REDUNDANCY dismissals at the county council have created savings of more than £2million in the last financial year.

From April 1 to December 31 2016 a total of 212 employees at Dorset County Council (DCC) were made redundant.

Redundancy payments to those 212 people cost the council a total of £1,367,308 but provided annual savings of £2,010,103.

Costs relating to individual redundancies are approved by directors.

A document on the quarterly report of redundancy costs was put before to DCC's staffing committee for councillors to consider and comment on.

Between October 1 and December 31 2016 there were 22 redundancies at DCC costing £427,050, creating annual savings of £476,961.

In October five chief executives and one employee from the environment sector were dismissed. November saw one chief executive and nine employees of children's services and December saw another chief executive and five employees from environment made redundant.

The average payback period was 11 months - with the lowest being six and the highest being 32.

The report reads: "It is expected that costs should be recoverable within a maximum period of two

years unless there are exceptional circumstances.

"One voluntary redundancy in chief executives, in December, has a payback period of over 2 years (32 months). This related to the review of Accountancy where the overall payback period is 10.5 months. The Director approved the costs taking into account the overall savings and payback period of the review across the service."

Speaking at the meeting, Natalie Adam, HR and OD service manager at DCC, said: "The decision making of redundancies now stands with directors. This report lets us know what has been happening and provides an opportunity for scrutiny.

"From October to December 2016 there were 22 redundancies. The average payback period was 11 months but there was one that did stand out of 32 months which is quite unusual. The payback period is part of the whole review.

"From April to December the total was 212 redundancies which has provided savings of just over £2million.

"There is nothing too dramatic to report."