South Yorkshire councils shell out nearly £2 million in compensation
New figures show that over the last two years councils across South Yorkshire have paid out almost £2,000,000 in compensation.
New figures show that over the last two years councils across South Yorkshire have paid out almost £2,000,000 in compensation.
Just over half of that figure comes from Barnsley council alone.
Rotherham council settled claims totalling around £172,000.
It's connected to things like claiming for damage caused by potholes.
The Taxpayers' alliance, who are behind the stats, highlighted a need for local authorities to do more to prevent claims being made in the first place.
A spokesperson from Sheffield City Council, who paid out £240,391, said:
“At a time of government cuts it is important that the council doesn’t spend money on things like compensation where we don’t need to. We are pleased that our approach also confirms we perform better than most local authorities and ALL Core Cities.
“We do this by thoroughly investigating all claims to determine liability and then robustly defend them, to make sure we do not make any unnecessary payments.
"Claims are settled at the earliest opportunity when we accept liability, to minimise further damages and costs.
“Public safety is important and we take all health and safety issues very seriously. We investigate all the details behind each claim that is made to us to identify any issues or learning points for us to address.”
A Barnsley Council spokesperson said:
"This is the total cost of all claims that were paid out in 2013/14 and 2014/15.
"In addition to damage related costs this also includes all legal fees (incurred by the council and the claimant).
In examples that we have looked at, the damage related element is only around 10 per cent so this would explain any significant variance if other authorities are only providing the damage related element.
As such we would we want to know that the figures quoted are a like for like comparison."
Simon Wiles, Director of Finance and Corporate Services at Doncaster Council, told us: “The council has robust procedures in place for handling claims made against it. When claims come in we investigate them thoroughly to make sure that unnecessary payments are not made.
"Of course, the safety of residents is our primary concern and we take health and safety very seriously. That is why we look at the events behind each claim to see what lessons can be learned.”