LIBERAL Democrat councillors have hit out at Teignbridge Council’s refusal to pay the living wage to its staff.

The outcry comes as it was revealed that five staff took home almost £300,000 in redundancy payments.

Yet, Lib Dem leaders say there are some staff at the authority who earn less than supermarket checkout assistants.

Cllr Alan Connett said figures showed almost £500,000 had been paid out in redundancy and pension  tops-ups for just a few senior staff.

He also said Teignbridge Council had opposed a government-recommended cap on redundancy payouts of £95,000.

He said: ‘There is a lot of money being spent showing people the door at Teignbridge.

‘There is a case to be made that long term there are savings but while residents are being asked to pay for removing garden waste, they might want to think their money is being spent wisely.

‘And it is outrageous that some staff are being made redundant then coming back in consultancy roles.

‘It may only be a small number of people but a lot of public money is going on pay offs.’

Fellow Lib Dem Cllr Gordon Hook said the ‘huge’ payouts were unjustified when the poorest staff were not being paid the living wage.

He said: ‘I believe that for a number of employees who do the dirtiest of jobs very often such as refuse collectors we as a society have much to be grateful for.

‘Yet they get the lowest wages.

‘It seems, on the surface, that there are outrageously high payouts for just five people.’

Walking into the council’s Forde House headquarters was like the Marie Celeste, Cllr Hook commented.

He said: ‘There are vast areas of office space without anyone in them, it’s almost empty.

‘I am very concerned we have reached a point where the function of the local authority is suffering as a consequence of having fewer staff.

‘You can’t keep losing staff and expect to maintain the same level of performance and the public will suffer. These payouts are far too generous particularly in the context of the council’s refusal to pay the living wage, it’s obscene.’

It is understood that Teignbridge Council’s wage structure is the lowest of local authorities in Devon.

And Cllr David Cox, who moved that Teignbridge Council should pay the living wage, said the cost of the ‘golden goodbyes’ through restructuring was ‘very high’.

Teignbridge Council said the living wage would be ‘rolled into’ the budget process as it was anticipated the national living wage would be implemented by government in 2016.

The government’s recommended cap on redundancy payments was not ‘applicable’ at the moment and the redundancy payments were as a result of the 2013 to 2014 management restructuring, a council spokesman explained.