The Ministry of Defence has paid out more than £75m to civilian staff who have been made redundant in the last three months, it has been revealed.Around 2,500 of the ministry's staff received an average payout of around £30,000, official figures published in The Guardian show.
Over 25,000 civilian redundancies were called for by 2015 in 2010's Strategic Defence and Security Review. With an average payout cost of £30,000, the SDSR-related redundancies could cost the Ministry £750m, although savings in the salary bill over time will be significantly higher, helping the MoD tackle its budgetary 'black hole'.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said that the average civilian member of staff had received "considerably" less in their redundancy payouts than military personnel."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 per cent compared to a reduction of 17.5 per cent in military manpower.
"Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said the figures showed government's priorities were wrong."David Cameron is culling the army in their thousands while spending millions on civil service payoffs," said Murphy. "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."
