Sir Philip Barton received a voluntary exit payment of more than £260,000 after he stepped down as the permanent secretary at the Foregn Office eight months early in January.
The payout is revealed in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s annual reports and accounts for 2024-25, which was published yesterday.
The report sets out that Barton, who left around eight months before his five-year fixed contract was due to end, received a salary of £160-165,000 in 2024-25, which would have amounted to a salary of £205-210,000 had he stayed for the full 12 months.
He also received a £15-20,000 bonus payment and pensions benefits worth £26,000, taking his total remuneration for 2024-25 to £235-240,000.
However, it says he also “received a voluntary exit compensation payment of £262,185 under the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) which is not included in the 2024-25 total salary figure”.
This took Barton’s total earnings for his work in the first nine months of 2024-25 and his voluntary exit payout to between £497,185 and £502,185.
Barton’s term was due to last until September, but he told MPs last November that he had been reflecting on when to hand over to a successor after the Labour government completed its first 100 days in office. He said he had agreed with the foreign secretary, David Lammy, that January would be the right moment to step down.
Barton said the early exit would enable his successor to work with the foreign secretary in the years ahead to "deliver his ambitions for the FCDO, in particular the programme of change that will follow the three reviews he has commissioned into the work of the department”.
The report also shows that Barton's successor, Sir Olly Robbins, earned £45-50,000 in 2024-25, which equates to a full-year equivalent salary of £235-240,000, a significant increase on the £205-210,000 that Barton was on.
The Home Office’s annual report and accounts, meanwhile, shows that Sir Matthew Rycroft, who stepped down in March after a full five years as permanent secretary, received an exit payment of £50,000.
How does Barton's exit payment compare to some of the other big payouts in recent years?
Sir Tom Scholar, who was unceremoniously sacked on Kwasi Kwarteng’s first day as chancellor in September 2022, received a “severance payment” of £335,000 for “loss of office” and a further payment of £122,000 that included “annual leave adjustments and compensation in lieu of notice”.
Sir Mark Sedwill received a severance payment of £248,189 after stepping down as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service in September 2020, less than two years after taking on the role. He also received £53,170.74 as compensation in lieu of notice.
He one of perm secs to receive big payouts in the Boris Johnson era. Others included:
- Former Ministry of Justice permanent secretary Sir Richard Heaton received a £262,185 payout when he left in August 2020 after a full five years as perm sec. The ministry’s 2020-21 accounts said this was compensation for “loss of office” and that he left on voluntary exit terms.
- Former Department for Education perm sec Jonathan Slater received a £278,000 severance payment after being pushed out in August 2020, having been in the role for less than four years
- The Home Office reached a £340,000 settlement with its former perm sec Sir Philip Rutnam, plus £36,000 in legal fees. Rutnam resigned in February 2020, saying he had been the victim of "a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign" by allies of then-home secretary Priti Patel. This avoided the need for an employment tribunal hearing to take place