Parents of Chloe Moffat want Treasury staff held to account over her death

The parents of a woman who killed herself after facing disciplinary proceedings at the Treasury will call for anyone found to have contributed to their daughter’s death to be held to account.

A coroner found in August that the Treasury had “materially contributed” to Chloe Moffat’s death after the 26-year-old personal assistant was called into a surprise disciplinary meeting about anonymous complaints alleging she had disclosed sensitive information at work, which she denied.

The Treasury’s response to the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report, seen by the Guardian, acknowledges the department’s role in her death and commits to safeguards so this does not happen again. A review of the civil service by the Cabinet Office found that the conditions Moffat was subjected to had been replicated in other disciplinary meetings.

“We have some tough questions to ask,” David Moffat, Chloe’s father, told the Guardian before a meeting with the Treasury’s 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.”

Moffat’s managers declined to allow her to bring a colleague to the meeting, did not give her any advance notice of it, and refused to tell her whether she was likely to lose her job. They also removed access to her director’s email and changed her work responsibilities. This was despite the meeting being described as “informal”.

Moffat left the meeting “devastated” and convinced she would lose her job, the coroner found, and the next morning she took her own life.

She had worked at the Treasury as a personal assistant for almost three years, “loved her job” and had an “exemplary employment record”, the coroner heard.

During the inquest, Moffat’s line manager was asked if she would have done anything differently and told the court: “No, I think we did all we could at the time with the information and advice we were given.”

Moffat’s parents have spent the year since she died 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,” said Anne Moffat, Chloe’s mother. “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.”

They say they have not had the chance to grieve properly yet and are thinking about holding a second celebration of life for Chloe. David said: “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. We want to revisit it and have a more joyful time and celebrate Chloe as the person she was.”

The prevention of future deaths report issued by the coroner 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.

Documents seen by the Guardian read: “HM Treasury has accepted the findings in the report in full. In direct response to the inquest findings, HM Treasury 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.”

This guidance includes allowing staff to have a supporter in disciplinary meetings, giving proper notice of any such meeting, and informing staff if a dismissal is not likely. The Treasury is also hiring an on-site occupational therapist to support staff wellbeing.

Of this, David Moffat said: “We feel a lot better than we did about it going through the inquest. This is a step forward, but we still have some difficult questions to ask the permanent secretary.”

The coroner heard that during the disciplinary meeting, Moffat repeatedly asked for her best friend at work to be allowed to come in for support. This was not felt by her managers to be “appropriate”, the court heard, despite the obvious distress the young woman was in.

The department has now changed its policy. 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.”

Anne Moffat hopes other young people will not be put in the same position as Chloe. “It is so avoidable what happened, and such a waste. I wish we had known the risks. As parents we are still taking a bit responsibility that we could have done things differently. And if we had, the result wouldn’t have been so catastrophic.”

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.

Her parents hope their experience can stop other families from going through the same tragic event.

“We are hoping when we see the Treasury they will give us more reassurance and work with us on how Chloe is remembered,” Anne said. “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.”

A 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, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org