Civil servants offered chance to leave before jobs axe falls

THOUSANDS of Scottish Government employees have been asked to consider voluntary redundancy or early retirement, as part of a drive to cut employment costs in the face of a public sector budget squeeze.

Civil servants employed north of the Border have been urged to think about applying for a voluntary lay-off programme as bosses plan a reduction in headcount to cope with an expected cut in the Scottish Government's block grant that it receives from Westminster.

The offer was made in an e-mail to staff, also posted on the government's intranet, and insiders have predicted there could be a high demand for the programme, with some staff understood to be keen to take advantage of the Civil Service Compensation scheme that is in the firing line for cuts being put forward by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration.

The Scottish Government's announcement said: "An opportunity is available for staff at all grades to apply to leave the Scottish Government. This will reduce the size of the organisation and deliver peramanent savings."

The Scottish Government employs more than 15,000 staff located largely in five sites in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and this year, management announced that they had placed a cap on the number of full-time posts in the organisation as a first step on the cost-reduction plans.

Applications for the programme will close at the end of August, with departures from positions expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year on 31 March, 2011`.

Officials maintain there has been no target set on the number of staff the Scottish Government is looking to shed, but redundancies and early retirals are being sought from employees from all grades within the organisation. Staff aged under 50 will be offered redundancy, with those aged over 50 granted early retirement.

The redundancies will be made under the current civil service severance terms, which have come under fire from the coalition government for being too generous.

The PCS union recently staged a series of one-day strikes in protest over plans to cut the money offered to departing staff.

A government spokesman added: "We recognise the financial challenges we will face now and in the years ahead, and this is one opportunity to deliver permanent savings to the organisation."