WESTMORLAND and Furness Council spent more than £1 million on making staff redundant last year – new figures show.

The amount spent by councils across England making staff redundant rose for the first time in six years.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures show 10 people were made redundant by Westmorland and Furness Council in 2023-24.

This cost the council £1.5 million at an average of £152,600 per redundancy package.

A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council said: “Six of the 10 redundancies were related to the formal voluntary redundancy process followed as part of Local Government Reorganisation.

“Four related to in year decisions. The council’s voluntary redundancy policy requires that value for money is demonstrated for each decision and the statutory guidance was followed in respect of the decision-making process.

“The information will be presented in the draft 2023/24 accounts which are expected to be published by the end of September.”

The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils are facing “significant financial pressures”, with the number of employees falling over the last decade.

The LGA added councils require adequate funding and long-term certainty to meet rising costs and avoid more redundancies in the future.

Nationally, councils spent just under £200 million on redundancies in the year to March – up from £183 million and the first rise since 2016-17.

An LGA spokesperson said: “The number of people working in local government has reduced in size over the last decade as councils continue to face significant financial pressures.

“In this context, councils make decisions based on their contractual and legal responsibilities when determining the level of severance or settlement payments made to their employees.

“Councils need adequate funding and longer-term certainty to meet rising costs and demand pressures and avoid more redundancies.

“This will also prevent exacerbating an already acute capacity crisis in some areas, with more than nine in ten councils experiencing staff recruitment and retention difficulties.”

The figures also showed a record 380 senior employees were made redundant last year, costing councils £29.7 million, the highest figure since 2018-19.

Council finances have been significantly strained recently, with six councils effectively filing for bankruptcy since 2021. There had been just three between 2000 and 2018.

An LGA survey following last year’s Autumn Statement showed almost one in five council leaders said they would likely face bankruptcy in the next two years.

In a speech at the LGA forum, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said Labour will “end the Dragons’ Den approach”, in which local authorities bid for funding.

Ms Rayner said: “I know the biggest crisis facing local government is financial. I won’t shy away from that. Demand for services is up, and so are your costs.

“But it doesn’t have to be like this. You told me you need more stability and certainty to plan for the long term, and we will provide this through long-term integrated funding settlements.

“We will end the Dragons’ Den approach, as I see it, of the bidding wars between local authorities and instead show you some respect with long-term funding giving you the flexibility to spend it where it is needed.”