I am worried about the new chief executive of HMRC. Jon Thompson, who like his predecessor, has no knowledge of tax having spent the last seven years at the Ministry of Defence, appeared before the Treasury Committee of the House of Commons last week. Civil Service World reported:
The new chief executive and permanent secretary of HM Revenue & Customs has admitted that staff morale “remains rather worryingly low” at the organisation and that further work is required to improve the situation.
Speaking before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee on 8 June, Jon Thompson said he was still trying to “get to the bottom” of the issues behind the organisation's low scores in the annual Civil Service People Survey.
However, in his first appearance before the committee since taking the helm of HMRC from Dame Lin Homer earlier this year, Thompson conceded that IT problems and a new performance management regime were core problems that required attention.
This is hardly a good start. Stating the bleedin' obvious may do for a few weeks after being appointed but he has already been around longer than that. So let me list some of the real problems he faces.
First, our government continually suggests paying tax is a bad thing to do. Tax is undermined from the very heart of government. There's no surprise morale is low.
Second, just about every person in HMRC is going to have to move to keep their jobs in the next five years, and all because almost all the HMRC estate was sold to an offshore company by Dave Hartnett. If you want to destroy morale an enforced move is one of the best ways to do it.
Third, jobs are going. I know that because of a mess up there has been a short term increase, but that is simply because too may were sacked in the first place. This is another way to destroy morale. Not training the new recruits adequately (ten weeks is all they are given) is another way to send out the message that the skills in HMRC are not appreciated.
Fourth, make sure that the number of jobs left are too few to do the job properly. I am told the probability of having a VAT inspection in East Anglia has now fallen to once every three hundred years.
Fifth, pass unworkable legislation and claim it is progress. The General Anti-Abuse Rule is an example.
Sixth, have the government vote regularly to block the real changes you know are needed that will change tax payer behaviour and make them more compliant. Voting against public country-by-country reporting in the EU is an example.
Seventh, underestimate the scale of the tax gap by publishing data that is just wrong, leaving people to face a problem management will not acknowledge.
I could go on, bit I think you get my drift.
It's true that poor IT and a terrible review system are real issues, but they're symptoms of a much deeper malaise of under-resourcing, mismanagement and political undermining. Unless Jon Thompson goes for the real issues he's wasting time. But he would not be the first to do that.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
HMRC IT are adopting ‘Agile’ methodologies for the strategic APIs project. This is another way of saying we’ll do a bit here and a bit there, we don’t need a strategy cos’ we are agile and we can fix it as we go.
HMRC IT is like a draisine with the crew huffing and puffing going nowhere…
Agile is an oxymoron.
They used the Agile methodology on the launch of the Universal Credit I.T.
Need I say more?
A – Always
G – Getting
I – I.T.
L – Launched
E – Expensively
“make sure that the number of jobs left are too few to do the job properly. I am told the probability of having a VAT inspection in East Anglia has now fallen to once every three hundred years”
Quite, this is another problem of government. Their intentions are clear but they often legislate unnecessary laws on top of those that already exist. Which is why I support two laws out for one instituted. But without the resources there is no enforcement – so why should we ever bother to comply?
I think if I get a VAT inspection (in the South West – so perhaps more likely – should I warn my successors?!) I think I’ll just claim IT problems!
What the management of HMRC appear to ignore is the preventive effect of VAT/tax inspections. Recently much has been made of the lack of Customs staff in small ports and the risk of illegal people/goods smuggling. It was not without reason that Customs officers belonged to the “Preventive Service” – and smuggling was prevented. In the 70’s and 80’s VAT staff were known as “Control Officers” – and the tax was controlled, as in those days every VAT registered business could expect a visit on average every 3 years. MayP is quite candid – with the current lack of enough well trained, knowledgeable staff in HMRC why should he bother to comply ? HMRC’s management could almost be accused of deliberate negligence in their approach to tax compliance, and that is why the morale of the front line staff is so poor.
I completely agree
When I was in practice the fact I could say VAT officers would visit was a massive boost to ensuring clients were compliant
Now that weapon would not be there
No wonder HMRC’s staff are depressed. Their other perm sec, one E Troup, thinks their work is comparable to crime, extortion, in fact and a serious criminal offence!