Oxfordshire County Council spends record sum on redundancy payments
The authority spent £4.2 million on making approximately 70 members of staff redundant
Oxfordshire County Council has spent a record sum of money on redundancy payments to its staff in the last year, averaging at £65,000 per staff member.
The authority spent £4.2 million on making approximately 70 members of staff redundant in 2024-25, figures from the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government show.
This is by far the largest sum of money the council has spent on this in the past ten years, with the figure dwindling around the £1 million mark for the previous two years for slightly less redundancies.
The average exit payment of £65,000 is another record figure, with the average payment in the past decade ranging from £11,000 to £42,000.
The county council say they have been undergoing a “comprehensive whole-council restructure” since 31 March 2024, and that redundancy payments have increased in line with local government pay rises.
Almost £2.5 million of the total sum spent by the council went towards pensions for staff who took early retirement.
Another £711,000 came from ex gratia payments, which are made to staff out of generosity from the employer rather than as a legal requirement.
Councillor Liam Walker, leader of the Oxfordshire Alliance who are one of the opposition groups on the council, said: “This eye-watering figure – averaging £65,000 per person – raises serious questions about how the council is managing its finances and whether this is truly the best use of taxpayers’ money.
“Nearly £2.5 million went to staff taking early retirement, which raises a deeper concern: is this a sign that experienced officers are keen to get out early, perhaps due to low morale or a lack of confidence in the council’s leadership and direction?
“Residents expect their money to go towards delivering services, not handing out massive golden goodbyes.
“With the council already in a dire financial position, these decisions must be urgently scrutinised and properly justified.”
Councillor Liz Brighouse, Labour leader of the opposition, said she hoped the current restructuring of the council would result in better delivery of services, and that local government reorganisation would lead to even more staff restructures.
She added: “Every time you do this, people lose their jobs.
“It’s particularly difficult for people who are delivering those services now and will be made redundant or will have to look for other jobs.
“Restructures are dreadful for the people who go through them, and very often for people at the end of their working lives.”
A spokesperson for the county council said: “Our overall aim is that we are run as efficiently and cost effectively as possible, so that we can pay for the crucial services we need to deliver for the Oxfordshire public, and for the benefit of future generations
“Redundancy costs can be high for any employer when people have long service.
“Some of this is not direct payment to someone made redundant, if they are over 55 they are entitled to retire early having been made redundant under the national rules of the Local Government Pension Scheme.
“There is therefore an extra cost relating to their pension, known as pension strain.
“In the last two years pay rises in local government have been higher than in years before that.
“This has seen many staff cross pay thresholds. These are national not local pay rises.
“Redundancy costs are one-off. Staffing savings accrued are savings for each year setting a firm foundation for the future.
“We continue to aim to be a leaner and fitter organisation for the future. These statistics are a snapshot of a moving picture.”