By Richard Johnstone | 1 August 2011
A committee of MPs has found ‘considerable dissatisfaction’ with the service that Revenue & Customs provides to taxpayers and benefit claimants.
In a report looking at the administration and effectiveness of the body, the Treasury select committee said it is concerned that if R&C doesn’t improve respect for the tax system might be undermined.
Among the areas of ‘serious concern’ highlighted by the committee were unacceptable difficulties contacting R&C by phone during peak periods, endemic delays in responding to post and an increasing focus on online communication that might exclude those without reliable internet access.
The MPs said they recognised that R&C played a crucial role under significant external pressures, including deficiencies in tax legislation and the legacy of the merger of the former Inland Revenue with Customs & Excise in 2005. This led to a reduction in staffing levels of a quarter in four years.
However, the report, published on July 30, concluded that R&C faces a ‘difficult few years ahead’. It will have to improve its ‘unacceptable’ service to customers while facing job losses following last year’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
The report calls for the National Audit Office to externally audit R&C’s preparations for the introduction of real-time information in the tax system for those in the Pay As You Earn system. This will allow tax codes to be updated when employees are paid, rather than through the submission of forms by employers at the end of the tax year. The government wants this to be in place by 2013, and the MPs call on the NAO to put in place arrangements to report quarterly to ministers and parliamentary committees to ensure this ‘ambitious timetable’ is met.
An R&C spokesman said that the organisation ‘knows we have a lot more to do to improve our services to customers’. He added: ‘We have recruited 1,000 additional contact centre advisers to manage exceptionally busy periods this year. We have improved the way we deal with post, for example rapidly reducing turnaround times on PAYE and self-assessment post.
‘Moving services online has been a success, making it easier and quicker for most customers to access R&C services. We recognise that not everybody can access these online services but we are committed to delivering the same quality of service to all customers.’
The Association of Revenue and Customs, the union for senior R&C staff, welcomed the report. President Graham Black said the union had grave concerns about the way the R&C was managed. The union is in dispute with R&C over what the union called ‘attempts by the department’s board members to worry and bully staff’.
The Public and Commercial Services trade union added that morale in the department has been damaged over a number of years by poor management and a pervading culture of ‘command and control’.
General secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘The unanimity of evidence in the report confirms that the cuts program is destroying R&C's effectiveness to deliver even the basic services required to support taxpayers and revenues in the UK.’
A committee of MPs has found ‘considerable dissatisfaction’ with the service that Revenue & Customs provides to taxpayers and benefit claimants.
In a report looking at the administration and effectiveness of the body, the Treasury select committee said it is concerned that if R&C doesn’t improve respect for the tax system might be undermined.
Among the areas of ‘serious concern’ highlighted by the committee were unacceptable difficulties contacting R&C by phone during peak periods, endemic delays in responding to post and an increasing focus on online communication that might exclude those without reliable internet access.
The MPs said they recognised that R&C played a crucial role under significant external pressures, including deficiencies in tax legislation and the legacy of the merger of the former Inland Revenue with Customs & Excise in 2005. This led to a reduction in staffing levels of a quarter in four years.
However, the report, published on July 30, concluded that R&C faces a ‘difficult few years ahead’. It will have to improve its ‘unacceptable’ service to customers while facing job losses following last year’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
The report calls for the National Audit Office to externally audit R&C’s preparations for the introduction of real-time information in the tax system for those in the Pay As You Earn system. This will allow tax codes to be updated when employees are paid, rather than through the submission of forms by employers at the end of the tax year. The government wants this to be in place by 2013, and the MPs call on the NAO to put in place arrangements to report quarterly to ministers and parliamentary committees to ensure this ‘ambitious timetable’ is met.
An R&C spokesman said that the organisation ‘knows we have a lot more to do to improve our services to customers’. He added: ‘We have recruited 1,000 additional contact centre advisers to manage exceptionally busy periods this year. We have improved the way we deal with post, for example rapidly reducing turnaround times on PAYE and self-assessment post.
‘Moving services online has been a success, making it easier and quicker for most customers to access R&C services. We recognise that not everybody can access these online services but we are committed to delivering the same quality of service to all customers.’
The Association of Revenue and Customs, the union for senior R&C staff, welcomed the report. President Graham Black said the union had grave concerns about the way the R&C was managed. The union is in dispute with R&C over what the union called ‘attempts by the department’s board members to worry and bully staff’.
The Public and Commercial Services trade union added that morale in the department has been damaged over a number of years by poor management and a pervading culture of ‘command and control’.
General secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘The unanimity of evidence in the report confirms that the cuts program is destroying R&C's effectiveness to deliver even the basic services required to support taxpayers and revenues in the UK.’
