Post by nickd on Jun 17, 2012 20:16:41 GMT 1
Is the Westminster Jobcentre ....
Placing the right people in the right job?
Paul Gray has just been appointed to lead the Social Security Advisory Committee. Iain Duncan Smith has expressed his delight in welcoming Mr Gray to the new post in a press release on the DWP Website dated the 14th June 2012. The work of the Social Security Advisory Committee will be vital to the process of ensuring a smooth implementation of the new Universal Credit; Iain Duncan Smith envisages that by October 2017; approximately 12 to 13 million tax credit and benefit claims will be transformed into eight million Universal Credit payments. The scope for lost data is immense as data is trawled to identify all income based Jobseeker's & Employment and Support Allowance, Working & Child Tax Credit, Income Support & Housing Benefit claims. The process also involves requiring employers to supply the HMRC with 'real time' information on a monthly basis about their employee's wages. The scope for mistake is immense and could potentially bring about something far greater than the catastrophic failure by the HMRC in losing the personal records of 25 million Child Benefit claimants back in 2007. At the time David Cameron spoke as then leader of the opposition in parliament; he fiercely voiced the following words when shouting down Gordon Brown:
“HMRC was the Prime Minister’s department. He insisted that it paid child benefit, and he increased its scope. Clearly there is a problem with its security, its privacy, its culture and its leadership"
You can read the debate here; you'll need to scroll down to 'column 1179' where you will read David Cameron say " Millions of people will today be worrying about the safety of their bank accounts and the security of their family details, but they will not just be worried; they will be angry that the Government have failed in their first duty—to protect the public. Does the Prime Minister think that the matter should be treated as an isolated incident, or does he believe that there is wider, systemic failure and a lack of leadership at Revenue and Customs?"
There was also a great deal of press coverage at the time over the huge blunder which the Conservatives called a " Catastrophic " failure. The press reported in an emergency statement to MPs, how Alistair Darling apologised for what he described as an "extremely serious failure on the part of HMRC to protect sensitive personal data entrusted to it in breach of its own guidelines". MP's apparently gasped as Mr Darling told them: "The missing information contains details of all Child Benefit recipients: records for 25 million individuals and 7.25 million families. " Here's how the BBC reported the blunder at the time. Needless to say the Sun also capitalised on having a pop at Darling..
Unsurprisingly with so many doubts over the leadership of the HMRC there was a call for the resignation for the man at the top. Inevitably the HMRC's top dog had to go; here he is....
"BRITAIN'S top taxman dramatically quit today after personal details of 25 million people went missing"
So for those who haven't yet worked it out, our once upon a time top taxman who copped his job for the loss of the personal records of 25 million is back at the invitation of the very same government which at the time raised serious doubts over his leadership; yes it's Paul Gray! Heaven help us as we are led by the one time leader of biggest loser of public records of the them all! You just can't make this kind of stuff up can you?
Just on a final note, Paul Gray does have his finger in a few other pies, as well as leading the Social Security Advisory Committee for the next three years he also happens to be Chairman of Praesta Partners LLP, which is described on the DWP website as an "executive coaching and mentoring firm." What it doesn't tell you is the very same firm was reported by the Guardian as having no less than 9 separate contracts with government departments including Business Skills & Innovation, Climate Change and Defence.
The Westminster Job club - jobs for those with the 'right connections'
Placing the right people in the right job?
Paul Gray has just been appointed to lead the Social Security Advisory Committee. Iain Duncan Smith has expressed his delight in welcoming Mr Gray to the new post in a press release on the DWP Website dated the 14th June 2012. The work of the Social Security Advisory Committee will be vital to the process of ensuring a smooth implementation of the new Universal Credit; Iain Duncan Smith envisages that by October 2017; approximately 12 to 13 million tax credit and benefit claims will be transformed into eight million Universal Credit payments. The scope for lost data is immense as data is trawled to identify all income based Jobseeker's & Employment and Support Allowance, Working & Child Tax Credit, Income Support & Housing Benefit claims. The process also involves requiring employers to supply the HMRC with 'real time' information on a monthly basis about their employee's wages. The scope for mistake is immense and could potentially bring about something far greater than the catastrophic failure by the HMRC in losing the personal records of 25 million Child Benefit claimants back in 2007. At the time David Cameron spoke as then leader of the opposition in parliament; he fiercely voiced the following words when shouting down Gordon Brown:
“HMRC was the Prime Minister’s department. He insisted that it paid child benefit, and he increased its scope. Clearly there is a problem with its security, its privacy, its culture and its leadership"
You can read the debate here; you'll need to scroll down to 'column 1179' where you will read David Cameron say " Millions of people will today be worrying about the safety of their bank accounts and the security of their family details, but they will not just be worried; they will be angry that the Government have failed in their first duty—to protect the public. Does the Prime Minister think that the matter should be treated as an isolated incident, or does he believe that there is wider, systemic failure and a lack of leadership at Revenue and Customs?"
There was also a great deal of press coverage at the time over the huge blunder which the Conservatives called a " Catastrophic " failure. The press reported in an emergency statement to MPs, how Alistair Darling apologised for what he described as an "extremely serious failure on the part of HMRC to protect sensitive personal data entrusted to it in breach of its own guidelines". MP's apparently gasped as Mr Darling told them: "The missing information contains details of all Child Benefit recipients: records for 25 million individuals and 7.25 million families. " Here's how the BBC reported the blunder at the time. Needless to say the Sun also capitalised on having a pop at Darling..
Unsurprisingly with so many doubts over the leadership of the HMRC there was a call for the resignation for the man at the top. Inevitably the HMRC's top dog had to go; here he is....
"BRITAIN'S top taxman dramatically quit today after personal details of 25 million people went missing"
So for those who haven't yet worked it out, our once upon a time top taxman who copped his job for the loss of the personal records of 25 million is back at the invitation of the very same government which at the time raised serious doubts over his leadership; yes it's Paul Gray! Heaven help us as we are led by the one time leader of biggest loser of public records of the them all! You just can't make this kind of stuff up can you?
Just on a final note, Paul Gray does have his finger in a few other pies, as well as leading the Social Security Advisory Committee for the next three years he also happens to be Chairman of Praesta Partners LLP, which is described on the DWP website as an "executive coaching and mentoring firm." What it doesn't tell you is the very same firm was reported by the Guardian as having no less than 9 separate contracts with government departments including Business Skills & Innovation, Climate Change and Defence.
The Westminster Job club - jobs for those with the 'right connections'