26.05.15
Plans to cap NHS redundancy payments included in Queen’s Speech
NHS workers are to be included in a plan by the government to cap public sector redundancy payments.
The proposal to ban ‘golden parachutes’ for those in the public sector was in the Conservative manifesto and will be form part of the Enterprise Bill, which is also going to feature a roll-back of company regulation, under business secretary Sajid Javid MP.
The exact amount of the cap is still to be determined but the treasury expects it to be around £95,000. It will apply to those in the Civil Service and NHS but not the BBC.
This is likely to be a hard pill to swallow for NHS workers as while some of the highest packages in recent years include ones worth £500,000 in the NHS, the BBC has seen pay-outs of more than £1m.
Only those earning less than £27,000 will be exempt from the cap.
The chancellor, George Osborne MP, said: “It is not right that working people should have to fork out for golden parachutes worth hundreds of thousands of pounds for public sector workers when they are made redundant.
“That’s why we are delivering on our pledge to end six figure pay offs for the best paid public sector workers, ensuring fairness and value for money for the taxpayer.”
The government also announced that reforms made last parliament to claw back exit payments made to health workers who return to work in the NHS in a short time will also be implemented.
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