Peterborough City Council pays out £66,000 in compensation in two years

Over £66,000 of compensation has been paid out by Peterborough City Council in two years.
Peterborough City Council news from the Peterborough Telegraph - peterboroughtoday.co.uk, @peterboroughtel on Twitter, Facebook.com/peterboroughtodayPeterborough City Council news from the Peterborough Telegraph - peterboroughtoday.co.uk, @peterboroughtel on Twitter, Facebook.com/peterboroughtoday
Peterborough City Council news from the Peterborough Telegraph - peterboroughtoday.co.uk, @peterboroughtel on Twitter, Facebook.com/peterboroughtoday

Figures released by the TaxPayers’ Alliance show the council handed over £58,462.52 in 2013/14 and £7,970 in 2014/15.

The compensation followed claims relating to: trees/subsidence, highway slip/trip, other injury or other property.

The total compensation paid out was £66,432.51.

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Research shows over £104 million was paid out in compensation in England, Wales and Scotland over the two years from more than 40,000 claims.

Successful claims include a person who received £2,500 from Calderdale Council for being hit in the face, and another received £65 from the same local authority for mis-placed reading glasses.

One person received £2,360 from Birmingham City Council after walking into an open window while one received £393 from Wiltshire Council because of horseplay.

Nearly £8 million was paid out in claims related to potholes over 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.

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Lambeth was the London Borough which paid out the highest amount in compensation over the two-year period - £5,264,071, while Norfolk was the county council to pay out the most at £3,474,123.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The compensation culture is costing taxpayers dear and every pound spent on settlements or higher insurance premiums is a pound that isn’t spent on essential services such as road maintenance or social care.

“Of course, some of the payments made by councils will be entirely justified, as the most serious accidents can change lives. But in many cases, local authorities and their staff will be failing to live up to the standards required of them by law or paying out on frivolous claims too easily.

“Councils must do everything they can to ensure their mistakes and negligence don’t result in such large bills for hard-pressed taxpayers - and take appropriate action against staff whose actions result in costly claims. We must also root out those who are playing the system with spurious demands for taxpayers’ cash.”