HMRC says WFH does not affect service levels

Jonathan Athow, director general customer strategy and tax design, says staffing issues do not affect HMRC’s service levels, despite the body regularly having the lowest daily average turnout of all government departments.

Per the latest Government data, HMRC had the lowest Whitehall department headquarters staff occupancy rates for the week commencing April 17 and the 2nd fewest for the week prior.

Speaking at Accountex London 2023, Athow said that HMRC uses a hybrid working model with employees only having to be in the office 2-3 days per week.

“We don’t see our working patterns in terms of working from home affecting our productivity.”

“We also need to make sure we are attractive as an employer, and we need to be mindful of what other employees are offering in the market, but we don’t see any impacts on current working patterns and service levels,” he adds.

Recently, Richard Wild, head of tax technical at the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), said: “There’s a suspicion or a feeling that a WFH-friendly approach isn’t particularly suitable for HMRC. It’s not giving their people the same level of functionality that they have when they are in the office.

“We do hear of calls getting cut off, or people not necessarily being able to deal with more complicated issues, or having access to the right systems, because they’re working at home rather than in the office,” Wild notes.

Athow stated that he believes the challenges to HMRC’s service levels stem from costs savings and the rise in inflation and fiscal drag on the public’s taxes.

According to HMRC statistics for 2021-2022, 62% of individuals were satisfied with the telephone service they received from HMRC, while 84% were satisfied with its digital service.

Athow and HMRC are keen to guide people to use the digital services available going forward as they believe that 1.5m calls could have been dealt with quicker using existing digital channels.

However, there will be individuals who are unable to use the digital services available, and Athow says they understand this and there will be provisions in place for them to use the phone lines.

“We will always need a phone channel, but we want it to be used by those who really need to use it, and we will be really encouraging those who can to use the alternative channels,” he notes.

HMRC strikes begin  

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union working in East Kilbride and Newcastle for HMRC on employer PAYE have been asked to strike from 10.

Athow said HMRC’s service offering will be affected further due to the strikes, but HMRC are looking to minimise the impact.

The beginning of the strike aligns with the end of voting among PCS members in 184 civil service regions to decide if they should continue with industrial action.

Following the participation of HMRC members in the national strike on April 28, HMRC’s already struggling helplines were further impacted, according to the ICAEW.