£860,000 to go: the Guardian says "sacked by Starmer", the Independent says "forced out"

The money is not in dispute. Cabinet Office accounts published on Monday show Chris Wormald was paid £859,496 on leaving the post of cabinet secretary after 14 months. Both reports we hold call it the largest severance ever paid to a British civil servant, and both quote the same official line: the sum was "greater than what Sir Chris Wormald would be contractually entitled to".

The verb is.

The approval. The Independent carries the letters. Cat Little, the department's permanent secretary, wrote in February that she could not conclude the settlement was value for money; Starmer replied that he was "satisfied that the public interest is met". Gareth Davies of the National Audit Office has since asked the department to reduce "discretionary extra-contractual elements" of such payments.

Not settled. Whether he was sacked or went under pressure — the Cabinet Office says only that it does not comment on HR matters. Neither report gives his salary, or what his contract did entitle him to, which is the number the official objection turns on.

What this is about. Britain's most senior civil servant left his post early this year, and the government paid him more to go than his contract required.

The job. The cabinet secretary is the prime minister's chief adviser among officials and, in modern practice, also head of the civil service. The post is politically neutral. Holders usually serve for years across changes of government. Officials in Britain are permanent staff, not political appointees, so removing the top one is rare and closely watched.

How it got here. - July 2024: Labour won the general election and Keir Starmer became prime minister. - December 2024: Starmer named Chris Wormald, then the senior official at the Department of Health and Social Care, to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary. He took up the post early in 2025. - February 2026: Wormald left after 14 months. The Guardian says he was sacked. The Independent says he was forced out. The Cabinet Office says it does not comment on HR matters. - September 2026: The department's annual accounts disclosed the payment: £859,496.

Why a minister had to sign. Each department has a senior official, the accounting officer, who answers to Parliament for how its money is spent. If that official thinks a payment is not good value, they can refuse to authorise it unless a minister gives a written instruction, called a ministerial direction. That puts the decision on the minister's record, not the official's. Here the objection came from Cat Little, the Cabinet Office's permanent secretary, and the sign-off came from Starmer.

The actors. - Keir Starmer, who chose Wormald, saw him leave and approved the payment. - Chris Wormald, the official who received it. - Cat Little, who formally objected. - The National Audit Office, Parliament's independent auditor of government spending, led by Gareth Davies.

What is at stake. Whether ministers can end a senior official's tenure early and cover the cost with public money beyond the contract. It also decides whether the extra-contractual parts of such payments shrink, as the auditor has asked.

Where it stands. The payment has been made and published. Neither report we hold gives Wormald's contractual entitlement, so the size of the extra part is not public.