HMRC slated for "entirely avoidable" disc loss

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 25 Jun 2008 at 13:22

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has been highly criticised in two reports into the data disc fiasco which compromised the details of 25 million Britons.

The Poynter report into the disc loss says that there were "serious failings" in the way HMRC handled sensitive data and that the loss of the 25m records was "entirely avoidable."

The report doesn't single out any individual for blame, but says the "complex system of management installed after the merger [between Customs and the Inland Revenue] was not suitable". HMRC chairman Paul Gray has already carried the can for the incident, when he resigned last November.

A separate report - bizarrely carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission - found the Government equally culpable. It said HMRC's security was "woefully inadequate", blaming "a complete lack of any meaningful systems" and a "muddle-through" attitude.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has been addressing the House of Commons on the reports, restating that there's no evidence that the discs have resulted in any fraudulent activity.