I WAS concerned to discover on a recent visit to Farms for City Children at Nethercott House, Iddesleigh, that school trips of this kind are under increasing threat.

Farms for City Children is a wonderful local charity which has done an enormous amount over the past 30 years to introduce urban children to the countryside. The children clearly learn a huge amount from their experience of working on a farm and handling animals. They also enormously enjoy themselves.

The worrying fact is that the teachers? unions are now advising their members not to take children on trips like this. Many teachers fortunately are still prepared to go, but they do so with the nagging fear that even if they take every possible precaution for the children?s safety, they could still be sued if an accident happens.

Nobody can condone negligence, but where teachers have carried out a thorough risk assessment and have done everything in their power to protect their pupils from any dangers which have been identified, they should not be held responsible for any mishap.

Recently, John Burnett MP backed a private member?s bill in parliament which would have brought in the concept of certificates of inherent risk. Teachers taking children on a trip where there was any possible danger could apply for a certificate, which would limit their liability for accidents, provided they could prove that they had acted responsibly. The bill sadly failed. It is high time such a measure was reintroduced.

In the long run, if children grow up avoiding even the slightest risk, they will be much more vulnerable when they join the adult world. They will also be denied life-enriching experiences like a week at Nethercott House.

David Walter

Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for West Devon and Torridge