Derbyshire County Council spends almost £800,000 laying staff off in just 12 months

New data has shown that Derbyshire County Council spent £785,324 laying off staff in 2021/22. An average sum of £20,136 was paid out to each employee who left the council in that period – with the authority stressing that redundancies are always their final option.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: “Our figures show that we had 39 redundancies which cost a total of £785,324.17 for county council staff in 2021/22.

“There are many reasons why a post can be made redundant, some of which may because of challenging budget situations where we have restructured a service. The council also has to pay redundancy costs when a fixed term contract comes to an end.

“Making someone redundant is always the last option that the council looks at, as we try to offer alternative jobs to keep costs down and keep people working for us.”

The Local Government Association said councils across the country have been forced to reduce their workforce sizes due to budget cuts, despite dramatic increases in the volume and range of services provided.

Across England, the total amount spent on exit payments fell for the fifth-successive year, from £250 million in 2020-21 to £210 million last year. More staff were laid off than the year before, however, with 9,744 losing their jobs compared to 9,454.

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Andrew Western, chairman of the LGA's resources board, said councils have made layoffs in order to manage their budgets and avoid further pressure on taxpayers. He added that, unless increased funding was provided, council services across the country would suffer.

“Without funding from the Government to meet the pressure of an accelerating National Living Wage on top of soaring energy and other costs, more redundancies are likely – exacerbating the capacity crisis that is already acute in some areas and impacting the delivery of services to the public.”