Articles

9 September 2004

Growing compensation culture is damaging society

Printed in the Newmarket Journal - 9/10/04

I doubt I am alone in finding Britain’s rising compensation bill depressing. The figures involved are enormous: £10 billion was paid out in compensation claims in Britain last year; £900 million by hospitals alone (equivalent to 23,000 new nurses) and £200 million (or 8,000 new teachers) by schools. 

Of course many claims for damages are entirely justified and I am always willing to support constituents who have been the victim of negligence or gross incompetence. But there is evidence that the number of spurious claims, such as the teacher who won £55,000 from the taxpayer because she slipped on a chip, or the parents of the Girl Guide who won £3,500 after singeing her fingers cooking sausages, is growing and fuelling a ‘compensation culture’ in which individuals are quick to assume rights and apportion blame, but slow to accept responsibility for their own actions. 

This growing ‘blame and claim’ culture is not only damaging society financially. The ‘fear of blame and litigation’ is the reason most often cited by volunteers who relinquish their roles in the community, while according to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment the most attractive features of parks and public spaces are being lost as they are deemed ‘too risky’ by local bureaucrats.

Moreover, many people now fear taking action – whether it be citizens against anti-social yobs, teachers against unruly pupils, or homeowners against intruders – for fear that they may end up facing a claim for damages or become the subject of legal action themselves. 

Many stories which illustrate how bad things have become spring to mind: the train driver who made a citizen’s arrest on a teenager playing chicken on the tracks and was charged with assault because the boy complained that the driver had been too rough with him. The man who made a citizen’s arrest on a youth trespassing in his allotment armed with a hammer and was subsequently hauled through the courts on an assault charge. Thankfully in both examples common-sense eventually prevailed and the cases were dismissed. But will these people be prepared to stand-up to yobs again? I doubt it.

The fear of litigation is also adversely affecting the education of children, with teachers being advised by some unions not to take pupils on excursions and one primary school even cancelling sports day due to fears that staff could face litigation if children slipped and injured themselves on wet grass. 

Earlier this year a Bill to protect schools and volunteers from the compensation culture was brought forward by my Conservative colleague, Julian Brazier. But despite widespread support from groups such as the Guides, the National Council for School Sport, and the Youth Hostel Association, the proposed legislation was wrecked by the Government who enlisted a Labour MP to make one of the longest speeches in Parliamentary history to talk the Bill out of Commons’ time. 

Despite this setback, the Conservatives recently opened up another front against the compensation culture, announcing a review of the legislation which has spawned the growing number of dubious claims and court cases. I fully support this move and sincerely hope we can restore a sense of balance and proportion to society before any more well-intentioned citizens are deterred from volunteering, teaching or taking action against crime.