New figures released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed the extent to which the “compensation culture” has spread to the country’s schools.
The FOI request asked Merseyside councils to give details on every successful compensation claim brought against a school by a pupil and showed that, in the borough of Knowsley alone, over £50,000 was paid out to pupils and their families between 2008 and 2010. The figure includes £6,000 to one pupil who was hit in the eye by a pen and £4,500 for a schoolgirl who caught her leg on a protruding screw.
Jim Donnelly, head teacher at a school on Merseyside, said that health and safety was now embedded into school life, partly because of the threat of compensation and because scrutiny on safeguarding was now part of Ofsted inspections. He said: “If it starts to rain we would put up a ‘Be careful, slippery surface’ sign up on exit doors because we know insurers would want to know what steps we have taken.”
However Knowsley Council has said that the number of claims has fallen in recent years because schools in the region receive support from the council’s health and safety team which includes advice on risk assessments and reporting accidents and safety audits.
