Redundancies cost taxpayer £90m

Dominic Lipinski/PA

Public sector cuts are costing rather than saving the economy money, according to new figures that show the government is paying out for redundancy packages at the same as it recruits agency staff to fill the vacant posts.

The figures, obtained by Jon Thickett - shadow minister for the Cabinet Office - and revealed in the Guardian, show civil servants received almost £90m in redundancy payments in the last quarter, while government spent £30m on employment agency fees.