ALMOST £400,000 was paid out to axed council staff last year to prevent them going to a tribunal or speaking out against their former employer.

A total of £374,182.74 was paid in “compromise agreements” to a total of 17 Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset council employees, the Echo can reveal.

The figures, revealed following a Freedom of Information request, show that Bournemouth council continues to spend more on compromise agreements than either Dorset or Poole.

In 2012/13, Bournemouth council paid out £227,423.11 to a total of 11 axed employees, while Poole paid out £142,159.63 to five members of staff.

Dorset made just one payment of £4,600.

Compromise agreements are legally-binding agreements reached with departing employees.

Workers are usually given a severance payment and in return, agree not to take their claim or grievance to an employment tribunal.

It also prevents them from speaking out against their former employer.

The 11 agreements reached during 2012/13 take Bournemouth council’s total spending on compromise agreements to £614,045.03 over the past three years.

The council paid out a total of £184,719.92 to staff in 2011/12 and £201,902 in 2010/11.

Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: “It’s utterly unacceptable that Bournemouth council are regularly using taxpayers’ money to silence staff with costly compromise agreements.

“These backroom deals are deeply worrying.

“Pay-offs using taxpayers’ cash should be made in the open so residents can judge whether they represent value for their money.”

And Cllr Anne Rey, leader of the Independent group, said: “This is concerning because it is a lot of money and it is not the council’s money, it is money belonging to the residents of this town. I hate anything done under the table.

“Employees need to be given the opportunity to go through the proper procedure and state their case, not be paid to go quietly.”

‘A cost-effective way’

But Alan Hyde, head of strategic HR at Bournemouth council, said: “Bournemouth has been and continues to go through, considerable organisational change in order to ensure that it is able to meet future challenges.

“A variety of mechanisms are employed in achieving workforce change and one of them is the compromise agreement which, in some circumstances, allows change to be achieved in the most efficient and cost-effective way.” The Borough of Poole has spent around £247,000 on pay-offs in the past two years, with 15 staff receiving a compromise agreement over this time.

Carl Wilcox, head of HR at the Borough of Poole, said: “This council does occasionally use compromise agreements.

“These are commonly used by larger employers as they are a cost-effective mechanism – in a small minority of cases – of covering the termination of an individual’s employment, and can provide the best means of resolving issues with the agreement of both parties.

“Payments made by the council under compromise agreements typically include any redundancy pay to which the employee is entitled, plus payment instead of serving a notice period.”