Sir Thomas Whinfield Scholar GCB (born 17 December 1968) is a British civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2022.

[5] Scholar joined HM Treasury in 1992, rising to Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1997, serving Gordon Brown for four years until 2001.

[7] Four years later, in 2013, Scholar returned to Downing Street, now under David Cameron, to run the European and Global Issues Secretariat in the Cabinet Office and was the Prime Minister's most senior adviser on international affairs.

[14] Scholar was removed from his position as permanent secretary to the Treasury by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng on 8 September 2022, a move criticised by former senior civil servants including Gus O'Donnell and Robin Butler.

[15][16][17] Following the sacking, Dave Penman, General Secretary of the FDA, accused Truss of conducting an "ideological purge" of top officials.