This morning the TaxPayers' Alliance has uncovered the details of the extraordinary financial package that HMRC's ex-Chairman, who resigned over the loss of child benefit data, has received. "Doing the honourable thing" is rarely so lucrative.
"HMRC's annual accounts, which have just been published on 14 July 2008, reveal that Mr Gray:
- Earned £120,000 in salary in 2007-08.
- Received a lump sum pay-off of £137,591 on resigning.
- Is currently being paid over £7,000 a month until his retirement on 2 August 2008 - in seven monthly payments totaling £49,292 this year.
- Has a pension pot totalling over £2 million."
This hardly creates much of an incentive for senior Civil Servants to avoid similar mistakes being made in the future. If the public sector were a company the shareholders would be right to revolt. It is taxpayers' money at stake in the public sector - we need to stop accepting such low standards and unjustified generosity to senior staff.
Here is Mark Wallace, TPA Campaign Director, discussing the issue:
