NS&I Annual Report 2021-22: customer service restored and key financial targets met as NS&I announces first of its new delivery partners

 

• NS&I delivered £4.4 billion of Net Financing to the Government in 2021-22 and in total, met 9 out of 13 of its Service Delivery Measures (SDMs).
• Customer satisfaction: a performance of 84.8%, exceeding the 2021-22 target of at least 80%.
• Green Savings Bonds: successfully launched, giving UK savers the opportunity to support projects to tackle climate change.
• Transforming NS&I: NS&I awards first of four new outsourcing partnership contracts to IBM who will provide Digital Integration and Service Operations services, as NS&I starts to deliver with multiple partners.
• Business-to-business services: performance targets met and revenues maintained. NS&I also supported the successful launch of HM Treasury’s new Mortgage Guarantee Scheme.

NS&I today reports a year of significant achievement, meeting its key financial targets and restoring a high level of customer service.

The Annual Report and Accounts, published today, shows that in 2021-22, NS&I delivered against all three key elements of its Inspire & Invest strategy: raising cost-effective financing, providing services for government and helping government deliver policy objectives. At the same time, NS&I has made significant progress on preparing the business for the next decade and beyond through its Rainbow transformation programme, with the first strategic procurement package awarded to IBM.

NS&I Chief Executive, Ian Ackerley, said:

“This has been a successful year for NS&I, in which we have met all of our financial targets and restored customer service to our normal high standards.

“After a challenging period during the pandemic, I am proud of the work we have done to bounce back and deliver what our customers deserve – the ability to save in our unique products with fast, responsive and friendly customer service.

“I am also delighted that we have made good progress on transforming our business so that we can keep pace with changing customer needs and maintain our role as a cornerstone of the UK’s savings sector.

“Our new partnership with IBM is the start of building our future business. Working with multiple suppliers, we will be able to modernise our operation with new technology and deliver ongoing savings to taxpayers.”

Net Financing and Value Indicator

NS&I delivered £4.4 billion of Net Financing to the Government in 2021-22, meeting its target of £6 billion (+/- £3 billion). NS&I’s end-year Value Indicator figure was £38.3 million, meaning that NS&I met the 2021-22 target of delivering value better than minus £900 million.

Customer satisfaction

NS&I began 2021-22 with a clear priority: the successful delivery of the operational recovery plan that had been initiated in late 2020. This was achieved ahead of the target date of May 2021 and customer service performance has now been restored to pre-COVID levels. Customer satisfaction, which had fallen to 70.6% in November 2020, has now recovered and the full year result for 2021-22 is 84.8%, compared with 76.9% in 2020-21.

Service Delivery Measures

In total, NS&I met nine and missed four of its thirteen service delivery measures in 2021-22. NS&I met the service delivery measures for: Net Financing; Value Indicator; Customer satisfaction; Operational delivery; Government Payment Services delivery performance; Net contribution to Departmental Expenditure Limit from Government Payment Services; Efficient administration of funds; Fraud management; and Ethnic diversity.

NS&I did not meet its service delivery measures for: Digital-first; Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS); Gender balance; and Employee engagement. See pages 17-19 of NS&I’s Annual Report & Accounts for full details.

Green Savings Bonds

NS&I successfully launched Green Savings Bonds in October 2021, following the Chancellor's announcement at Spring Budget 2021. This product gives UK savers the opportunity to support projects that will accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy, create green jobs and participate in the collective effort to tackle climate change.

In total, Green Savings Bonds have achieved sales of circa £288 million as at 31 March 2022. This is a new market for NS&I and the original Issue of Green Savings Bonds was priced cautiously to enable NS&I to understand the rate sensitivity of the market. A second Issue of the Bonds went on sale in February 2022 and the interest rate was increased from 0.65% to 1.30%.

Interest rate changes

From November 2021 onwards, NS&I made a series of incremental increases to interest rates on some of its products, in order to meet its Net Financing target for 2021-22. The changes were relatively small at each stage, in line with NS&I’s operating framework to balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector. In November 2021, NS&I increased the interest rate for Income Bonds to align it with its Direct Saver account. NS&I then increased the interest rates across some of its variable rate products in December 2021 and February 2022, following increases to the Bank of England base rate.

Transforming NS&I

NS&I has made significant progress on the delivery of its Rainbow transformation programme. In March 2022, NS&I awarded the first procurement package – Digital Integration and Service Operations – to IBM. In February 2022, NS&I launched the second package – Digital Experience and Digital Enablement – with the contract expected to be awarded in September 2022. The Rainbow programme has also successfully on-boarded NS&I’s Enterprise Architecture partner, Actica Consulting.

2021-22 annual results

Year	Gross inflows (including reinvestments) £bn	C&AIP* £bn	Gross outflows £bn	Net Financing £bn	Total stock £bn	Value Indicator £bn
2021-22	44.9	2.5	42.7	4.4	207.6	0.04*****
2020-21	86.2	2.2	64.6	23.8	203.0	n/a (-1.3)
2019-20	38.2	2.6	29.2	11.6	179.2	-0.9****
2018-19	37.3	2.4	28.9	10.8	167.6	0.01***
2017-18	42.7	2.5	35.4	9.8	156.7	0.2***
2016-17	35.0	2.3	25.5	11.8	146.9	0.1**

*C&AIP is capitalised and accrued interest and prizes earned. All figures are in £ billion and subject to rounding.

**Excluding 65+ Bonds.

***Excluding 65+ Bonds and Investment Guaranteed Growth Bonds.

****Excluding Investment Guaranteed Growth Bonds.

*****Excluding Investment Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Green Savings Bonds.

Notes to Editors

1. NS&I reports quarterly on gross inflows and outflows, Net Financing and total stock. Each quarter, NS&I releases unaudited figures and has published its audited Annual Report and audited accounts for 2021-22, which can be downloaded here.
2. NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to 25 million customers. All products offer 100% capital security, because NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.
3. NS&I’s business strategy, Inspire & Invest, launched on 1 April 2018. It sees continued focus on delivering sustainable cost-effective financing for the Government as NS&I’s core purpose. The strategy will ensure that NS&I continues to resonate with savers in a highly competitive savings market through developing products, services and a customer experience that are simple, straightforward and user-friendly.
4. Net Financing – the measure of the net change of NS&I funds, meaning total inflows from deposits, retention of maturing monies and capitalised and accrued interest, less the total outflows from withdrawals and interest or Premium Bonds prize draw payments. A positive Net Financing figure represents a positive contribution to government financing.
5. Following agreement with HM Treasury, the Value Indicator will be removed as a formal SDM for 2022–23, as it is not an effective performance measure. However, NS&I will continue to monitor the Value Indicator and report to HM Treasury as part of its scorecard. NS&I is exploring alternative metrics to measure the value that it delivers to taxpayers.