Overview

• A major outage has disrupted access to GOV.UK services, including Universal Credit and HMRC portals, since early May 7, 2025.
• Over 5.7 million Universal Credit claimants and numerous taxpayers rely on these services for payments and filings, raising concerns about missed deadlines and financial impacts.
• Downdetector recorded over 250 incidents, with 74% of reports tied to login failures in cities like London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Nottingham.
• The Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC have yet to identify the cause of the outage or provide a timeline for restoring full functionality.
• The disruption follows recent scrutiny of the Making Tax Digital initiative, criticized for high taxpayer costs and eroding trust in HMRC's digital transformation efforts.