A top Treasury civil servant who was “purged” by Liz Truss ahead of her disastrous tax-cutting Budget has been given a top honour.
Sir Tom Scholar was sacked as permanent secretary at the Treasury within days of Ms Truss becoming prime minister as part of her crusade against “Treasury orthodoxy” – freeing her up to enact the ill-fated policies.
The move prompted criticism and questions about the government’s economic competence ahead of her budget – which ultimately sent borrowing costs spiralling, tanked the value of sterling, and signalled the end of Ms Truss’s premiership.
Sir Tom has now been awarded a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the New Year honours – the chivalric order’s highest honour. He had been a Knight Commander of the order since the 2017 birthday honours.
The top official’s deputy Catherine Little, who also left her role as director general for public spending in October 2022, has also been made a companion of the Order of the Bath, according to the New Year Honours list.
The honours are picked by an independent committee, though they are approved by the King and in practice by Rishi Sunak.
Sir Tom Scholar was permanent secretary at the Treasury
Most prime ministers get to nominate a list of people for honours when they resign, but today’s New Year Honours are not thought to include nominations by either Ms Truss or her predecessor Boris Johnson.
Mr Johnson’s nominations are expected to be finalised at a later date and published separately, while Ms Truss has reportedly been warned against nominating a long list of people due to the short duration of her premiership.
Criticism of Sir Tom’s 8 September sacking by Ms Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng came from former cabinet secretaries Lord Butler and Lord O’Donnell, who said the move compromised civil service independence.
Ms Truss had accused the Treasury of promoting “abacus economics” of “making sure that tax and spend add up” while promising “bold” tax cuts.
In practice, the tax cuts were swiftly reversed after causing a major shock to the financial system that nearly brought down pension funds.
Sir Tom had worked closely with David Cameron and Gordon Brown before taking the top Treasury job in 2016.
