South Gloucestershire Council racked up around £1million in redundancy payouts last year, despite laying of almost 100 fewer staff than the year before.
The authority made 125 people redundant in 2017/18, at a cost of roughly £1.6million.
Last year, there were only 30 compulsory redundancies, but they added up to around £1million - chiefly because of large payments made to three individuals.
The unnamed individuals received a payout of between £150,001 and 200,000 each in the year to April 2019, the council’s annual report for the year shows.
Another three got between £40,001 and £80,000, while the remaining 24 received up to £40,000.
By contrast, in 2017/18, the highest redundancy payout was in the range £80,001 to £100,000, and went to one person only. Twelve others received £40,001 to £80,000 and the remaining 113 got up to £40,000.
A council spokesman said: “There were a number of redundancies in 2018/19, following reorganisation within the council as part of our ongoing work to improve the value for money as we continue to deliver our priorities and the services people need.
“A number of individuals received contractual redundancy payments as part of this process, which are capped by the council’s policy.
“The total costs to the council (described as ‘exit packages’) includes pension costs payable to the pension fund to comply with pension rules.”
Altogether the council forked out almost £1.25million in severance payments in 2018/19, compared with nearly £2.05million the previous financial year.
As well as forced redundancies, exit packages of up to £40,000 for staff who left for other reasons were paid to 15 people last year and 22 the previous year.
The council was restructured in 2013.
It paid out nearly £15million making staff redundant in the seven years to 2017/18, but it saved the same amount from its annual wage bill.
For the latest news in and around Bristol, visit and bookmark Bristol Live's homepage .
