Plans to overhaul the Civil Service compensation scheme for workers made redundant have been delayed until April.
In July the government announced proposals to reform the scheme to reduce the cost of running the Civil Service.
The changes were expected to come into effect on 1 January 2010 but a Cabinet Office spokeswoman confirmed to Personnel Today that they would now be introduced in April.
The news follows talks between cabinet officials and the Council of Civil Service Unions yesterday to discuss the implementation plan for the reforms.
In April last year, Personnel Today reported that the government was considering cutting redundancy packages from up to three years’ pay to as little as 24 weeks’, to mirror the private sector terms and save £500m over the next three years.
The spokeswoman said key changes had been made to the plans in December following consultation between unions and civil service staff, including extra protection for the lowest-paid civil servants.
“The reforms represent a fair and affordable package and take particular account of the concerns of lowerpaid staff. They will reduce the costs of running the Civil Service and allow us to focus money on frontline services and protecting jobs,” she said.
The spokeswoman added that the existing terms of the scheme were expensive and substantially more generous than those generally available in the wider public and private sectors.
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