Hampshire County Council offers staff voluntary redundancy

Hampshire County Council has presented almost all of its workers, excluding school staff with a mutually agreed resignation. 

Staff are given the option to step down from their role at the council, in return for payment and no effect on their pension. 

Hampshire County Council also ensures that each application to resign will be assessed and will only be approved if they can “successfully maintain” sufficient service. 

The council further claims this step is being made so it can avoid the need for compulsory redundancies in the future. 

However, this move has been met by criticism from the Hampshire branch of Unison, the public service union, which believes the scheme will “impact services” and “add to the stress” of the remaining employees. 

A spokesperson from Unison said: “We’re concerned about this move to fast-track staffing reductions without any consultation.

“Staff are already reporting that workload pressures are affecting their physical and mental health.

“We understand the issues local authorities face, but staff and unions should be consulted, and pension entitlements and notice periods must be honoured.”

Hampshire County Council has been forced to make this decision due to its budget being under “immense pressure”, similarly to many other local authorities nationally. 

Recent forecasting has suggested that the council could go bankrupt as early as 2026, with leader of the council Cllr Nick Adams-King suggesting it may need to ask to raise council tax above the 5% threshold if it does not start receiving proper funding or support from the government. 

A spokesperson for the council said: “Because of [the budget pressures], Hampshire County Council is now returning to its core purpose and the delivery of essential local services. The resulting organisation will inevitably be leaner, requiring a smaller workforce.

“From 11 November until 29 November, staff are invited to voluntarily resign under the Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) – a scheme that many public sector organisations have used in recent years, instead of redundancy.” 

They also state that MARS is quicker and “less costly to the taxpayer than a redundancy scheme”.