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HM Revenue and Customs

My Lords, the question of where the buck stops is quite clear. HMRC is operationally independent; that is why the chair has resigned—he takes responsibility for a clear management failure. But the buck also stops with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is responsible for the department in which HMRC is located. Seized by his responsibilities, the Chancellor, of course, immediately took action to minimise the impact upon the public of this catastrophic failure. That is why he acted in the way that he has as soon as he was informed of the calamity and is why he brought to Parliament today his full Statement on what has gone wrong, the action he has already taken to minimise the damage and the action that he intends to take to guarantee that such an event does not occur again. That is the clear line of responsibility. As to the merging of departments, although this was a more significant bringing together of two former organisations, the House will recognise that the public service sees considerable reorganisations quite frequently, in terms of both efficiency and costs. The noble Baroness will recognise that her own side, too, is very keen to point out from time to time the way in which costs can be reduced by more effective administration. It is the responsibility of every Government to seek to improve the quality of their administration. It is clear that we have particular lessons to learn from this event and the Chancellor has made it clear how he proposes that the nation and particularly the Government should learn those lessons.