Havering Council expects to save more than £1.5 million a year from its voluntary redundancy scheme, it has confirmed. 

Details gained as part of a Freedom of Information (FoI) request reveal that final savings figure from a total of 51 redundancies. 

However, the local authority said it cannot provide the full amount spent on redundancy packages at this stage.  

The council said it has a cap of £30,000 per redundancy, but said it could not provide an overall cost until all staff have left their roles over the next few months. 

Despite fears compulsory removals would be necessary if not enough staff came forward, all redundancies involved ended up being voluntary.

In response to the FoI, the council said “no other formal job cuts” were made beyond the redundancies.

“It should be noted that the council reviews the level of agency staff and vacant posts on an ongoing basis in order to reduce costs," it added. 

“The council restructures its services periodically to align with its corporate plan and part of this process reviews the number of posts required to deliver services.”