Early retirement savings

SAVINGS of more than £5 million could be made in five years through council staff taking early retirement, it has been revealed.

Pe r t h a n d K i n ro s s Council is looking to slash costs and will continue its policy of allowing employees to take early retirement, as well as making some staff redundant.

Figures released by the authority show 121 staff took early retirement in 2016/17 and that 13 workers were made redundant during the same period.

In a report to the strategic policy and resources committee, central accounting manager Craig Robertson said the local authority could achieve savings of £5,501,366 over five years through the early retirement policy.

“This equates to recurring annual savings of more than £1,200,000 in a full year,” the report added.

“To deliver these recurring savings the council will incur one-off costs of £2,074,067.”

The council workforce on March 31 was 5,595, which equates to 4,772 full-time equivalent staff.