Fixing NS&I… With HMRC?

NS&I has just had a major failure.

Tens of thousands of bereavement cases mishandled.
Hundreds of millions sitting there not properly returned.
Families chasing money that should have been straightforward to access.

At the worst possible time in people’s lives.

This isn’t a minor glitch.
This is a basic process – someone dies, their savings go to their family.

And somehow… that broke.

So naturally, the solution is:

Bring in the former head of HMRC – Sir Jim Harra – to fix it.

And that’s where it starts to feel completely ridiculous.

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We all know what HMRC systems are like

Let’s be honest – HMRC is not exactly the gold standard when it comes to systems.

It’s not even bronze. Tin foil would be pushing it.

Anyone who’s ever had to deal with them knows this.

You try to log in:

• multiple accounts
• different “gateways”
• passwords that don’t work
• verification codes hard to access

You get locked out…
You reset…
You start again…

And that’s before you’ve actually done anything useful.

Then there’s the contact side.

Try calling HMRC:

• long wait times listening to that horrible tune
• getting bounced between departments
• being told to “go online”
• going online and being told to “call us”

Round and round you go.

And when you finally get through?

You’re often speaking to someone who can only deal with one tiny part of the issue, so you’re passed on again.

It’s not just inconvenient – it’s draining.

Time-consuming. Frustrating. Completely unnecessary.

If HMRC was a normal business it’d have lost all its customers long ago.

And this isn’t a niche complaint.

This is widespread.

Ask almost any business owner, accountant, or individual dealing with tax – and you’ll get the same reaction:

A sigh… followed by a story.

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What makes it worse is that we know it doesn’t have to be like this.

Take something like vehicle tax.

Simple. Quick. Done in minutes.
No drama. No confusion.

So the capability is there.

Which raises the obvious question:

Why is something like HMRC – under leadership including Sir Jim Harra – still so painful to deal with?

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Now layer in something else.

People don’t exactly enjoy paying tax at the best of times.

But what really frustrates people is the feeling that:

• the systems are inefficient
• the money is wasted
• and no one seems properly accountable

You hear it all the time:

“Where is it actually going?”

Whether it’s:

• benefits debates
• asylum costs
• public sector inefficiencies
• multiple other things

…rightly or wrongly, the perception is there.

So HMRC isn’t just a clunky system.

It’s a clunky system tied to money people feel isn’t always being used well.

That’s a bad combination.

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This is the bit that really doesn’t land.

NS&I has a systems problem.

A serious one.

Processes didn’t work.
Data didn’t connect properly.
People didn’t get what they were entitled to.

So the fix is…

Bring in Sir Jim Harra, the man who led HMRC.

Really?

Out of everyone available… that’s the choice?

You can dress it up however you like:

• “experience”
• “leadership”
• “understanding complex systems”

But from the outside, it looks like the same old government thinking:

Move the same people around the same problems… and hope it looks like action.

Because if you asked the public:

“Who would you trust to fix a broken system?”

I don’t think many would say:

“The former head of HMRC.”

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This doesn’t reassure anyone

That’s the key issue.

This appointment isn’t neutral.

It actively undermines confidence.

Because people already associate HMRC – fairly or unfairly – with:

• frustration
• inefficiency
• slow processes
• poor communication

So instead of thinking:

“Great, this will get sorted”

The reaction is more like:

“Wait… him?!”

It just doesn’t pass the gut test.

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The CEO goes.

Sir Jim Harra comes in.

Statements get made.

And on the surface, it looks like something is being done.

But is anything actually changing?

Or is this just:

• the same systems
• the same culture
• the same approach

…with a different name at the top?

Because that’s what it often feels like with government.

Something goes wrong…
There’s a bit of noise…
Someone leaves…
Someone else arrives…

And then everything carries on more or less the same.

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Yes, hundreds of millions is a big number.

But NS&I manages hundreds of billions.

So financially, this isn’t going to bring the system down.

The real issue is trust.

Families dealing with bereavement shouldn’t have to:

• chase money
• fill in endless forms
• wait months or years
• or get lawyers involved

This should be one of the simplest processes imaginable.

And yet it wasn’t.

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This is what it comes down to.

We’re told:

• government systems are improving
• services are becoming digital
• processes are getting more efficient

But experiences like this suggest otherwise.

And when something does go wrong?

The response often feels… disconnected from reality.

Because bringing in Sir Jim Harra to fix a systems failure doesn’t feel like a solution.

It feels like:

“We don’t really know what else to do.”

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Maybe he’ll fix it.

Maybe Sir Jim Harra is exactly what NS&I needs.

But from the outside?

NS&I has just shown it couldn’t handle one of the most basic responsibilities it has.

And the answer was to bring in someone from one of the most widely criticised systems in government.

You don’t rebuild confidence like that.

You just make people question the whole thing even more.