Official accounts published on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, show that Lord Wormald, the former head of the Civil Service, received a compensation payout of £859,496 after being removed from his post. Lord Wormald served as Cabinet secretary for 14 months, from December 2024 until February 2026, under the government of Sir Keir Starmer.
The Cabinet Office’s annual report and accounts identified the settlement as the largest severance package ever awarded to a British civil servant. It exceeds the previous record of £457,000 paid to Sir Tom Scholar, who was dismissed as Treasury chief in 2022. Earlier reports had estimated Lord Wormald’s payout would be approximately £500,000.
Cat Little, the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, sought a ministerial direction from Sir Keir Starmer in February to authorize the payment. In correspondence from that time, Ms. Little stated the settlement was "greater than what Sir Chris Wormald would be contractually entitled to" and noted she could not conclude if the amount represented value for money. She stated she was informed the higher amount was deemed necessary because the departure from the high-profile role was agreed to at "very short notice."
Sir Keir Starmer authorized the payment, stating he was "satisfied that the public interest is met" to prevent distraction from government operations. Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), has since urged a review of departure terms for senior officials to reduce the use of discretionary payments. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart (Conservative) criticized the payout as a "waste of taxpayers’ money," while a Cabinet Office representative declined to comment on specific personnel matters.
Civil servants and government monitors will notice a potential change in how these departures are handled, as the National Audit Office has urged the Cabinet Office to limit "extra-contractual" payments. The move to seek a ministerial direction—an official process where a civil servant asks a minister to take formal responsibility for a spending decision they believe may not meet value-for-money standards—indicates internal friction regarding the use of departmental funds for such settlements.
The record-sized payout may influence future negotiations for departing high-level officials and has already prompted calls for reform in the rules governing senior severance. While Lord Wormald was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Wormald of Dulwich in August 2026, the Cabinet Office has stated the correspondence regarding his exit remains a matter of public record. No specific date for the recommended review of departure terms has been announced.