Why won't Ed Balls change the law to protect people from lawsuits instead of telling people to ignore the system his Government has created...?
Commenting on Ed Balls’s claims that councils are using the threat of litigation as an ‘easy excuse’ to cut children’s play areas, Shadow Children’s Secretary Michael Gove said:
“This is just spin. We must get police back on the streets and in public areas to stop violent crime and we must change the law to stop lawyers getting rich by suing schools and charities every time there's an accident, as we have repeatedly proposed.”
“Parents and children need more than warm words from Ed Balls about creating exciting areas to play. Ministers have endlessly criticised the compensation culture without coming up with any solutions to deal with it.”
Notes
Spin
· Children’s Secretary Ed Balls launched a consultation last year on child safety, to ‘promote discussion on how best to keep children safe’. He said: ‘We rightly have high expectations for our children today. We want them to be protected from any sort of harm and abuse. But this does not mean that we should wrap our children in cotton wool. Childhood is a time for learning and exploring. Through playing and doing positive activities, children and young people can learn to better understand the opportunities and challenges in the world around them, and how to be safe’ (DCSF Press Release, 18 July 2007).
· In November 2006, Alan Johnson launched new guidance on learning outside the classroom and established an independent Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, saying: ‘Today’s announcement is key to ensuring we help schools build on the excellent work many are already doing in this area with the reassurance of clear cut guidance to reassure them that the law is there to protect them, not inhibit them. This is the first time that a Government has set out to build a long lasting partnership to promote learning outside the classroom. The new council will be the driver in cutting red tape and giving schools clear advice and information to plan, fund and evaluate all their education activities outside the classroom’ (DFES press release, 26 November 2006).
· Three years ago in February 2005, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly announced: ‘The majority of schools already offer a range of outdoor learning including school trips that enrich the curriculum, build confidence and increase skills. However, we know that some schools and staff would like re-assurance about their responsibility for pupil safety. We want to make sure that all school staff have the confidence to continue offering these experiences and that everyone involved in a school trip, including parents, are aware of their rights and responsibilities.’ (DFES Press Release, 15 February 2005).
Conservative proposals
The first report of David Willetts’s Childhood Review in September 2007 produced concrete proposals to deal with risk aversion:
“We believe that courts must consider the social utility of the activity that creates the risk of harm and would introduce the concept of ‘reckless disregard’ which requires a much higher burden of proof than ordinary negligence; it is necessary to show deliberate intent or at least that a reasonable person must have known that he was behaving recklessly. This will ensure that judges recognise the special benefit of sports and adventure and use stricter guidelines when judging compensation claims against sports and recreational providers.
We would introduce the idea that a person does not owe a duty of care to another person to warn of an obvious risk and introduce a legal presumption of contributory negligence in circumstances where a claimant is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Therefore we will:
· Make the concept of ‘reckless disregard’ the standard for sports and adventure activities subject to individuals and parents signing waivers for the activity.
· Ensure consideration in the law (both civil and criminal) of the social utility of an activity when risk is an inherent part of it.
· Change the law so there is no obligation to warn of an obvious risk.
· Change the law so there is a presumption of contributory negligence if any individual participating in sport or an adventure activity ignores risk warnings or was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
· Make risk management training for adventurous out of classroom trips a requirement of teacher training so teachers have the confidence and the ability to take children on exciting, fun and safe trips.
Madeleine Abas, Chairman of the Health and Safety Lawyers Association, testified to the All-Party Group for Recreation in Society that there had been a sharp increase in the number of investigations under health and safety legislation over the last few years. Such investigations, even where they lead, as in most cases, to no prosecution, are deeply stressful to teachers.
