Starmer’s former Cabinet Secretary gets biggest-ever civil service severance of £860,000 after just 14 months in the job
Lord Wormald received the massive sum which dwarfs the previous highest settlement of £457,000 to former Treasury head Sir Tom Scholar
A former top civil servant forced out of his job after 14 months during Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership received a record payout of almost £860,000, accounts have revealed.
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Lord Wormald received an £859,496 severance payment for serving as Cabinet secretary – the head of the Civil Service – between December 2024 and February 2026, according to the Cabinet Office’s annual report and accounts.
It is the largest-ever payout awarded to a top civil servant, and dwarfs the estimated total of around £500,000 which media reports earlier this year said he was expected to receive.
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Sir Tom Scholar, the former head of the Treasury, received the previously highest settlement of £457,000 after being forced out of his job by short-lived prime minister Liz Truss in 2022.
The head of the National Audit Office (NAO), Gareth Davies, has urged the Cabinet Office to review the employment terms of senior civil servants, to “reduce the incidence of discretionary extra-contractual elements of payments on departure from these roles”.
Writing in his role as Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons, Mr Davies said he had “observed considerable variation in the size and nature of exit payments made on the departure of permanent and Cabinet secretaries”.
Cat Little, the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, sought a ministerial direction from Sir Keir Starmer to sign off the severance payment to Lord Wormald, according to an exchange of letters published earlier this year.
In her correspondence from February with the then-prime minister, Ms Little raised concerns about whether the payout represented value for money, as it was “greater than what Sir Chris Wormald would be contractually entitled to”.
She added: “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 said it was “not possible for me to conclude to the level required whether the proposed settlement amount represents value for money or not”, but she added 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 replied that he was “satisfied that the public interest is met” amid concerns about the high sum Lord Wormald was to receive.
Lord Wormald was replaced by Dame Antonia Romeo as Cabinet Secretary in February.
He was made a crossbench peer over the summer, and took up the title Baron Wormald of Dulwich at the end of August.
Alex Burghart, shadow Cabinet Office minister, 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 spokesperson 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.”