£300k for injuries to teachers
THREE teachers have been awarded five-figure compensation payouts after suffering injuries in attacks by pupils.
Total payouts for workplace injuries in schools involving members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union soared to nearly £300,000 this year.
The largest sum for an accident claim was £141,500 for a teacher who suffered injuries likely to affect their career after slipping and falling at work.
The next three highest payouts were all for teachers who were injured by pupils. One was awarded £55,000 after a pupil shouted obscenities then assaulted them, causing serious injuries. Another was awarded £30,000 after suffering injuries and distress in an altercation with a pupil, while an EIS member was awarded £ 0,000 after being repeatedly head-butted by a pupil.
The EIS said that 11 members were awarded compensation for injuries suffered at work in the past year, totalling £ 90,700. This figure was up substantially on £ 30,000 the previous year.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said the most common cause of injuries remains slips, trips and falls, which ‘are entirely avoidable with correct adherence to appropriate health and safety procedures in the workplace’.
Among the payouts were £9,000 for a teacher who tripped on cables and fractured a knee and £6,000 for another who was scalded by a faulty kettle.
A spokesman for councils’ umbrella body Cosla said: ‘Councils endeavour to make the learning environment as safe as they possibly can for all.’ The Scottish Government said no teacher should have to suffer verbal or physical abuse.
A spokesman added: ‘We are supporting a number of programmes to promote positive relationships and tackle indiscipline, abuse and violence.’
IN recent years we have witnessed nothing short of a revolution in the UK pensions industry. Dramatic changes have given individuals sweeping new powers to invest and control their own retirement savings. But with increased freedom comes increased risk. Most pensioners are not financial experts and vultures are constantly trying to cheat them out of funds they have taken a lifetime to accumulate.
Today, a heartbreaking Mail investigation reveals how tens of thousands of desperate pensioners – including former firefighters, ambulance staff, military veterans and teachers – have lost retirement savings of up to £10billion in cruel pension scams.
Even more shockingly, the Government has unwittingly helped these despicable swindlers in what has been described by one industry expert as ‘systematic, industrial scale scamming’.
Under pension ‘simplification’ legislation brought in by Tony Blair in 2006, rogue pension schemes were able to register with HMRC online with minimal checks.
Once registered, they assumed semiofficial status. It was their key selling point when reeling in victims. Using this endorsement – along with the siren promise of big returns – they persuaded their unsuspecting dupes to move their pensions from safe schemes to dubious ones, from which the money could be siphoned off in exorbitant fees and commissions.
As one former ambulance worker who lost £72,000 put it: ‘You don’t expect people involved with dishonest schemes to be registered with HMRC.’ To compound their misery, as many of the scams broke tax laws, victims are also facing crippling tax bills – some with hefty fines on top.
Thankfully, HMRC registration rules have been tightened and new applicants to the scheme are subject to more searching investigation. However, little is being done to erase the toxic legacy of HMRC’s previous complacency and incompetence.
Scammers who were already registered are still operating – and still fleecing savers. Some aren’t even aware yet that their nestegg is being pillaged. It’s time for wholesale reform, with existing registered schemes, as well as new applications, being subjected to proper scrutiny.
Consideration should also be given to a tax amnesty for those who lost their life savings – and even the possibility of some compensation. The Government may not have created this scandal but it has certainly contributed to it. For that, it bears a heavy responsibility.