7 - Report on the Voluntary Redundancy-Early Retirement Schemes

Renfrewshire Council · 15 June 2022
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 15 June 2022 and its agenda

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___________________________________________________________________
To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board
On: 15 June 2022
___________________________________________________________________
Report by: Director of Finance and Resources
___________________________________________________________________
Heading: Report on the Voluntary Redundancy/Early Retirements Scheme
___________________________________________________________________
1. Summary
1.1. An annual report outlining the number of employees leaving the Council
through the voluntary redundancy or voluntary early retirement schemes
(VR/VER) and the associated financial implications for the Council is
presented to this Board following the end of each financial year.
1.2. This report provides an update for the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March
2022, confirming that 28 employees (24.65 FTE) have left the Council through
voluntary redundancy or early retirement.  
__________________________________________________________________ 
2. Recommendations
2.1 Members are asked to note the report. 
_________________________________________________________
3. Background 
3.1. This report provides details of the workforce planning arrangements to support
the delivery of service changes, predominantly linked to the Right for
Renfrewshire programme, over 2021/22.  Expressions of interest in voluntary
redundancy/early retirement from across the workforce were reviewed to
assess the impact of any proposed reduction in headcount on services and
the remaining workforce, including the cost to the Council of early release.

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As part of the Council’s 2021/22 budget strategy, VR/VER has been utilised to
achieve service changes and savings. 
3.2. The Chief Executive, in consultation with the Head of People and
Organisational Development, is authorised to determine all requests received
from employees for voluntary redundancy/early retirement under these
schemes. 
3.3. During the financial year 2021/22, a total of 28 employees (24.65 FTE)
accepted voluntary redundancy/early retirement, or early retirement in the
interests of the efficiency of the service. 
3.4. The financial costs and savings of these decisions are detailed in Appendix 1. 
An assessment is carried out in each VR/VER exercise to confirm the length
of time for savings to be achieved.  For the 28 individuals being released from
service, this averages at just under 20 months. 
3.5. In deciding on requests for voluntary redundancy/early retirement, the Chief
Executive and the Head of People and Organisational Development, in
conjunction with the appropriate service Director, continue to take into account
the potential to implement efficiencies and support the modernisation of the
Council’s workforce, in addition to the financial savings to be gained. 
Consideration was given to both the one-off costs of voluntary redundancy/
early retirement and the additional ongoing annual costs, and in these cases it
was deemed to be of benefit to the Council for these voluntary redundancy /
early retirement requests to be agreed. 
3.6. Appendix 1 contains the following information:
 The number of employees leaving the Council through either voluntary
redundancy / voluntary early retirement, or early retirement in the interests
of the efficiency of the service.
 Redundancy Payment - the total lump sum redundancy payments paid to
employees leaving the service.
 Enhanced Element of Pension (Annual Compensation) - where the
employee is a member of the Pension Fund and is awarded
compensatory added years, the Council requires to pay the Pension
Fund, on a monthly basis, an amount that covers the costs associated
with these added years.

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 Enhanced Element of the Lump Sum - where an employee is a member of
the Pension Fund and is awarded compensatory added years, the Council
requires to pay the lump sum directly to the employee as a one-off
payment.
 Strain / Factored Costs - where an employee retires early on grounds of
efficiency / redundancy and is a member of the Pension Fund, the Council
requires to pay a ‘strain on the fund’ charge for early payment of
retirement benefits, or where the employee would otherwise have suffered
an actuarial reduction to their benefits for early retirement. The strain on
the fund charge is paid to the Pension Fund as a one-off payment.  
 Pay in Lieu of Notice - where an employee has not received the
appropriate notice of their employment terminating, a payment in lieu of
notice is paid by the Council.
 Full Year Savings - these will accrue from the release of staff under the
scheme.
___________________________________________________________________
Implications of this report 
1. Financial – as detailed in Appendix 1 of report. 
2. HR & Organisational Development – as detailed in the report. 
3. Community Planning – none arising from this report. 
4. Legal - none arising from this report. 
5. Property/Assets - none arising from this report. 
6. Information Technology - none arising from this report. 
7. Equality & Human Rights - The Recommendations contained within this
report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human
rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of
individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the
recommendations contained in the report because it is for noting only. If
required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations
and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of
the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 
8. Health & Safety – none arising from this report. 
9. Procurement – none arising from this report. 
10. Risk – none arising from this report.

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11. Privacy Impact - none arising from this report. 
12. Cosla Policy Position - none arising from this report. 
13. Climate Risk - none arising from this report.
_________________________________________________________
Author:           Christine McCourt, Head of Finance and Business Services.
christine.mccourt@renfrewshire.gov.uk

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VOLUNTARY REDUNDANCY/EARLY RETIREMENT SCHEME/EFFICIENCY OF THE SERVICE
Financial Implications 1 April 2021 - 31 March 2022
No of
Employees FTE
Total
Annual
Salary  Redundancy 
Enhanced
Element of
Pension 
Enhanced
Element of
Lump Sum 
Strain /
Factored
Costs 
Payment in
Lieu of
Notice 
Full Year
Savings            
10.00               8.81          521,050          232,404           60,608           20,202          807,856                  -            444,692              
6.00               6.00          280,538           94,416           23,415             7,805          181,060                  -            280,538            
12.00               9.84          335,149          121,291           17,467             5,822          133,181                  -            335,149            
28.00             24.65       1,136,737          448,111          101,490           33,830       1,122,097                  -         1,060,380
APPENDIX 1
Service
Finance and Resources
Service and Chief
Executives
Children's Services
(non-teachers)
Environment & Infrastructure
and Communities and
Housing Services