Redundancy pay-offs cost MoD £75m

Jan 21 2012

The Ministry of Defence has paid out £75 million to civil servants made redundant over the past three months.

The 2,500 staff laid off during the autumn as part of the Government's cuts programme received pay-offs averaging £30,000, according to MoD figures.

The MoD said the reductions to the civilian workforce were necessary to help tackle the "black hole" defence budget.

A spokesman pointed out that, on average, civilian staff received "considerably less" than military personnel, who are also losing thousands of jobs as a result of the cuts programme.

"Where a sergeant receives an average payoff of around £65,000, a civilian receives around £30,000 on average," the spokesman said.

"The MoD civilian workforce is reducing by around 33% compared to a reduction of 17.5% in military manpower."

However shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy criticised the pay-outs.

"David Cameron is culling the Army in their thousands while spending millions on civil service pay-offs," he said.

"He needs to get his priorities straight. People worried about the impact of the cuts on families and the front line will be angry at this news."