HMRC chiefs' payouts revealed

HMRC chiefs' payouts revealed

Two of the senior civil servants at HM Revenue and Customs - the organisation that lost the details of 25 million child benefit claimants - have received big severance payments to quit early.

Paul Gray, chairman of Revenue and Customs, and Stuart Cruickshank, chief accounting officer, have received more than £200,000 between them.

Gray quit in November last year, after it was revealed that two computer discs bearing data relating to every child benefit claimant in the country had been lost in the post. The HMRC accounts reveal that he had received £120,000-125,000 of his £180,000-185,000 annual salary. On leaving he received £137,591. He continues to receive monthly payments of about £7,000 until he turns 60 on August 2 this year.

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Cruickshank received an £88,125 severance payment when he quit 16 months into a three-year contract.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This is a shocking example of the culture of rewards for failure that bedevils the public sector and leads to mistakes being repeated over and over again."

HMRC said: "These payments are those allowed under civil service rules."

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