Chris Wormald, the Cabinet Secretary who was effectively removed from his post by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has been given a payoff package worth more than £850,000, according to newly published Cabinet Office accounts. The size of the settlement has drawn scrutiny because civil servants reportedly required Starmer to issue a formal "direction" for the payment after raising concerns that it was unclear whether the sums represented value for money for the taxpayer.

The payoff comprised £332,897 in "contractual compensation" and a further £526,598 in "additional severance", bringing the total to over £850,000. The figures were disclosed in the Cabinet Office's latest accounts, which prompted questions over the justification for such a large sum being paid to a senior civil servant who left his role.