Redundancy pay by state halved to £228m

The amount paid by the Government to workers because their employers went bust was halved last year, analysis shows.

The Insolvency Service paid out £228.28 million from the National Industry Fund to people who lost their jobs as a result of administrations, liquidations or other insolvencies.

The figures, released following a freedom of information inquiry by real estate advisory firm Altus Group, showed a sharp decline on payment from 2020 as Treasury financial support helped many firms avoid collapse.

Payments in 2021 showed a £225.09m fall, around 49.6%, from the £453.37m during 2020.

A total of £146.19m was paid out in redundancy with £46.53m for money that would have been earned working a notice, the data revealed.

It also said £18.65m went on unpaid holiday pay and £16.91m on outstanding payments for wages, overtime and commission owed.