Civil servants offered exit ahead of massive cutbacks

Major job losses are being planned among civil servants as the impact of looming spending cuts begins to be felt in Scotland.

• The Scottish Government

Thousands of staff employed by the Scottish Government have been invited to apply for voluntary redundancy or early retirement in a bid to make savings ahead of massive budget reductions.

The government insisted it had not set any target for the number of staff it

wanted to go or the cash it aimed to save. However, there could be a rush of applicants for the pay-off because civil service redundancy terms are set to be reduced under proposals from the UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, but anyone leaving now will still be covered by the existing conditions.

Staff were told of the redundancy offer by e-mail and a notice posted on the government's internal website.

They have until the end of this month to apply and all those who leave under the scheme will have to go by March 31, the end of the financial year.

The government 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 permanent savings."

Staff over 50 will leave under the early retirement scheme and those under 50 will go as part of "flexible early severance" arrangements.

One member of staff said: "There was no pre-warning this was going to happen, but I don't think anyone was surprised in the light of what has been happening elsewhere.

"They will probably get quite a lot of volunteers. A lot of people will apply because it's under the old compensation terms."

The redundancy move follows the introduction earlier this year of a cap on the total number employed by the government.

The Scottish Government announced soon after the general election that it would defer its 332 million share of the spending cuts imposed by Chancellor George Osborne for a year because its 2010-11 budget had already been set.

Public sector bodies have been preparing themselves for the impact of the massive reductions. Earlier this week, the Evening News revealed that Edinburgh City Council was to axe 300 senior posts.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We recognise the financial challenges we will face now and in the years ahead and this is one opportunity to deliver permanent savings.

"As part of our work to identify efficiencies and savings, we have also introduced a cap on total staff numbers in post, which applies to all permanent and fixed-term staff, recruitment agency workers, inward secondees and consultants."

The UK government, which is responsible for civil servants' conditions, has said its plans to cut redundancy payments are necessary because of the economic situation. But unions have branded the move "unlawful and undeserved".