MORE than £5 million of taxpayers' cash has been spent handing Worcestershire council workers redundancy notices over the last three years.

A Worcester News Freedom of Information request has highlighted the massive bill, with record sums dished out to show people the door.

It reveals how there were 512 redundancies at Worcestershire County Council with the majority, some 314 of them, compulsory ones.

The pay-outs over the last three financial years up to the end of March this year totalled £5.2 million - the equivalent of paying every single person £10,100 to leave.

We can also reveal how since 2013 a staggering 1,761 people have left the council, with the workforce shrinking to its smallest ever total.

The size of the authority is now 31 per cent smaller than it was then, with around 5,549 non-schools staff.

The seismic figures have been described as "incredible" by the opposition Labour group, which has called for a root-and-branch review of the future of council services.

But the Conservative leadership says the mass departures mean the wage bill is £22 million less expensive.

Back in 2014 the council voted through a controversial new operating model, which has been driving the unprecedented change.

Based on commissioning up to 85 per cent of services by 2018 and the loss of around 1,500 in-house jobs, it appears to be ahead of expectations.

Bosses at County Hall say other than redundancies, the bulk of the rest of the roles have gone by services being transferred to other employers, often taking staff with them, and non-replacement.

But they have refused to put fresh figures on the estimated size of the workforce in future years, only saying that by 2022 "many more roles will be shared by other organisations".

Cllr Peter McDonald, Labour group leader, said: "You cannot talk about 'savings' when you've spent in excess of £5 million on redundancies, think of what we could have done with that money - it's disgraceful.

"We are paying more in council tax but it's now going to the pockets of privateers, this obsession with getting rid of workers has cost us dearly.

"We've lost jobs, that has harmed the economy and it's harmed our services, for how much longer can we carry on like this before local government is finished."

But Cllr Andy Roberts, cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, said: "The £5 million redundancy cost incurred is a one-off cost which is saving the Worcestershire taxpayer £22 million each and every year.

"Over the last three years this organisation has saved £66 million.

"We have reshaped the way we do things to make sure we're delivering the best outcomes for residents.

"Vacancy management has been part of this process, as has the transfer of jobs from the public sector to a range of partners that are contributing to Worcestershire's economy."