Staff suspended from their duties at County Hall have cost the taxpayer nearly £200,000 over the last two years.

Peter McDonald, the leader of the opposition Labour group was told suspended staff in 2015/16 were paid £116,445 and in 2016/17, £83,409.

That adds up to £199,854.

Mr McDonald has written to the leader of the council, Simon Geraghty asking for a formal review.

He said: “We need to find out why so many staff have faced suspension and how to reduce the suspensions. I suspect we have bully boy style management contributing to the problem. We need assurances that HR is able to tackle the problem; so many suspensions can lead to serious productivity problems and puts the County Council at a serious risk of reputational damage. We need to get things done to get things right.”

He added: “Staff numbers have been cut drastically over the last few years, and workloads have gone up. I’m worried that people are being bullied to take on more and more tasks with fewer and fewer resources.”

Between 2014/15 and 2016/17 the county council cut 835 full-time equivalent posts, excluding those in schools, from 3578 to 2743- a 23 per cent drop.

The county council’s cabinet member for transformation and commissioning – Councillor Karen May said: “The cost to the County Council on suspended staff is relating to 31 employees across the two years. That equates to just approximatively 0.001% of the total salary bill for that year.

“The decision to suspend an employee is made on the basis of being a neutral act to protect those parties involved. It is limited to cases where it is considered strictly necessary and where there are no alternatives.

“Before deciding on suspension, consideration will be given to removal from specific duties, a temporary change of duties or of work location. Any suspension is authorised by a Senior Chief Officer with advice from Human Resources here at Worcestershire County Council.

“The outcome of a suspension can result in the employee returning to work, voluntarily resigning or being dismissed from their employment.”