Tayside’s councils have forked out more than £700,000 in compensation claims over the last three years, new figures show.
The local authorities were forced to dish out cash to both members of the public and members of staff for a variety of reasons — from injuries caused in parks and schools to thefts, defective footpaths and even damage caused to property and vehicles by grass cutting.
Overall, Angus Council paid out the most money — a total of £343,302.50.
More than £100,000 of that was paid following employer’s liability claims — one claim, from this year, totalling £44,440.87, related to the impact caused by a vehicle or machine.
The majority of big payouts to the public came after injuries, with one person claiming £16,000 in compensation after injury caused by a footpath surface defect.
The biggest cost to Angus Council over the three years was on claims relating to incidents involving vehicles, which totalled £183,000.
A spokesman for Angus Council said: “The way in which every individual claim is handled has not changed.
“They will all be rigorously assessed according to their particular circumstances and upheld or refused as appropriate.
“We continuously look to reduce the possibilities for claims to be made by, for example, spending significant sums of money on the repair and resurfacing of roads and footways.”
Dundee’s payouts came to £306,661.18 in total since 2012 and included people being injured at a swimming pool, storm damage, a fall from a piece of equipment and dampness or condensation.
A Dundee City Council spokeswoman said: “These figures reflect the time of year the request was made, but are also as a result of the council’s risk management efforts which have led to a reduction in the volume of claims.
“These efforts include reviewing the council’s road maintenance policy, carrying out inspections and looking at past claims.”
It can take up to nine months for a claim to go through the system, she said, and so this figure could still rise.
In Perth and Kinross, many of the compensation claims related to carriageway defects, with more than £83,000 paid out in total by the council.