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£17m forked out in redundancy pay by Staffordshire County Council

More than £17 million has been paid out by Staffordshire County Council in redundancy payments in the last three years, it was revealed today.

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Since 2013, 1,232 staff have been made redundant at a cost of £17,446,160 to the taxpayer.

This figure includes payouts totalling £5,291,015 for 375 redundancies last year alone.

But the County Council has hit back, insisting the cuts were part of 'financial pressures greater than ever before' and that it is still 'committed to getting best value for taxpayers'.

The freedom of information request also revealed that 516 people were made redundant to the tune of £6,439,142 in 2014 while 341 people were made redundant in 2013 at a cost of £5,716,003 to the council.

County councillor George Adamson, who is also the leader of Cannock Chase District Council, blasted the county council for the redundancies, although he said he was not surprised.

He said: "The county council has been slashing services for a while. They keep saying they have not made people redundant but clearly they have. The Conservatives who run the council have been cutting for years.

"Over £17 million, just think what kind of level of services could be provided with that kind of money."

Ian Parry, the deputy leader and Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for strategy, finance and corporate issues, said: "In recent years local authorities, and public services in general, have faced financial pressures greater than ever experienced before.

"In Staffordshire we have thought long and hard about how to protect core public services and stimulate economic growth.

"It's been a hard process. We're committed to getting best value for taxpayers, so whenever it's appropriate we review what we do and see if it can be done more effectively and efficiently than at present, whether that's by providing the service in-house, or by commissioning it from outside providers.

"As a result some council employees have faced redundancy. We follow national rules about the process over consultation and the amount to be paid, which in this case averages less than £14,200."

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