Chloe Moffat's parents to press Treasury on individual accountability

Treasury accepts findings, introduces disciplinary safeguards

The parents of a 26-year-old HM Treasury personal assistant who took her own life in May 2025 will meet with the department’s permanent secretary this week to press for individual accountability from the managers and HR staff who handled their daughter’s disciplinary case. A coroner found in August that the Treasury “materially contributed” to Chloe Moffat’s death, after a surprise disciplinary meeting in which she was not allowed to bring a colleague, was not given advance notice, and was not told whether she would lose her job. Her access to her director’s email was removed and her work responsibilities were changed.

The meeting was described as “informal,” despite those conditions. The disciplinary process concerned anonymous complaints alleging Moffat had disclosed sensitive information at work, which she denied. The coroner found that Moffat left the meeting “devastated” and convinced she would lose her job, and that she took her own life the following morning.

“We have some tough questions to ask,” David Moffat told The Guardian before the meeting with permanent secretary James Bowler. “We do want to know that staff have been held to account. The coroner didn’t ask for that, but obviously that is very important. Chloe was held to account; we need to know that the managers and HR staff are being held to account.”

A Cabinet Office review of the UK civil service found that the conditions Moffat was subjected to had been replicated in other disciplinary meetings, and the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report found there was still a risk at the civil service due to its disciplinary procedures. The civil service has put in place multiple safeguards to address these issues.

Moffat had worked at the Treasury as a personal assistant for almost three years, “loved her job” and had an “exemplary employment record,” the inquest heard. During the disciplinary meeting, Moffat repeatedly asked for her best friend at work to be allowed to come in for support, the inquest heard. The request was not felt by her managers to be “appropriate,” the court was told, despite the obvious distress she was in.

When her line manager was asked during the inquest whether she would have done anything differently, she told the court: “No, I think we did all we could at the time with the information and advice we were given.”

Documents seen by The Guardian show the Treasury accepted the coroner’s findings in full. In its response to the prevention of future deaths report, the department said it had “immediately stopped using informal fact-finding meetings for allegations of potential serious or gross misconduct, introduced strengthened procedural and wellbeing safeguards, and issued urgent interim guidance.” The new guidance allows staff to bring a supporter to disciplinary meetings, requires proper notice, and obliges departments to inform staff if a dismissal is not likely. The Treasury is also hiring an on-site occupational therapist to support staff wellbeing.

An email sent to staff at the Treasury last week, seen by The Guardian, reads: “Where concerns may amount to minor misconduct, these will continue to be handled informally. You will be able to ask to bring a colleague with you for personal support if you would like.”

The Moffats said they spent the year since their daughter’s death fighting to get answers from the Treasury, which initially did not take any responsibility. “It has taken us a long time to get to this point, and they have not helped us in any form,” Anne Moffat told The Guardian. “Now we are also trying to think how we want lessons to be learned so no other young person suffers in the same way as Chloe suffered. So we are looking at Chloe’s legacy, to ensure that there is learning across all organisations in HR departments.”

David Moffat said the Treasury’s response marks progress, but the family still has questions. “We feel a lot better than we did about it going through the inquest,” he said. “This is a step forward, but we still have some difficult questions to ask the permanent secretary.”

Anne Moffat said she hopes other families can be spared the experience. “It is so avoidable what happened, and such a waste,” she said. “I wish we had known the risks. As parents we are still taking a bit of responsibility that we could have done things differently. And if we had, the result wouldn’t have been so catastrophic. We are hoping when we see the Treasury they will give us more reassurance and work with us on how Chloe is remembered. We so miss having Chloe now. Our lives will never be the same again as we have lost her through something that was so preventable.”

The family is considering holding a second celebration of life for their daughter. “The funeral was in some ways uplifting as so many people chose to join us, but we didn’t really know what we knew now,” David Moffat said. “We want to revisit it and have a more joyful time and celebrate Chloe as the person she was.” Chloe’s friends have been keeping her memory alive by running marathons for Shooting Stars Children’s Hospice, a charity for which her mother used to work, and volunteering for Samaritans.

An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “The Treasury’s deepest sympathies continue to be with Chloe’s friends and family, and the department continues to mourn our colleague. Our response to the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report sets out the action we have taken following this tragic case. An independent review found staff acted in good faith and with a duty of care throughout.”

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available by call or text at 988, or via chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline can be reached at 13 11 14. Other international helplines are listed at befrienders.org.