

A range of council services will also be hit by tomorrow’s strike. Leeds Council has announced that more than 20 day centres will be closed, including those providing services to the elderly, people with dementia, and people with physical or visual impairments. Kirklees Council has said that its home care service that supports people to live independently in their own homes will operate a reduced service.

Leeds’ Kirkgate market had been expected to be closed, however it will now stay open after a number of traders volunteered to work as marshals. The council’s markets manager Sue Burgess said: “We have not tried this method before, but I am pleased that we have been able to work together to put this is place so quickly, and have the market open as usual in the busy run up to Christmas.”

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The industrial action will also affect criminal courts, job centres and driving test centres.

Anyone with driving or theory tests booked for tomorrow has been advised by the Driving Standards Agency to attend their test centre as arranged. Learner drivers will not be charged if their tests have to be re-arranged.

Job centre closures could take place although benefit claimants have been told their payments will be made as normal regardless of whether centres are shut.

Opinion & analysis: Page 11.