West Berkshire Council rehire staff after spending millions in redundancy payouts.

Five per cent of staff re-employed since 2010

MORE than five per cent of employees made redundant by West Berkshire Council since 2010 have been re-employed by the local authority – despite more than £4m having been paid out in redundancy, it has been revealed.

According to new figures, between 2010 and 2015, the council paid a total of £4.2m in to 183 members of staff who were made redundant.

The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Newbury Weekly News, show that over a five-year period, employees received an average redundancy payment of £22,870, although payments would vary depending on length of service and level of wages.

This means the cash-strapped local authority may have paid out more than £200,000 to staff, only to rehire the same individuals at a later date.

In total, 10 members of staff who received a redundancy payment were then subsequently rehired by the local authority.

Nine former employees were rehired since 2010 after a two-year period, in line with West Berkshire Council policy, however one employee was rehired after a period of less than two years.

And job cuts are far from over at the council, with more than 120 redundancies expected this year as it struggles to slash more than £17m from its budget.

Council employees have received £4.18m in pay-offs since 2010, with the largest sum forked out in 2010/11 with £1.8m paid to 100 staff who lost their jobs.

The following year saw £1.6m paid to just 23 employees, while in 2012/13, 32 employees who were made redundant received a total of £400,000.

In 2013/14 the council paid £183,542 to 17 staff members and then last year there were 11 redundancies, with £193,166 being paid.

West Berkshire Council spokesman Martin Dunscombe said: “As a general rule we will not employ former employees for two years after they have been made redundant.

“However, there are occasionally compelling cases for re-employing someone sooner, such as the needs of the council requiring the skills and experience of a particular individual.

“Each case is considered on its merits and will only be approved by the head of human resources following a discussion with senior officers, including the chief executive, and the leader and shadow leader of the council.”