During the last five years Lothian councils have paid out £41m in redundancy payments, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

The Scotsman report:

MORE than £41 million of public money has been paid out by Lothian councils, colleges, universities and the police to shed more than 3500 staff over the past five years.

The massive cash outlay to reduce the public sector workforce through redundancies, early retirement and severance packages was today criticised by Labour, who said the Scottish Government should be investing in more jobs instead of forcing people out of employment.

The SNP blamed cuts from Westminster.

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Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.