FIGURES have revealed the amount spent by Colchester and Tendring councils on redundancy packages has increased since last year.

Colchester Council was found to have spent a total of £280,460 in exit packages last year, up from £126,748 in 2020-21.

This figure was still below the £452,655 paid out in 2019-20 before the coronavirus pandemic.

Tendring Council was found to have spent more than £100,000.

Figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures show that seven roles were made redundant by Tendring Council in 2021-22, averaging £20,116 per person in pay outs.

Tendring Council paid a total of £140,809 in exit packages last year, laying off between one and four staff in the 2020-21 year.

The Local Government Association stated councils across the country have been forced to reduce their workforce size as a result of budget cuts.

A spokesperson for Colchester Council said: “Since 2014, the council has had to make the difficult decision to reduce its workforce through redundancies.

“This is to reduce costs and deliver a balanced budget, but, wherever possible, these have been voluntary. 

“Redundancy packages are calculated using a range of factors, such as salary and length of service, which are specific to the individual.” 

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.

However, more staff were laid off than the year before, 9,744 compared to 9,454.

Ian Davidson, Chief Executive at Tendring Council, said no staff had been made compulsorily redundant in the financial year 2021-22.

He said: “We have undergone some re-structuring, to ensure the council remains agile and ready to respond to the challenges faced by local authorities in the 2020s.

"Some staff have chosen to take voluntary redundancy. In these circumstances the appropriate payments are due.

"This is absolutely not due to service or budget cuts; indeed, these on-costs are factored into budgets at the point of restructuring and/or recruitment, to ensure there is no wider impact on council finances."