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.

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.