A former cabinet secretary has received a record-breaking £859,496 severance payment after leaving his position, according to newly released official documents. Lord Wormald, who served as cabinet secretary from December 2024 to February 2026, was awarded this sum, the largest severance package ever given to a civil servant. This amount exceeds earlier estimates of around £500,000 and surpasses the previous record of £457,000, which was given to Sir Tom Scholar when he was dismissed by former Prime Minister Liz Truss in 2022. Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), has urged the Cabinet Office to review the terms of departure for senior civil servants, aiming to "reduce the incidence of discretionary extra-contractual elements of payments on departure from these roles." In his role as Comptroller and Auditor General, reporting to the House of Commons, Mr. Davies noted that he has "observed considerable variation in the size and nature of exit payments made on the departure of permanent and Cabinet secretaries." Earlier this year, Cat Little, the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, sought approval from Sir Keir Starmer, the then-prime minister, to authorize the severance payment for Lord Wormald. In a letter to the prime minister in February, Ms. Little raised concerns about whether the payout represented value for money, noting that it was "greater than what Sir Chris Wormald would be contractually entitled to." She explained that while she could not definitively determine if the proposed settlement was cost-effective, 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 stated he was "satisfied that the public interest is met" despite concerns over the size of the exit payment. In February, Dame Antonia Romeo took over from Lord Wormald as Cabinet Secretary. Lord Wormald was created a crossbench peer over the summer and formally became Baron Wormald of Dulwich at the end of August. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart criticized the payout, stating, "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." A Cabinet Office representative stated, "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."