Education authorities are launching a crackdown on injury claims over fears of a burgeoning compensation culture in school playgrounds.

The move comes as new figures reveal that children injured at English schools received an estimated £2 million in compensation last year.

Pay-outs included £5,000 to a pupil whose finger was struck by a cricket ball and nearly £6,000 to another who had broken into school at night.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, have reignited the debate about whether schools are hamstrung by stringent health and safety regulations and a compensation culture.

Concerns that spurious claims are costing Local Education Authorities thousands of pounds have prompted several councils to contest damages as a matter of policy rather than settle out of court, leading unions told The Times.

A survey of 97 of England’s 150 LEAs released yesterday found that they had paid £1.3 million in damages to pupils, in 247 claims.

While figures for previous years are not available, health and safety experts said the figures were symptomatic of a growing tendency for LEAs to reach a settlement rather than risk going to court.

The largest single pay-out was £21,500, which was awarded to a pupil who suffered a back strain during a drama lesson. The Derbyshire school was deemed to have been at fault for not giving adequate instruction.

Other compensation cases included £3,400 for a Leeds pupil who broke an arm in the playground and £13,097 to a pupil in the Thamesdown area who tripped up.

Leicestershire County Council compensated a pupil who was injured when a gate collapsed when he was trespassing at the school by night. A spokeswoman said that the LEA was unable to prove the gate had been properly maintained.

Simon Joyston-Bechal, a health and safety law expert from Pinsent Masons, said: “It’s long been established that people who own premises owe a duty of safety to people who are trespassing, especially to children.

“If a lawyer asks the right questions and the school cannot answer, they may find it is not worth fighting, because they will have to prove they followed the right procedure and risk a criminal prosecution.”

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the teachers’ union NASUWT, said: “Compensation is more of a problem nowadays than it was in the past because society has almost lost the concept of a genuine accident.

“Schools find themselves getting letters from ambulance-chasing solicitors who are encouraging people to make claims under conditional fee arrangements. There’s an attitude that someone is always to blame and that you may as well chance your arm because most LEAs will settle out of court.” She added that Birmingham and Manchester authorities, as well as some in the North East, had started contesting claims as a matter of policy.

Mick Brooke, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that a compensation culture was a “rising concern”.

“Some people see it as being a lottery, that there’s some cash to be made for making spurious claims,” he said, adding that he advised LEAs to contest claims. “If a person had a genuine case, then it needs to be tested.”

An NUT spokesman said: “There may be circumstances where injury could not be avoided and in such circumstances it is likely that the pupil will be awarded compensation.

“But this will inevitably mean higher insurance premiums for the school, taking money away from every child’s education.”

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