So-called ’bonfire of the quangos’ results in redundancy payouts worth four times that of private sector

HCA and Cabe staff laid off under the government’s austerity drive were given six-figure “golden handshakes” it has emerged.

Cabe’s director of resources, Charlotte Cane, received £224,000 when she left her post while colleague Matt Bell, the director of campaigns and education, was handed a £111,000 payout.

At the HCA, Gill Taylor, director for skills and knowledge was paid £199,000.

The sums were published by the Daily Telegraph, which said the coalition’s so-called bonfire of the quangos had cost the taxpayer almost £1 billion so far in golden handshakes.

The paper claimed the average redundancy payout given to former quango and Whitehall workers was £42,000 – four times that of the private sector.

Around 20,000 civil servants have lost their jobs in the austerity drive, but the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts that 600,000 could ultimately go, landing the taxpayer with a £20bn bill.

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