A blog by Jaimie Kaffash, Accountancy Age’s tax reporter
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18 Dec 2007
There'll be much more to say about Kieran Poynter's report into the data failures at HM Revenue & Customs, but my initial thoughts were weighed down by one heart-sinking choice of phrase:
I am pleased to report that all the HMRC officials I have met, from Dave Hartnett the acting Chairman down, have been cooperative. He has expressed his determination to learn from these events and create the world class data security environment you would expect in HMRC.
Is there a worse phrase in the world than 'world class'. It is world class nonsense.
Beloved of New Labour politicians (Ed Balls is especially fond), it is more importantly not a very useful term in this context.
What do we mean by world class? As far as I remember the term is more often used in football (as in 'Brazil have world class players'). It means they are some of the best in the world.
What we need with the taxman's data system is not something that is the best in the world, just something that actually does a basic job. Let's not pretend this is like writing a symphony or scoring the winning goal in the World Cup Final. We don't need the Ronaldinho of data security, we just need some basic controls and enough money to do the job without leaving us open to fraudsters.
The same, incidentally, goes for all the other silly times the word is used in relation to public services. Lets stick to the basics and worry about the 'world class' stuff later.
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