Pavement Trips Cost Council (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Pavement Trips Cost Council

August 25, 2009 12:37 PM

Zoe Patrick inspects a pavement in Grove

Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats under Freedom of Information show that Oxfordshire County Council spent half a million less than the average last year on pavement maintenance, compared to the other 19 county councils who provided figures. Perhaps as a consequence, there were 88 claims for compensation in Oxfordshire last year, 56 of which have not yet been settled.

These figures come as the Liberal Democrats reveal that 90 councils have paid out over £82m in compensation following pavement trips and falls over the last five years.

Cllr Purse, Shadow Cabinet member for Growth & Infrastructure, said, "It is not just the compensation that councils have to pay out that concerns us, but the additional costs of treatment that inevitably fall on the health service if people are injured by falling on uneven surfaces. And even more important for the individual concerned is the potentially serious loss of mobility and confidence. It is for that reason that the Liberal Democrats have proposed additional sums for road and pavement maintenance for each of the last four years in our draft budgets - it is a shame that this has not been taken up by the administration."

Cllr David Turner, Shadow Cabinet member for Transport Implementation, said, "The failure of the Conservatives to support our proposals for more weed control on pavements is creating a big future bill to repair pavements crumbling under the pressure from uncontrolled weeds."

Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Patrick added, "National studies show that the average time spent walking is no down to just 11 minutes day. We want to encourage more walking and good quality and well-maintained pavements are just as important as road surfaces. We have welcomed the concept of increasing pedestrianisation in Oxford City, but we hope that people are taking particular care whilst the works for this are going on in Queen Street. We don't want to see the figures for falls and trips increase dramatically this year."