Former cabinet secretary handed record-breaking £860,000 payout after being forced out, report reveals

Former cabinet secretary handed record-breaking £860,000 payout after being forced out, report reveals Lord Wormald’s payout equates to around £2,000 for each day in his role as cabinet secretary - Bookmark Newly published official accounts show that a senior mandarin forced from his post after 14 months during Sir Keir Starmer’s government received a record compensation payout approaching £860,000. Lord Wormald was given an £859,496 exit settlement for his time serving as Cabinet secretary – leading the Civil Service – between December 2024 and February 2026, the Cabinet Office’s annual report and accounts reveal. This sum is the largest severance package ever awarded to a civil servant, easily eclipsing the estimated figure of roughly £500,000 that earlier news reports suggested he was set to receive. The former Treasury chief Sir Tom Scholar previously held the record, having received £457,000 after his dismissal by short-lived prime minister Liz Truss during her brief spell in government in 2022. Gareth Davies, the head of the National Audit Office (NAO), has now urged the Cabinet Office to review departure terms for senior mandarins, aiming to "reduce the incidence of discretionary extra-contractual elements of payments on departure from these roles". In his capacity as Comptroller and Auditor General reporting to the House of Commons, Mr Davies noted he had "observed considerable variation in the size and nature of exit payments made on the departure of permanent and Cabinet secretaries". According to published correspondence from earlier this year, Cat Little, the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, sought a ministerial direction from Sir Keir Starmer to sign off on the severance settlement given to Lord Wormald. Writing to the then-prime minister in February, Ms Little voiced explicit concerns over whether the payout deal offered value for money, stressing it was "greater than what Sir Chris Wormald would be contractually entitled to". She wrote: "However, I am informed that a settlement of this level is necessary given that this is a departure from a high profile, unique role that has been agreed at very short notice." Ms Little explained while it was "not possible for me to conclude to the level required whether the proposed settlement amount represents value for money or not", she noted Sir Keir was able to "take into account wider considerations, in particular the public interest in bringing this matter to a conclusion and the prevention of distraction from the effective operation of Government". Sir Keir responded that he was "satisfied that the public interest is met" despite surrounding disquiet over the size of Lord Wormald’s exit payment. In February, Dame Antonia Romeo took over from Lord Wormald as Cabinet Secretary. Created a crossbench peer over the summer, he took up the formal title Baron Wormald of Dulwich at the very end of August. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said: "Chris Wormald was just one of many civil servants and advisers fired by Keir Starmer as he tried to save his own skin. "This payout is another appalling waste of taxpayers’ money by Labour. "Whether it’s big payouts for fall guys, or gimmicky giveaways, this Government is always happy to spend our money if it thinks it will benefit the Labour Party." A Cabinet Office representative said: "We do not comment on HR matters. "The Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office received a ministerial direction from the then-prime minister to proceed with the payment to the former Cabinet secretary. Their exchange of letters is a matter of public record."