The new proposals claim to remove features of the existing scheme that are subject to claims under age discrimination legislation and tackle the perception of overly generous deals with the introduction of a maximum payment cap of two years pay.

But on behalf of 36,000 specialist grades in the civil service, Prospect Deputy General Secretary Dai Hudd said:

“In many cases long-serving loyal public servants will see their redundancy and pension arrangements slashed at the time when they, along with many other UK employees, face the greatest threat of losing their jobs.

“Our members are particularly angry that better terms than those proposed had been discussed, albeit as a transition to the new terms, yet the Cabinet Office has knowingly tabled proposals that do not represent the best it can offer.”

Hudd said that while members agreed change was necessary, “the proposed terms, if implemented as set out, would make civil service redundancy terms the poorest of the entire public sector and potentially still subject to a legal challenge by the unions.

“Our members recognise the challenges facing the entire economy, but Prospect will oppose any race to the bottom in terms of redundancy compensation which neither represents fairness or makes sound economic sense. An equality of misery is misery after all.”

The union is keen to explore any discussions that may lead to progress towards agreed changes.