Hundreds spent on retiring council workers

West Lindsey District Council has come under fire for spending taxpayers' money on gifts for retiring employees.
WLDC defends splashing the cash EMN-170131-100626001WLDC defends splashing the cash EMN-170131-100626001
WLDC defends splashing the cash EMN-170131-100626001

It has been reported that the West Lindsey District Council abides by a policy which sees £8.08 spent on gifts per year of service retiring employees after the first year of employment.

An FOI request submitted to the WLDC has revealed that one retiring colleague was presented with more than £200 in shopping vouchers and another colleague, an item of jewellery worth £88.

John O’Connell, Chief Executive for the TaxPayers’ Alliance, called the policy ‘unforgivable’.

He said: “The average household has seen its council tax bill rise by 58 per cent in real terms across England since 1997 yet some hard-pressed families are having to dig deeper into their pockets as councils plead poverty.

“Taxpayers will be furious to see their hard-earned cash being wasted on experiences which the ordinary taxpayer cannot afford for themselves.

“This is simply unforgivable and only reinforces the idea that many councils have not taken the task of cutting out waste seriously enough while being too quick to slash frontline services in the name of finding savings.”

West Lindsey District Council has hit back to defend its spending on retirement gifts.

Alan Robinson, strategic lead for democracy and business support at WLDC, said: “West Lindsey District Council values the contribution of all its employees and wishes to reward them for their commitment and loyalty by issuing them with a gift on their retirement.

“This is a policy that many councils across the country do.”