DEVON County Council is set to pay out almost £5.5m in staff redundancy pay after announcing closure of 20 care homes, the Echo can reveal.
The figures are revealed amid criticism from some councillors who claim they are still “in the dark” about what the authority intends to do with the buildings.
In June, the council announced its decision to shut 20 of its 22 care homes, affecting around 260 elderly residents, in a bid to make budget reductions of £110m from its expenditure by 2017 – £28m in this financial year.