Huge payoff for HMRC boss Gray
Former chairman gets £137,000 lump sum as part of his payoff on leaving HM Revenue & Customs after the discs affair
The former chairman of HM Revenue & Customs, who resigned after the
department lost two computer disks containing 25 million child benefit records,
has received a payoff of more than £300,000.
Paul Gray, who resigned last November, earned £120,000 to £125,000 for
2007/08 and received a lump-sum payment of £137,591 on resigning, according to
HMRC’s annual accounts published this week.
Gray, who was in the top role for less than a year, will also receive monthly
payments totalling £49,292 until his retirement on 2 August this year.
HMRC said the payments complied with ‘civil service contractual terms’.
Matthew Elliott, TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive, said: ‘This is a
shocking example of the culture of rewards for failure that bedevils the public
sector.’
Tory accountant MP and former paymaster general David Heathcoat Amory said:
‘It does seem slightly excessive. This sends a very bad signal to the private
sector, which is frequently criticised for generous pay-offs for failing
executives.’
The report also revealed that the National Audit Office refused to sign off
HMRC accounts because of a £1.5bn overpayment in tax credits. HMRC now has a
strategy to reduce errors.
Further Reading:
Read
the Poynter
review
into the lost discs affair