Wolverhampton council told to get a grip on compensation culture

It added that, whatever the circumstances, it was unfair that it fell to Wolverhampton taxpayers to foot the bill.

Jonathan Isaby, group chief executive, said: "One of two things is happening: either the council isn't providing a safe enough environment for residents and employees, or they're paying out too quickly on spurious claims.

"Whichever it is, taxpayers end up picking up the bill at a time when we're trying to make savings. The council has got to get a grip on this compensation culture."

• Click here for the top 10 most obscure and expensive claims

Wendy Thompson, the Conservative leader in Wolverhampton, was also critical of the council.

She described it as 'irresponsible' and said the situation needs to be looked at 'more carefully'.

"It's a huge amount of money to be paying out, they need to be looking at this more carefully," she said. "The circumstances in Wolverhampton are so dire financially that we mustn't have these large payments going out."

But she did suggest that perhaps people were too quick to claim for incidents that were perhaps not very serious, saying: "If there is a glaring issue then the council should be addressing it but sometimes I think people are too quick to put in a claim. Of course in serious circumstances they must but I know residents who have taken a fall and not claimed.

"I myself had a fall on a paving slab but I didn't put in a claim."

When told about the near £2,000 payout for 'excessive heavy bin liners of rubbish' and £3,500 for 'pupil bit off finger of an assistant', Mrs Thompson said: "What it suggests is that they should be looking carefully at providing care for their workforce so these incidents don't happen in the first place.

"What in the world was going on in that classroom for that to happen?"

Asked about whether this large compensation payout was a reflection of the way the Labour-run council has handled its finances in recent years, she said: "They have been very irresponsible indeed with how little regard they have had for the value of money.

"They haven't looked outwards to see what other councils were doing.

"The people of Wolverhampton are paying more for less. It is detrimental to the city and this has been going on for many years. Now they are in one deep mess."

Bill Etheridge, UKIP MEP for the West Midlands, branded the £1 million figure 'horrific' and said for a council 'on its knees' to be paying out this kind of money was 'catastrophic'.

He said: "It's a horrific amount of money for a council to have paid out at a time when the budget has been cut. This money could have been put towards important local services.

"There is a growing litigation culture in this country with more and more frivolous claims being put in hoping for a payout. But some of these claims put in to Wolverhampton council are also extremely serious so the council must do a review of its health and safety process to help put a stop to any further claims and huge payouts.

"For a council on its knees to pay out over a million pounds is catastrophic."

But Andrew Johnson, Wolverhampton council's cabinet member for resources, defended the council's payouts, insisting that it only paid out on 30 per cent of claims received and that the insurance team for the council was recently rated as 'exemplary' by one of the world's biggest private insurers.

The claims paid out by Wolverhampton council range from everything from trips and slips to heavy bin liners and a shower seat collapsing.

Last year, the council paid out £4,900 to a member of the public who fell when a podium rail broke and £4,350 to someone who fell of their scooter when the front wheel got jammed between broken paving slabs.

Other examples of council payouts throughout the last five years include £2,000 to someone who feel due to uneven Tarmac on a footpath, £3,504.50 for someone who injured themselves on a nail sticking out of bench, and £2,250 for someone who was struck with a mobility scooter.