Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood and Chris Franks have criticised the £9m Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council has paid out in voluntary redundancy packages to just 274 people over the last three years.
Ms Wood, AM for South Wales Central, said: “I am unable to understand how the council are able to issue such generous redundancy payments when they are seeking to rip up the contracts of some of their lowest paid workers and downgrading their terms and conditions.
“We’ve heard so much from the council about how they are going to have to make massive cutbacks over the next three years. Their position has been made considerably worse by redundancy payments that are way above their statutory commitments.
“I would not begrudge low-paid workers a decent settlement, but I would like further scrutiny of these pay-outs to see how much they were worth individually and who authorised them. The average payment is £33,000 but there is no doubt that some people will have got considerably more than that.
“The powers-that-be at RCT need to consider whether this has been a good use of our money when they are threatening thousands of hard-working and loyal employees with a lock-out unless they accept significantly worse terms and conditions?
“The council seem to be robbing Peter to pay Paul and they need to answer some very important questions over this.”
Fellow South Wales Central AM Chris Franks, Plaid’s Finance spokesperson, said: “In these very difficult times in terms of the public finances, it is impossible to justify these large redundancy payments, particularly when taxpayers seem to be getting less value for money from council services.
“Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Cabinet appear to lack a strategy to deal with their finances.
“First they talk about downgrading pay and conditions for 10,000 frontline workers, now these pay outs for the highest paid workers, one has to wonder what they will come up with next?”
