Lib Dems: Scrap payouts for ex-ministers as taxpayer bill rises to £530,000
EMBARGO: 22:30 Sunday 24th September
The Liberal Democrats have called for taxpayer-funded handouts for disgraced former ministers to be scrapped, as analysis reveals £530,000 was paid out in ministerial severance payments over the past year.
The Liberal Democrat research shows that ministers in the Department for Local Government and Levelling Up received £77,654 in severance payments in the past year, more than any other department. This would be enough to pay the average monthly council tax bill for 476 families.
Education ministers claimed £49,495 severance payments in the past year, enough to fund 19,500 free school meals, while Department for Transport ministers claimed £41,575, enough to pay for around 14,850 typical bus fares.
Other former ministers to have received severance payments include Liz Truss (£18,860), Boris Johnson (£18,860), Kwasi Kwarteng (£16,876), and Chris Pincher (£7,920).
In a speech to the party’s Autumn Conference today (Monday 25 September), Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain will call for a major overhaul of ministerial severance pay.
The proposals would prevent MPs who have resigned for breaking the Ministerial Code from claiming the severance pay. The proposals would also ensure that ministers have to serve in post for a reasonable period of time, and that payouts cannot be claimed if they are reappointed to Government within a year.
Under the current rules, Ministers can claim severance pay of up to almost £17,000, and Prime Ministers up to £18,660 - regardless of their length of time in post and the manner of their departure.
Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP commented:
“It’s an outrage that while families struggle to pay their bills, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and other disgraced Conservative ministers have profited from their own failure.
“The cost of Conservative chaos is piling up for families across the country.
“The British public will never forgive this shambolic Conservative government.
"Conservative ministers crashed the economy and then were rewarded for it. It is time to change the rules over ministerial severance pay for good to end these revolving door payouts - enough is enough.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
MP’s entitlement on severance pay can be found in this report
Department | Severance 2022/23 | What it could pay for |
Liz Truss | £18,660 | 26,600 lettuces |
Treasury | £45,000 | 9,800 calculators |
Transport | £41,575 | 14,850 typical bus fares |
Cabinet Office | £75,585 | 25,000 boxes of pens |
DEFRA | £34,318 | 52,000 pints of milk |
Defence | £7,920 | 200 pairs of army boots |
Home Office | £52,858 | 3,795 hours of police time |
Department for Levelling Up | £77,654 | Monthly council tax of 476 families |
Department for Education | £49,495 | 19,500 free school meals |
Foreign Office | £21,433 | 260 new passports |
Department for International Trade | £27,026 | 6,006 pork chop packets |
Department for Work and Pensions | £34,318 | Weekly state pension of 168 pensioners |
Scotland Office | £11,186 | 466 bottles of Scotch Whiskey |
Wales Office | £33,752 | 4,788 packets of Welsh lamb chops |