Labour pledges to slash payouts for outgoing ministers after £1m government bill
Labour has pledged to slash the size of severance payouts for ministers leaving office after it emerged nearly £1m was spent in a year due to political churn.
Ministers under the age of 65 are entitled to payments amounting to a quarter of their ministerial salary if they are not appointed to a new role within three weeks.
During the chaotic period that saw the country have three prime ministers – Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – within a matter of weeks, £933,086 was spent on payouts for those who were sacked, or resigned, from government.
Labour has said that its plan to close the “glaring loopholes” in the rules would have reduced this bill by nearly £380,000, or 40 per cent.
The party highlighted, in recent analysis, that some MPs accepted severance amounting to three months’ salary despite serving in the role for less than that amount of time.
Others pocketed the severance and then returned to a ministerial post within weeks.
Some ministers, including Dominic Raab, Steve Barclay and Guy Opperman, chose to have their severance entitlements reduced or returned them when they returned to new posts.
Labour pledged to overhaul the rules so departing ministers get a quarter of their actual earnings over the previous year.
And it would claw back any money if individuals return to the front bench while still benefiting from the severance pay, as was seen last year.
Ministers who leave their job while under investigation for misconduct or a breach of their rules would have their severance suspended too, and quashed if the claims are upheld.
Labour highlighted that Chris Pincher and Peter Bone received payments of £7,920 and £5,593, respectively.
Both were under investigation for allegations that were later proven.
Labour says its reforms would have cut 2022-23’s severance bill from £933,086 to £555,093.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jonathan Ashworth said: “Under the current rules, every single one of those Tory ministers was legally entitled to three months of severance at their final salary level, no matter how long they had been in post, no matter the circumstances of their departure and, in most cases, no matter how quickly they returned to the front bench.”
Downing Street has suggested there are no plans to change the rules.
A Government spokesman said: “There are long-standing rules in place to determine what ministers are entitled to receive as severance pay.”
The severance rules have been in place, through legislation, since 1991.
They dictate that all departing ministers under the age of 65 are entitled to three month’s salary no matter how long they have been in their latest post, or the circumstances under which they leave their jobs.
They must only give back that payment if they are re-appointed to another role within three weeks.
