Fund to fight city school claims

Oct 15 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

A FIGHTING fund is to be set up to help Liverpool schools faced with legal claims by employees.

The city council is to plough £100,000 into the scheme which will be used for employment tribunal and court battles.

Cllr Paul Clein, Liverpool Council’s Executive Member for Children’s Services, said the scheme was a type of insurance fund for schools and “enlightened self-interest for all of us”.

According to legal advice to the city council, the cost of responding to a claim would fall to individual schools, but any compensation would have to be paid by the authority.

Cllr Clein said: “There have been a number of cases in recent years – not just in Liverpool – and these can be very expensive.

“If you are a smaller primary school, and bearing in mind each side has to pay its own costs, if you have little in the way of reserves, a case like this could give you severe financial problems for a year or two.

“The aim of the scheme is to give some measure of protection for smaller schools, although secondary schools can participate too – hopefully they will not need to make use of it.”

He said given the numbers of staff employed in education in Liverpool – around 8,000 – the numbers of disputes which end up in legal battles was “miniscule”.

Cllr Clein said: “However, if it’s a protracted case – and they often are – it can be an expensive business.”

He was pleased the Liverpool Schools Forum had been supportive of the scheme. The fighting fund is intended to deal with any claims from staff and schools will be asked to pay £15 a year for each member of staff.

A report to the Liverpool Schools Forum says there are currently 12 cases outstanding to be heard by the Employment Tribunal or courts.

These cases relate to claims of dismissal and discrimination.

The move by the council follows discussions last term with head teacher managerial associations. It follows changes in the services offered to schools by the School Employment Advisory Team, and follows a number of “high- cost quotes from private law practices”.

The report to the Schools’ Forum said the option of an ad hoc service from the council may be slightly cheaper than the private sector.

But it added: “Governing bodies would need to consider offsetting the risk with private insurance and the premium would most likely exceed the per capita price of the in-house fund arrangement.”

The scheme is due to come into effect from next April, 2008.

liammurphy@dailypost.co.uk