15.08.13
Redundancy costs Whitehall £287m
Government spent £287m on redundancy payments in the last year, Cabinet Office statistics show.
The highest spending on redundancy came from the Ministry of Justice, with £89m and the DWP, with £67m in 2012-13. Whitehall departments also spent £506m on consultants and short-term staff, although Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said Government was trying to reduce dependence on consultants.
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: “We've already put an end to excessive consultancy spend by establishing stringent controls across government, saving over £1.6bn in 2011-12 compared to the level of spending in 2009-10.
“Cabinet Office delivers projects across a wide range of high-profile policy areas. It is sometimes necessary to recruit for specialist business-critical roles.
“Such roles are only authorised where the skills are not readily available within civil service and where using temporary labour is better value for taxpayers' money than hiring full-time staff.
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