Councils' £5m bill for redundancy payouts

Hundreds of staff working at local authorities across the West Midlands have left their posts in recent months as jobs are shed in a bid to save cash.

But as they have gone bosses have had to help pay for pensions and payouts.

And officials have warned the figure will jump in years to come as more cuts take hold. Wolverhampton City Council has spent the most – £1,754,201 since April. The council is looking to axe more than 1,000 jobs over the next five years which will cost more than £16m in redundancy.

The authority's finance chief, Councillor Andrew Johnson, said although there was a short-term cost to getting rid of jobs, it would save money in the long-run.

He added: "As part of meeting the requirement of setting a balanced budget, we are having to reduce the workforce quickly. Hundreds of jobs have already gone while more than a 1,000 will go in the next five years.

"The initial cost of voluntary and compulsory redundancies is significant but it will bring about long term savings in the coming years. We are not taking these tough decisions lightly but we are being left with no option because of the huge cuts being imposed by central Government."

Between April and November this year Sandwell Council has spent £1,469,086.

The authority has already made sweeping cuts, and at the beginning of 2013 revealed a further 400 jobs would go to save £100m.

Sandwell's finance boss, Councillor Steve Eling said: "It's ironic really that public services are being cut, and yet we are paying out millions in redundancy pay outs." Dudley Council have spent £739,523 and Walsall Council has spent £452,949 so far this financial year. Council job cuts in Staffordshire are also leading to payouts.

Cannock Chase Council has spent £199,682, South Staffordshire District Council has paid out £130,790 and Lichfield Council has forked out £76,614. Stafford Council has spent nothing on redundancies, while Wyre Forest District Council has paid just £2,669 on one redundancy.