WHY AN ACCIDENT WITH A CREAM CAKE COST A WELSH COUNCIL £16,000:
AMEMBER of school staff was given a £16,500 payout after slipping on the remains of cream cake at a school, new figures show.
That incident was in Ceredigion, but elsewhere in Wales £5,985 was paid to a member of staff hit by a pupil in Powys and £20,000 to a pupil from Bridgend whose head was hurt when an object fell off a shelf.
In total, hard-up Welsh councils have paid out more than £1m in legal claims for accidents, injuries and assaults at schools and on school trips from 2011-2016.
Among the biggest claims settled was £28,340 paid by Cardiff Council for ‘psychological injury’ to a pupil caused by what is described as ‘education supervision.’
Other cases which councils had to pay out for include a pupil assaulted at school in Cardiff who claimed for psychological damage, electric shocks, cars damaged by trees and a pupil who broke a leg on a school ski trip.
The biggest single cause of claims are slips, trips and falls.
In other cases Bridgend County Council paid out £2,784 when a pupil caught another pupil’s toe with a spade in a land skills lesson and £17,500 when a member of staff slipped on water.
In Ceredigion a teacher claimed expenses after taking a child who ran through a glass door to hospital.
Some councils were unable to detail cases, saying there were so few it would identify claimants.
The total legal bill for injuries and accidents in schools and on school trips may be higher, as only 13 of the 22 Welsh councils asked for details under the Freedom of Information Act responded and some did not include legal fees in calculations.
Cases not yet settled include one from a member of staff seeking damages from Ceredigion County Council for teeth injuries after being elbowed in the mouth by a pupil. The same council successfully dismissed another claim from a pupil who attempted to grab a monkey bar, fell and broke their right arm in 2013-2014.
Cardiff City Council has paid out the most among councils who provided details, with a bill of £317,253 over the last five calendar years, including legal, expert and medical fees in 11 claims from pupils and 13 from staff.
Details from the council show three payouts to pupils claiming psychological injury caused by assault, education supervision and what is described as errors and omissions.
The next highest legal bill was for Flintshire County Council, which has paid out more than £196,000 in the last five years, followed by Newport with more than £179,000.
Caerphilly County Borough Council has forked out least of the councils. It responded at £5,250 for trips and falls suffered by pupils and staff.