A COUNCIL has spent more than half a million pounds in redundancy payments during the past two years.

Basildon Council paid out more than £400,000 in redundancy payments in 2017/18 following a restructure which was aimed at saving the council around £500,000-a-year.

The figures were revealed following a freedom of information request.

They revealed a total of 41 people were made redundant by the council last year, up from 12 in 2016-17.

This meant that compulsory redundancy payments for the last financial year were £424,416 compared to £96,787 the previous year.

The changes are likely to have been as a result of an extensive restructure which took place last year under a Labour-led administration.

It saw the council shift from a cabinet-style of Government to committee including the removal of two other senior management posts in an effort to save the council £250,000.

Basildon Labour leader, Adele Brown, said: “As with any restructure part of the calculation done at the time was the cost of redundancies.

"The restructuring was looking at ways to make ongoing savings for the council which was important as we faced an £11.5million budget gap due to central government cuts and we managed to fill that gap.

“The decisions were very difficult as these are people’s lives, but we had to look at the best way of moving forward for the council.

"Sadly, efficiency cuts are now something that all councils are forced to look at.”

Labour also stressed that the changes were made for long term savings and a more efficient way of working.

However, the committee structure has been criticised by some.

Corporate director Kieran Carrigan said: “Basildon Council is undergoing a service and management restructure designed to help the council to become more outwardly focused and to respond to reduced funding.

"Our new management structure reduces the number of senior managers and the cost of that level of management.

"Most importantly, it is the best structure to lead the delivery of services to our community into the future.

"We pay what it is statutorily and contractually required.”