Case, a former private secretary to Prince William, is believed to have impressed the UK prime minister during talks on government formation and the energy bailout. He was thought likely to replace him with James Bowler, the permanent secretary at the Department for International Trade, but government sources confirmed he had changed his mind. Case, the most senior civil servant in the government, was brought in by Boris Johnson to help turn around his ailing government but became part of the Partygate saga when it was revealed he had been partying in his private office. He was stripped of responsibility for the investigation into lockdown gatherings, which was handed over to Sue Gray. Many civil servants believed he would resign because he oversaw the civil service during the scandal, during which some officials were fined for breaking lockdown laws. Case’s revived fortunes are markedly different from those of Tom Scholar, who was removed as permanent secretary to the Treasury as one of the first acts of the Truss administration. Scholar’s ouster has sparked outrage in Whitehall as he is widely seen as a capable and steady hand at the Treasury. But Truss repeatedly criticized “Treasury thinking” during her leadership campaign and is known to want a more fiscal approach to boosting growth. Dave Penman, head of the FDA union for senior civil servants, said the new government’s move was a “sign of weakness” as Scholar was one of those “really sensible, intelligent capable people who everyone admired and served for countless chancellors ” and powerful enough to challenge politicians with evidence. “This is proof that they don’t want to be challenged. He is one of the most experienced civil servants of his generation. Why don’t you want him at the heart of the government?’ Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Other senior Whitehall sources stressed that Case’s first big challenge as head of the civil service under Truss was how she reacted to her move to sack Scholar – and in her view she passed that test. Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and a former civil servant, said Case “should have refused to settle for firing Scholar.” “It’s a sign of his weakness that – if he tried to warn it – they went ahead anyway. He had already lost a lot of respect in the civil service for his handling of Partygate. Now?” he said.
