The Treasury chief sacked by Liz Truss ahead of her disastrous tax-cutting budget was handed a £335,000 pay off, new accounts show.
Sir Tom Scholar was sacked as permanent secretary at the Treasury within days of Ms Truss becoming prime minister as part of her crusade against “Treasury orthodoxy” – freeing her up to enact the ill-fated policies.
And the Treasury’s annual report reveals Sir Tom received a severance payment of £335,000 for loss of office, as well as £122,000 in annual leave adjustments and compensation in lieu of notice.
Sir Tom’s annual salary as the Treasury’s permanent secretary, before being sacked last September, was £200,000. Last year he was paid more than £500,000.
Former PMs Ms Truss and Boris Johnson both received their full severance entitlements of £18,660 each after they resigned.
Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who was sacked by Ms Truss in the wake of the pair’s mini-budget, was handed £16,876 of severance.
And Rishi Sunak, who resigned as chancellor before going on to become prime minister, was given £16,876 for quitting, the accounts reveal.
Meanwhile the former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, who quit after drunkenly groping two men, was given £7,920 in severance pay.
Sir Tom’s sacking by Ms Truss during her 49-day stint as prime minister prompted criticism and questions about the government’s economic competence ahead of her budget – which ultimately sent borrowing costs spiralling, tanked the value of sterling, and signalled the end of Ms Truss’s premiership.
Criticism of Sir Tom’s 8 September sacking by Ms Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng came from former cabinet secretaries Lord Butler and Lord O’Donnell, who said the move compromised civil service independence.
Ms Truss had accused the Treasury of promoting “abacus economics” of “making sure that tax and spend add up” while promising “bold” tax cuts.
Asked about Mr Scholar’s payoff, a Treasury spokesman said: “This payment is a contractual amount resulting from the Civil Service Compensation Scheme – the payment is based on length of service and includes pension payments.”