Recommendation 23

We asked NS&I whether it was working collaboratively with other parts of government to overcome some of the issues being faced on its Rainbow Programme. NS&I told us that it was receiving support from the Cabinet Office on “various complex transactions”. The Treasury added that it was “upskilling” and increasing the size of the NS&I workforce “quite considerably”. The Treasury explained that it aimed to reduce NS&I’s reliance on 37 Q 86 38 C&AG’s Report, para 3.22 39 Q 81 40 Q 78; C&AG’s Report, para 2.3 41 C&AG’s Report, para 3.22 42 Qq 29, 31; HM Treasury and UK Debt Management Office, News story – Chief Executive Officer of the DMO to retire next year, 28 September 2023 43 Q 30 44 Q 92 16 Managing government borrowing consultants and the increased costs and short-termism this creates, but also to ensure that NS&I is a “much better IT customer” as it moves from a single to a multiple provider operating model under the Rainbow Programme.45 45 Qq 90–91 Managing government borrowing 17