DMFD101 Authority to Settle a Personal Injury Claim

The London Fire Commissioner (LFC) seeks authority to settle a personal injury claim, in which the range of reasonable settlement requires the consent of the Deputy Mayor.

Liability

Liability for this accident was admitted in full by the LFC but causation and quantum are in dispute. Therefore, the claim proceeds on quantum (value) alone.

Consent by the Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience to the expenditure will allow the Commissioner to seek to effectively settle matters with the claim and in line with the expectations of the court.

Decision-takers have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty when considering reports for decision.

Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Equality Act), as a public authority we must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and any conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act; and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requires decision-takers in the exercise of all their functions to have due regard to the need to:

i. eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other behaviour prohibited by the Equality Act 2010. In summary, the Act makes discrimination etc. on the grounds of a protected characteristic unlawful;

ii. advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not; and

iii. foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, including tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.

The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

There are no specific equality implications arising from this report.

The expenditure is to be funded through sums available to the Commissioner. This expenditure is expected to contribute to an overspend against the compensation budget and add to the use of the earmarked compensation reserve to drawdown the full value of £1,000,000. This has been considered as part of the Brigade wide position in the quarter 3 financial position report, along with implications to the general reserve.

The compensation budget level for future years has also been assessed as part of the budget process and the LFC’s Budget Submission to the Mayor (LFC-0432-D) includes an increase to this budget of £400,000 from 2021/22 to reflect the future expected requirement.

There are no direct financial implications for the GLA.

Under section 9 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the London Fire Commissioner (the "Commissioner") is established as a corporation sole with the Mayor appointing the occupant of that office. Under section 327D of the GLA Act 1999, as amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the Mayor may issue to the Commissioner specific or general directions as to the manner in which the holder of that office is to exercise his or her functions.

By direction dated 1 April 2018, the Mayor set out those matters, for which the Commissioner would require [the prior approval] of either the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience (the "Deputy Mayor").

Paragraph (b) of Part 2 of the said direction requires the Commissioner to seek the prior approval of the Deputy Mayor before “[a] commitment to expenditure (capital or revenue) of £150,000 or above as identified in accordance with normal accounting practices…”. Therefore, prior approval of the Deputy Mayor is required prior to settle this claim.