THE BBC has spent almost £27 million of licence payers money over the past eight months on redundancy payments after handing hundreds of departing staff severance deals with an average value of more than £100,000.

More than 310 employees secured pay-offs over the past eight months as the broadcaster sought to avoid a financial crisis.

Internal figures have shown that 221 staff have successfully applied for voluntary redundancy throughout this financial year, with an average pay-off of £100,661.

A further 93 payments were made in cases of involuntary redundancy, averaging £46,773. The combined bill comes to £26.6m, according to figures obtained by The Times, enough to cover the TV licences of 168,000 pensioners. The BBC opened the voluntary redundancy scheme in June to plug a £125m coronavirus-related hole in the budget, on top of £800m in savings already required by 2021-22.

Tim Davie, the BBC’s new director-general, has pledged to cut senior managers and trim the 19,500-strong workforce, a figure that does not include those employed by the organisation’s commercial arms.

The voluntary scheme was flooded with applications from long-serving staff who feared that it might be their last opportunity to receive a generous severance deal.

The UK Government has long threatened to limit public-sector pay-offs, and a £95,000 cap was imposed on November 4, after most of the deals were agreed. Some BBC employees left with packages worth as much as £150,000, the broadcaster’s own upper limit.

The £26.6m paid between April and November is more than the BBC’s £23.3m redundancy bill paid to 331 staff for the entire 2019-20 financial year, and the £17.8m total in 2018-19.

The BBC is preparing to increase enforcement action against the over-75s who have yet to purchase a £157.50 TV licence, after the subsidy was abolished.

Julian Knight, chairman of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, told The Times: “This is an egregious waste of licence fee money. Redundancy payouts in excess of £100,000 on average are a slap in the face for all those over-75s that the BBC is forcing to pay their licence fees.”

The BBC defended the payouts saying the redundancies would save significant sums in the long term.

A spokesman said: “We are operating under well-documented financial constraints and need to make £125 million in savings as a direct impact of the pandemic. We are continuing with our modernisation plans to be a leaner, more efficient broadcaster.

“This includes previously announced job losses where necessary and an ongoing voluntary redundancy process.”

The BBC does not comment on individual staff exit agreements. High-profile names in Scotland who have left recently include the former political editor Brian Taylor and politics presenter Gordon Brewer.

Others across the network include Mark Mardell, former Europe and North America editor, Norman Smith, assistant political editor, and Carrie Gracie, former China editor.