(i)

summarised the number, cost and most common types of claims per annum for Public Liability and Employer’s Liability since the Council had become a unitary authority in 1998;

(ii)

included information about the structure of the Council’s insurance programme, how claims were investigated and managed and how the costs were funded.

(iii)

the Council was responsible for paying all claims under £100,000 and the first £100,000 of claims in excess of this amount;

(iv)

the Council had previously had to deal with a number of third party property claims from housing tenants, however, the transfer of housing stock to Plymouth Community Homes meant that it was no longer responsible;

(v)

claims due to surface defects on footways, carriageways and open spaces accounted for the majority of insurance claim costs;

(vi)

time was taken to discuss claims with highways so that their repair and maintenance programme was informed.  The frequency of inspections varied from between 3, 6, 9 and 12 months depending upon the condition of the roads;

(vii)

the cost of the Council’s in-house service equated to a charge of £126.50 per claim compared to the average across 65 other unitary authorities of £266.50;

(viii)

the contract for the Council’s insurance provider was due for renewal in April, 2011;

(ix)

Plymouth City Council was looking to form a mutual insurance with 23 other authorities but, to date, had not considered sharing insurance services with it partners;

(x)

consideration would be given to offering use of the Council’s in-house services to neighbouring authorities, such as Cornwall and Torbay;

(xi)

Officers would be happy to participate in the forthcoming Growth and Prosperity task and finish group looking at highway maintenance;

(xii)

the Council took a proactive approach in monitoring insurance claims to ensure that trends in any one particular area were identified.  Issues were therefore routinely brought to the attention of operational managers both during and after the investigation of each claim so that any necessary repairs, training or equipment identified were acted upon;

(xiii)

information on the number and cost of Employer’s Liability claims and the associated risk management activity was reported to the Corporate Health, Safety and Welfare Committee.

(xiv)

written responses would be provided in regard to –

• whether the Council had sufficient budgetary provision for the delivery of statutory health and safety training
• the cost of the Council’s insurance contract

(1)

Officers explore the possibility of selling the Council’s in-house insurance services to neighbouring authorities and of pooling insurance resources with its partners;

(2)

the issues raised around prevention and investing to save future claims be further explored as part of the ‘Review of Highway Maintenance’ Task and Finish Group being undertaken by the Growth and Prosperity Overview and Scrutiny Panel, and its findings considered as part of the budget scrutiny process.