According to the Treasury Department’s annual report, former Head of the Treasury Department, Sir Tom Scholar was paid 335k pounds after he was relieved off his duties as the Treasury Boss.
Scholar’s dismissal came after Liz Truss assumed office as the Prime Minister of UK, and it was in fulfilment of Truss’ campaign message to change the “orthodox treasury,” in the run up to her contest as the Prime Minister.
Ms. Truss consistently cited “Treasury orthodoxy” as the reason for the slump in economic development during her run for Tory head.
However, Truss’ decision to fire Mr. Scholar generated a lot of criticisms from former officials, and labelled her actions as an assault on the objectivity of the civil service. The treasury department honored Mr. Scholar for his years of “dedicated service.”
Scholar, after his termination from office, released a statement to confirm the then Prime Minister’s decision.
“The chancellor decided it was time for new leadership at the Treasury, and so I will be leaving with immediate effect. It has been the privilege of my career to lead this great institution since 2016. I wish the Treasury all the best for the times ahead, and I will be cheering on from the sidelines.”
Sir Tom Scholar.
The Treasury’s fiscal year report for 2022–2023 revealed the specifics of Sir Tom’s severance package for “loss of office.” According to the numbers, Sir Tom’s total remuneration for 2022-23 was in the excess of £550,000, which included salary and retirement benefits.
Also, the department’s most recent annual report revealed that, severance packages were also paid to other former officials of government, between 2022 and 2023.
Following the resignation of Boris Johnson and his successor Liz Truss, these two former Prime Ministers bagged 18,660 pounds each, as a severance package, while Mr. Kwasi Kwarteng, the former chancellor received 16,876 pounds.
Moreover, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, after his resignation as Chancellor in July 2022, was given a payout of £16,876, which he later paid back. Not all, there were other three ex-officials who were paid out £7,920 as compensation.
Meanwhile, according to the Deputy Labour leader, Angela Rayner, the former Tory ministers do not deserve to be “walking away with an enormous payoff,” while the deputy liberal democrat leader, Daisy Cooper called for the money paid to the former ministers, be returned to the national coffers.
Per regulations, in the event that, ministers are terminated from their positions and are not assigned to a new role within three weeks, they are entitled to a “loss-of-office” payment that amount to one-quarter of their ministerial salary, provided they are under 65 years old.
The payment of huge sums of money to ex-senior civil servants, have always generated controversies, however, Sir Tom Scholar’s severance package seems to be the highest among those handed out to other former officials in recent years.
Sir Tom’s payment, according to a Treasury spokeswoman, was described as a “contractual amount resulting from the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, the payment is based on length of service and includes pension payments.”
The Treasury reveal that, Scholar left the department two weeks before the delivery of the mini-statement by the former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. The financial statement further caused more harm to the financial market, leading to the resignation of the then Prime Minister Liz Truss and her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, after 45 days in office.
Also, the Department of Education paid out over £277,780 to their former secretary Jonathan Slater, after he vacated his office in 2021.
According to James Bowler, the newly appointed permanent secretary to the Treasury Department, the sacking of Sir Tom Scholar “wasn’t normal.”
“I think the then-chancellor of the exchequer said he didn’t want Tom to continue as the permanent secretary, so Tom stood aside and the process was undertaken to appoint someone in his stead.”
James Bowler, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Department.
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