UK government reaches six-figure payout settlement with ex-civil servant after Priti Patel row
The government has reached a payout settlement with the Home Office’s former top civil servant after he claimed home secretary Priti Patel orchestrated a campaign to oust him from his job.
Former Home Office permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam said today he had settled with the government out of court, after previously suing for unfair dismissal, with the payout rumoured to be in the six figures.
Rutnam dramatically resigned last February, claiming Patel had masterminded a “vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign” against him.
An inquiry last November found Patel had bullied a number of Home Office civil servants, including Rutnam.
In a statement today, Rutnam said: “I have received excellent support during this process and I would like to express warm thanks to the FDA [union for civil servants] and to my legal team, Slater and Gordon and Gavin Mansfield QC.
“I also want to record my appreciation and thanks to the many individuals, known and unknown to me, who have expressed their support throughout.
“This settlement resolves my own case. The FDA is continuing to pursue in separate proceedings the wider issues that have been raised.
“I now look forward to the next stages of my career.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government and Sir Philip’s representatives have jointly concluded that it is in both parties’ best interests to reach a settlement at this stage rather than continuing to prepare for an Employment Tribunal.
“The government does not accept liability in this matter and it was right that the Government defended the case.”