Scottish councils pay out millions in damages
Posted: December 29, 2014
Posted in: Pothole Injuries Public Place Accidents Workplace Injuries Workplace Slip
New figures have revealed that Scottish councils have paid out millions of pounds in damages over the last five years alone. The data, obtained by BBC Scotland, found that £15.5million was paid out to claimants, with claims including workplace violence and dangerous science experiments. The most compensation was paid out to pothole and water-related claims, with potholes costing Glasgow council £1.7million since 2000.
The data was gathered through a number of freedom of information requests. Despite the magnitude of the figures, it actually found an overall decrease in council payouts. The data revealed a £3m drop in annual payouts by local authorities since 2010. This decline seems to have come at the same time as Scottish council spending cuts, which saw a combined cut by £150m.
2,763 payouts over ‘surface-related claims’
The figures revealed East Renfrewshire council to have made more payouts than any other council for the year, at £61,678. The Scottish Borders and Midlothian were the only local authorities to have witnessed an increase in payouts over the last couple of years.
In 2011, Glasgow City Council was forced to pay out to 2,763 residents over surface-related claims, ranging from falls to vehicle damage. This cost the council £1.3million. Since then, surface damage payouts by Glasgow council has dropped to £43,379 in 2014.
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