Council delays voluntary early retirement scheme

Fife Council has postponed a voluntary early retirement scheme which Conservatives claim would have seen an end to “golden handshakes” within the council.

It has been delayed until September 2022 after many councillors at a policy and co-ordination meeting raised concerns over its implementation without knowing the impact Covid-19 will have on the workforce.

In the last three financial years, Fife Council has spent more on severance and redundancy packages than any other local authority in Scotland.

The council accumulated a total bill of £17.6 million to pay off worker over these years.

“Add-ons” have been distributed to various employees who left generally through voluntary redundancy and have seen close to £500,000 set aside to boost the pension of a senior officer.

The new voluntary redundancy scheme proposes a government-recommended cap of £95,000 to mitigate issues of over-paying senior council workers. As part of the changes, the council has also insisted on a flat rate payment of £3,000 in addition to the usual redundancy/retirement payments.

This addition hopes to mitigate the initial impact the change may have on some of the council’s lowest paid staff.

However, concerns were raised over the impact the agreed delay will have.

Conservative leader Dave Dempsey said: “Having pushed for this change for over a decade and finally achieved some sort of traction, it was disappointing to see Labour, backed by the SNP, add an extra year’s delay.

“While some related proposals round redundancy pay do need time to work out, a straightforward cap – something now advocated by both our governments – needn’t wait till every dot and comma is in place.”

Labour Councillor David Ross said: “The Covid crisis will have a major impact on our budget for next year, and with health restrictions likely to stay in place for months if not years, the council may be forced to undertake some restructuring.

“In that context it would be unfair on our workforce to implement these changes until we know what the impact of Covid on our services is going to be in the longer term. That’s why we agreed a delay in implementation.”

Mr Ross said he welcomed the new scheme as a way of helping retain jobs and services.

Councillor Dave Dempsey.