The chancellor has dismissed claims that the merger of the two tax departments and subsequent job cuts were responsible for the catastrophic loss of child benefit data.

Accountancy representatives and the national press had pointed to the government's decision to merge the Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise, in tandem with a huge efficiency drive, as a key reason behind the lack of risk management leading to the loss of CDs containing records of 25 million individuals.

Many in the profession have stated that the merger and efficiency drive at the super-department had stretched it to breaking point.

On the BBC's Radio Four Today programme, Darling said: 'It is not the merger, it is not the reduction in staff that led to the procedures being breached.

Further reading:

View the Times' take on the chancellor's defence of the merger

Hartnett takes top job at HMRC

HMRC's data loss: what the papers say

Go to BBC Radio Four