The Government remains committed to its plans to cap all public sector exit payments at £95,000 despite widespread opposition.

Whitehall announced last February its intention to crack down on public sector payoffs in a move that will hit local government workers and others in the public sector.

The Government today published the response to the consultation on its proposed reforms which revealed the majority of respondents expressed opposition to the proposals.

However, it insisted it wanted to ‘ensure greater consistency between public sector redundancy compensation schemes and value for money for the taxpayer'.

As well as introducing a £95,000 cap on exit payments, the Government plans to introduce measures to claw back redundancy compensation when an individual returns to the public sector shortly after receiving an exit payment.

‘The new framework ensures a fair and appropriate level of compensation is provided for employees who are required to leave public sector jobs, whether on a mutually agreed or voluntary basis or through compulsory redundancy,' a government spokesman said.

But general secretary of trade union Unison, Dave Prentis, said: 'The Government might claim its cap on redundancy payouts will only affect those at the top of the public sector, but the reality is that many middle income earners – like nurses and librarians – will be hit hard.

'Soon, staff who've given their working lives over to public service and who are unfortunate enough to see their jobs go will find themselves severely short-changed.

'If the Government wants to save money on exit payments it should stop cutting jobs and outsourcing services to private firms, and invest in public services and the staff who provide them instead.'