MPs 'alarmed' by low morale at HMRC

A cross-party group of MPs today expresses grave concerns about low morale and a lack of efficiency at HMRC.

In a new report, the Treasury Select Committee scrutinises the Treasury and its associated bodies, noting they ‘faced extraordinary challenges during 2008-09, mainly arising from the need to respond to the emerging financial crisis and associated economic downturn’.

The document, Administration and Expenditure in the Chancellor’s Departments 2008-09, reserves its greatest criticisms for the Revenue – particularly with regards to the ‘dire results’ of a staff survey conducted in February 2009, which ranked HMRC against the responses of staff in ten other government departments

Out of a total of 67 ranked questions, HMRC was ranked last or next-to-last for 53. Only 11% of Revenue workers felt change was well managed by the department. The employee engagement score was 32%, a figure 16% lower than the median score across the 11 departments covered by the survey.

The Treasury Committee’s latest paper calls for HMRC management to publish a clear and detailed plan to provide focus and direction to their efforts to re-engage with their workforce.

Noting a rise in customer complaints and an average of 43% of calls to HMRC contact centres going unanswered during 2008-09, the MPs’ report urges the taxman to ramp up customer experiences: ‘Performance at HMRC remains mixed with considerable room for improvement, and considerable challenges remain to be overcome if [the department] is to achieve this improvement.’

The document also calls for the Revenue to publish more data to enable effective scrutiny of its performance against its targets.

Committee chairman Michael Fallon said, ‘We are particularly alarmed by the low of staff morale and engagement at HMRC, and its effect on performance. We are deeply troubled by the apparent absence of any plan to ameliorate the situation, and call on HMRC management to re-double their efforts here.’

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