Ashfield Council spent hundreds of thousands of pounds making staff redundant last year

The Local Government Association said, unlike the civil service, councils have seen their workforce shrink while facing “increasing demand for services”, and called for a rethink of Government funding to combat "severe budget pressures”.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities data shows the council spent £205,000 to make 13 staff members redundant in the year to March 2023. Each package had an average cost of £16,000 each.

The council made a total of five redundancies the year before, at a cost of £15,000. It spent £205,000 more than in the year to 2020, when its bill for redundancies was £0.

A council spokesman said: “The council is unable to comment until the details have been validated, as the information provided doesn’t correspond with the data held by the council.”

Nottinghamshire Council spent £131,000 to make 10 staff members redundant in the year to March. The council made a total of 45 redundancies the year before, at a cost of £1,259,000, but spent £2,883,000 less than in the year to 2020, when its bill for redundancies was £3,014,000.

The county council has been approached for comment.

Nationally, more than £185m was spent on staff redundancies by councils across England in the year to March, the lowest amount in nine years. Last year, more than £214m was paid out.

The number of staff taking redundancy also hit the lowest point since 2014, with more than 7,800 exit packages agreed, at an average cost of £23,000, up from £22,000 last year.

Coun Pete Marland, of the LGA, said: “Only long-term, consistent funding from central government will be enough to meet inflationary pressures and rising costs, if we are to avoid more redundancies.”

The figures show 325 senior employees nationally were made redundant last year, up 70 on the year before. Together they received £28m, an average of £85,000 each.

Ian Miller, Association of Local Authority Chief Executives honorary secretary, said the payouts were significantly lower than those to top civil servants.

He said: “Council funding has not kept pace with inflation and demand. The figures demonstrate how senior staff continue to lose their jobs because of the need for savings.

“The cost of the average exit package for senior staff has fallen significantly in absolute and real terms since 2015 and pales into insignificance compared with the £335,000 paid to Sir Tom Scholar when sacked as Treasury Secretary and the £122,000 he received as ‘annual leave adjustments and compensation in lieu of notice’.”