£100 million per year spent on paying off council staff

●Conservatives say golden goodbyes to senior figures ‘make the eyes water’

More than £627 million has been spent by Scotland’s councils on severance packages for leaving staff over the past six years, new figures reveal.

Opposition politicians expressed alarm at the amount of public money used to pay off staff by the country’s 32 local authorities.

According to figures compiled by the public spending watchdog Audit Scotland, more than 15,000 severance deals have been struck by councils for outgoing staff since 2011-12. Over that time the average pay-out was £40,000.

An average of six severance deals a day were agreed across Scotland’s 32 council in the past financial year, at a total cost of £78m.

The number and average cost both fell in 2016-17 compared with the previous year, with cases down by 465 to 2,195 and pay-outs falling by just under £2,000 in real terms. Since 2011-12, the number of local authority severance deals have dropped by almost half while the average has fallen from £39,525 in 2011-12 to £35,592 in 2016-17.

The size of the average pay-out peaked at £47,997 in 2012-13 and the overall average came to £40,096.

The figures were highlighted by the

when local authorities are facing harsh financial pressures.

Having endured years of austerity, this month independent analysis conducted by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICE) calculatged that total revenue funding for councils will fall by 1.6 per cent next year – the equivalent of a £157.3m real terms decrease.

In the wake of finance secretary Derek Mackay’s budget, individual councils have warned they will have to cut back on services.

While many have indicated that they will be forced to put up council tax by 3 per cent, some have said they would raise council tax by more than that were it not for the 3 per cent gap imposed by the Scottish Government.

Councils have also warned that they will struggle to implementmrmackay’sbudget promise to give public sector workers earning less than £30,000 a 3 per cent pay rise next year. Higher-paid council workers have been promised a 2 per cent rise.

A spokesman for local government umbrella body the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities argued the cost of getting rid of employees would lead to savings in the long term.

He said: “It is wrong to see these figures in isolation, they have to be viewed in context. Many will be as a result of streamlining in line with workforce planning. ”

The Scottish Government takes the view that severance packages help public bodies continue to deliver services efficiently, because they allow them to manage workforces.

It is also argued that they help those leaving a job to bridge the gap until they find a new one.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Local authorities are independent of the Scottish Government.

“As employers, they are responsible for determining their own pay agreements– including decisions about exit payments – and have a statutory responsibility to secure best value for money and to justify their decisions.”