Energy and Climate Change written question – answered at on 17 July 2013.
John Robertson
Labour, Glasgow North West
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
(1) who was responsible for negotiations regarding the severance payment for Moira Wallace; and what role he played in these negotiations;
(2) whether the severance payment for Moira Wallace is consistent with other payments of this kind in (a) his Department and (b) other Government departments; and by what method such payments are calculated;
(3) whether (a) he or (b) anybody in his Department consulted the Cabinet Office before agreeing a severance deal with Moira Wallace;
(4) what the reasons are for Moira Wallace's (a) £262,185 compensation for severance and (b) £209,783 discretionary payment; and whether these payments met the guidelines from the Cabinet Office designed to reduce civil servants' severance payments.
Gregory Barker
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change
The exit package for the former permanent Secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change was within the provisions of the reformed civil service compensation scheme as provided for in legislation. The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Mr Davey, was advised of the payment which was agreed by the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury as permissible within the rules of the scheme. The calculations used for Moira Wallace's severance payment are consistent with other payments of this kind both in DECC and other Government Departments.
Yes2 people think so
No1 person thinks not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
A Permanent Secretary is a top civil servant- there is a permanent secretary in each Office/Dept./Ministry Permanent Secretaries are always Knights, (I.E. "Sir" or "Dame"). BBC Sitcom "Yes Minster" portrays Sir Humprey Appelby as a Permanent Secretary, steretypically spouting lots of red tape and bureacracy.
