Managing Early Departures in Central Government: Cabinet Office

HC 1795, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Session 2010-12

Author:

National Audit Office (NAO)

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

Price: £16.00

Larger image

The report 'Managing Early Departures in Central Government: Cabinet Office (HC 1795)' finds that central government departments have spent around £600 million gross on the early departures of 17,800 staff in the year from December 2010. These costs are around 45% lower than they would have been under the previous scheme.

After meeting the initial costs, departments will save an estimated £400m a year on the paybill. The time it takes departments to start seeing these savings depends on how quickly they can eliminate headcount-related costs, such as IT and property.

The net present value of the early departures to the taxpayer is estimated to be between £750 and £1,400 million over the spending review period. This figure will also be affected by whether those leaving find comparable work and pay tax, or claim benefits.

Of those departments that are reducing staff numbers, the proportion of staff released ranges from less than 1% at the Department of Energy and Climate Change to around 16% at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Departments used large-scale open voluntary exit schemes to release staff as quickly as possible, though this meant departments could not predict accurately which staff would leave. Older, more senior staff are leaving in the first tranches. This is partly because of deliberate restructuring, but also because those staff who have worked in the civil service for longer, or who are over 50, gain more financially from taking voluntary exit or voluntary redundancy.

Extent	46 pages	ISBN	9780102975468
Size	A4	Price	£16.00
Format	Paperback	Published	15 Mar 2012
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges