Edmund Hair is Deputy Director for National Insurance policy, international social security policy and student finance at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). He is responsible for policy underpinning National Insurance, the UK’s second-biggest revenue stream (raising roughly one in every five pounds of government income), and its role in funding the wider contributory system. He also leads HMRC’s work on international social security policy, and the collection of student loan repayments from wages. In recent years he has led work for HMRC on major Budget measures, including the Health and Social Care Levy, cuts to National Insurance under the previous government, increases to employer National Insurance at Autumn Budget 2024, the reforms to pensions salary sacrifice arrangements at Autumn Budget 2025. He was also lead negotiator with the Government of India on a new Double Contributions Convention.

His 16+ year career has spanned the Department of Health, HM Treasury and HMRC. He has a keen interest in the role of academia in policymaking, holding Masters degrees in public policy from Imperial College, London and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is also currently undertaking a part-time PhD in public policy at Cardiff University.