The taxman will need a new organisational structure as part of its plan to make sure the loss of millions of people's data is never repeated, the chancellor said this afternoon.

Chancellor Alistair Darling told the House of Commons that the review by PwC's Kieran Poynter into the events leading up to the loss of 25 million individuals' data was still far from complete, but the taxman needed a simpler structure with accountability at executive level.

PwC chairman Poynter's first findings from his review into the issues leading up to the data loss included highlighting that the department had too complex a management structure without clear accountabilities.

Darling told the House of Commons that HMRC had already begun to thin out its reporting lines, even before Poynter began his work.

HMRC and Poynter were concerned about the matrix management structure at the department, which was implemented by former chairman Sir David Varney.

Poynter also recommended that HMRC stock every type of data transfer currently in use, whether by electronic or documentary means, and a process to challenge any type of transfer or download.

This would be subject to review by a newly-appointed data security officer, and Poynter.