Government Splashes £457,000 on Ex-Treasury Chief Tom Scholar
The British government has cough up a whopping £457,000 in compensation to Tom Scholar, the former top civil servant at the Treasury. Scholar was ousted shortly after Liz Truss became Prime Minister last year. The jaw-dropping payout was revealed in the government’s latest accounts published on Thursday.
Scholar’s Sudden Exit Amid Truss and Kwarteng Shake-Up
Tom Scholar quit on September 8, 2022, soon after Liz Truss handpicked Kwasi Kwarteng as her new finance minister. This followed a Conservative leadership campaign slamming the Treasury for its slow economic growth. Scholar said the decision came as Kwarteng wanted fresh leadership at the department.
Kwarteng’s infamous “mini-budget” hit Parliament on September 23, promising tax cuts and energy subsidies to fire up the economy. But it backfired spectacularly, sending government bond prices tumbling and forcing the Bank of England to leap to the rescue. Both Kwarteng and Truss were soon ousted in the fallout.
Massive Payoff: Scholar’s Severance Far Bigger Than Ministers’ Payouts
While Scholar’s salary was just under £200,000 a year, his total remuneration topped £550,000 last year. This included a massive £335,000 severance pay for loss of office and another £122,000 for notice and holiday pay.
By contrast, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng got measly severance payouts of £18,660 and £16,876 respectively, thanks to rules that grant ministers only three months’ salary on resignation.
Even ex-PM Boris Johnson received a similar ministerial payout. Rishi Sunak, who replaced Truss as PM, got a payment when he quit as finance minister in July 2022—though he returned it, the Treasury confirmed.
Controversy Over Huge Exit Deals for Senior Civil Servants
Such eye-watering exit deals have sparked backlash before. Scholar’s payout dwarfs those of other senior mandarins. For instance, former education permanent secretary Jonathan Slater walked away with £277,780 when he left in 2021.
A Treasury spokesperson explained: “Scholar’s payout was contractual, based on the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. It factors in length of service and pension entitlements.” Scholar left two weeks before Kwarteng unveiled the mini-budget.
