I am gemused to read that MPs have finally woken up to the fact that Lin Homer (recently appointed £180K per annum CEO of HMRC) has a track record of failure in her previous roles.
Keith Vaz is quoted in the Telegraph:
"Successive Home Affairs Select Committee reports criticised the operations at the UKBA whilst it was under the leadership of Lin Homer.
The Vine report endorses the Select Committee’s view that this has been a dysfunctional organisation for a number of years.
It is important to know if the selection panel for Ms Homer was aware of these concerns. We should never be seen to be rewarding failure.”
I am also rather gemused to see that, despite the fact that I warned about Homer's track record in December 2011, The Telegraph and The Mail are only now (3 months later) reporting her promotion and highlighting her failures.
Wake up lads!
Anyhoo, here is the Telegraph's article:
"Ms Homer, 54, who led the UKBA through a string of scandals, will be paid £180,000 a year in the new post, prompting MPs to warn against “rewarding failure”.
During her time as chief executive of the UKBA from 2008 to 2011, Ms Homer received nearly £1 million in salary and bonuses, while the department was dealt a series of highly critical reports by MPs.
Her tenure saw hundreds of foreign prisoners and more than 100,000 asylum seekers told they could stay in Britain – a figure MPs said amounted to an “amnesty”.
A report this week by John Vine, Chief Inspector of the UKBA, heavily criticised the department over failures which allowed hundreds of thousands of people into Britain without proper checks.
Labour MP Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, told the Daily Mail
“Successive Home Affairs Select Committee reports criticised the operations at the UKBA whilst it was under the leadership of Lin Homer.
“The Vine report endorses the Select Committee’s view that this has been a dysfunctional organisation for a number of years.”
Referring to her HMRC promotion, he added: “It is important to know if the selection panel for Ms Homer was aware of these concerns. We should never be seen to be rewarding failure.”
Ms Homer has occupied a series of powerful roles in a civil service career spanning three decades.
Following her first major town hall job as chief executive of Suffolk Council, she was parachuted in to run Birmingham City Council in 2002 on a £174,000 salary.
The city was embroiled in a major postal votes scandal that ended up before the courts during her time there.
Election judge Richard Mawrey said fraud in the city “would have disgraced a banana republic".
In 2005, she was picked by the Home Office to run the Immigration and Nationality Directorate on a £200,000-a-year wage.
Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke was forced to resign during her watch when in 2006 it emerged that 1,000 foreign criminals had been mistakenly released.
Ms Homer was instrumental in shaping the new UKBA was made its chief executive in 2008, becoming one of Britain’s highest paid civil servants.
In both 2009-10 and 2008-9 Ms Homer was paid, including bonus, between £225,000 and £230,000.
HMRC defended Ms Homer’s appointment, saying she had a “strong track record”.
Chancellor George Osborne also voiced his support, saying: “As was made clear by the Home Secretary’s decision, the problems at UKBA were structural.
“Lin Homer is a very able public servant who is already bringing positive change to HMRC, building on the good work already going on in the department.”
Anyone care to take a guess as to how long she will remain in her role?
Tax does have to be taxing.
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Government and the Civil Service, apart from football managers appear to be the only 'professions' where when you fcuk up and fail, get sacked or resign and then turn up in another significant role – complete with a Queens award at a later date.... The Prince of Darkness immediately comes to mind... Lord SIr Harry Redknapp next I suppose.
ReplyDelete... if I have to spell it out, regardless, Lin Homer will undoubtedly become Dame at some point in the future whatever happens. It will only be the scale of her incompetence that will be lost/hidden in the annals of history.
... look at the lie that was William Wallace!
Wise words!
DeleteRe "annals", methinks a better word under the circumstances has only one "n";)
It is pretty obvious that this government wants HMRC to fail so that large parts of it can be privatised.
ReplyDeleteTrack record of total incompetence, cover ups & and a rear view image full of absolute carnage...
ReplyDeleteFuckwit competency box ticked then.
Good luck Lin and give my best Marge and the family..
& EXCOM wonder why the grunts at the coal face are disengaged!?
ReplyDeleteLooking at that CV she seems a perfect fit with HMRC.
ReplyDeleteWhat can possibly go wrong ?
What can possibly go right.
DeleteAnother lot of monumental fuck ups impending methinks courtesy of Ms Homer.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's just great. An incompetent doing a top job at being incompetent. Just a thought: wondering if Taxes are really lawful anyway?
ReplyDeleteDo we really have to pay for top incompetents doing a shite job! Apparently there is something about not having to pay taxes if the country goes to war against another when the other didn't make the first move!!!
Just can't believe we "have" to pay for this bollox...
Since her appointment seven months ago, Homer has performed as expected.When appearing before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee two months ago, she found herself inadequately briefed and unable to answer a simple question. She offered the excuse "I am not a tax expert." Too true. When she appeared before the Committee again in June, she made a fool of herself and the Chair (Margaret Hodge MP) made mincemeat of her. She is not an expert in either tax or customs issues, so how come this woman, with her abysmal track record in previous posts, can be heading Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. If the answer is that she was the best candidate HMRC could find for the job, then that is a terrible indictment of HMRC. Might it have been the case that the disgraced Dave Hartnett had a hand in her appointment, after all, he would not want a competent boss, would he?
ReplyDeleteWell, look on the bright side. Homer has not survived more than three years in any of her previous four jobs, so we may be shot of her soon. I urge all readers to write to their MP, asking him/her to query this appointment with the Cabinet Secretary. If enough letters are received, Homer may be pushed before she chooses to jump.