Employee Compensation Claims - 1112/19

Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.

You asked:

1. a) The total number of compensation claims made by employees against the force, broken down to differentiate between officers and staff and by each year between 2015 and 2019.
2. b) The total sum paid out in compensation arising from such claims, broken down for each year

In each case, I’d like to know the following:

• Rank of officer or role of staff member
• Gender
• Age
• Year of incident
• Incident date
• Date claim was settled
• Injuries caused/nature of claim
• Description of incident claim related to
• Amount paid
• Status of claim, i.e. whether it is still on-going, being disputed or otherwise
• Cost in legal fees to the force

In Response:

Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the Legal Department of Northumbria Police.  I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.

I am able to disclose the located information to you as follows.

1. 2015:-

There were 17 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2015. These are broken down as follows:-

9 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by police officers

8 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by members of police staff

In relation to the 17 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2015, 8 of these claims have been settled and the total sum in compensation paid was £35,625.00.

2016:-

There were 14 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2016. These are broken down as follows:-

6 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by police officers

8 Employer’s Liability claims brought by members of police staff

In relation to the 13 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2016, 6 of these claims have been settled and the total sum in compensation paid was £26,502.75.

2017:-

There were 7 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2017. These are broken down as follows:-

4 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by police officers

3 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by members of police staff

In relation to the 7 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2017, 1 of these claims has been settled and the total sum in compensation paid was £4,500.00.

2018:-

There were 8 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2018. These are broken down as follows:-

4 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by police officers

4 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by members of police staff

In relation to the 8 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force in 2018, 1 of these claims has been settled and the total sum in compensation paid was £3,500.00.

2019 (1 January – 2 September):-

There were 4 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force during the dates specified above. These are broken down as follows:-

1 Employer’s Liability civil claim brought by a police officer

3 Employer’s Liability civil claims brought by members of police staff

In relation to the 4 Employer’s Liability personal injury civil claims brought against the Force during the dates specified above.  Of these claims 1 has been settled and the total sum in compensation paid was £1,000.00

 

2. Please see the attached document which contains information relevant to this point of your request.  Please note that this has been presented in such a format as to avoid the application of relevant exemptions under the act.  It should also be noted that no we do not record the age of the staff member.