COUNCIL chiefs say they cannot reveal for another two months how much they have paid out for early retirement and ill-health awards over the last five years.

Councillors were told at last night's Bolton Council meeting that overworked finance staff are too busy sending out council tax bills and finalising the council budget for it to be carried before then.

At last month's meeting, Tory leader Cllr Norman Critchley called for the council to reveal how much the bill has come to.

But Cllr Bob Howarth, Bolton Council leader, said last night that the council had agreed an average 42 voluntary early retirements a year during that period and 109 ill-health retirements.

He said: "You do have to remember that VERs were used during that period to achieve cuts of around £30 million which we were forced to make from our budgets.

"We felt that we made these cuts in the most humane way possible.

"The ill-health retirements in local government generally are high and we are taking steps to reduce this."

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