Tuesday 10 November 2015

HMRC Centres Shut 12th November - Building Our Future



My thanks to a loyal reader. who has given me a heads up that on Thursday 12th Nov at 11am the HMRC call centres will fall silent.

All calls in will be shut off for an hour, while local managers deliver a simultaneous message to all HMRC staff about further redundancies.

Here is Lin Homer's message as posted on the HMRC intranet:

Message from Lin: Thursday's announcements

On Thursday, we will be announcing the next step in Building our Future, when we make simultaneous face-to-face announcements in every HMRC office about our future locations.

I want to emphasise that what we’re planning is absolutely necessary to ensure that HMRC modernises, both in what we do and in how we do it. We’ll be able to deliver better public services, and better careers for our people, at lower cost for the taxpayer.

This isn’t just about bricks and mortar - it’s an opportunity to invest in our workforce and your skills, so we’re ready to face the challenges that will come five, ten and even 20 years down the road. And because of the way our estates contract works, we’ll lose this opportunity for at least 15 years if we don’t act now.

There will be a lot to absorb on the day, so I want to provide some information ahead of the announcements which I hope will help to explain what is happening.

Why we are doing this

As we have said in Building our Future, our aim is to bring you together in big, modern Regional Centres, equipped with the digital infrastructure and training facilities we need to make HMRC an even more highly-skilled organisation, fit for the demands of the 21st century.

We are committing to Regional Centres serving every region and nation in the UK, with skilled and varied jobs and development opportunities, while also ensuring that jobs are spread throughout the UK.

At present, some 60,000 of us are scattered throughout 170 offices across the country, many of which are a legacy of the 1960s and 1970s. These range in size from sites of around 6,000 full time equivalent roles at one end of the scale, to fewer than ten at the other.

The fact is that we have too many expensive, isolated and outdated offices, and we are spread too thinly across the country. This makes it difficult for us to collaborate, modernise our ways of working, provide the types of facilities you have a right to expect and to invest in our digital infrastructure.

Bringing us together in Regional Centres will change that, and it will enable people to develop careers up to senior levels, as well as support the growth of specialist teams with links to local universities.

We expect the majority of you to be working in a Regional Centre by the time we complete the transition which, as William said in his update in September, will take ten years or more. Although some of us will start seeing changes much sooner than that - beginning next year.

What happens on Thursday

On Thursday, managers will gather teams and groups together – in open-plan areas, meeting rooms or larger spaces – to tell you what our plans are for Regional Centres, and what the implications are for your office.

The managers making announcements are your local managers, and they will be supported by senior leaders and by HR representatives, who will help to answer the immediate questions that you might have.

This will be supplemented on Thursday with the following information to be
published on the intranet:
•a Newsroom announcement about our plans nationally
•detailed information on the plans for each region, with short presentations showing what is happening and when
•in-depth information on how we will manage the transition over the next ten years, including Q&A on a range of HR policy and likely questions that you'll want to know answers to.
  
We will also have HR support, although the impacts on any individual may be very personal and will be addressed through one-to-ones with your manager ahead of any changes directly affecting you – as is the standard practice for all workforce announcements.

What we will be announcing

What we are announcing on Thursday – as we promised we would – is the next step of our transformation. We’ll set out our long-term plans for Regional Centres, and the detail of what it means for every office in HMRC. We will be telling you which cities we have chosen for Regional Centres, but generally not the precise location, since in most cases we still have to secure the property.

We will also be setting out the timeline for how offices are affected. The process of moving to new Regional Centres will begin in 2016, although we do not intend to close any offices in 2016 that haven't already been announced.

In fact, we will give at least a year's notice of any office closures, and for some people this could be five to ten years away. When we announce our formal intention to close an office, as we always do we'll hold formal consultations involving you and the Departmental Trade Unions.

In short, we will give you as much information – and advance notice – as possible to help you to understand how our plans affect you and what your choices are.

How we will manage the transition

How we make these changes is as important as what they are. So, just as we set out a number of principles for how we would select Regional Centre locations, we have also agreed a set of principles for how we will manage the transition and the impacts on you.
•We will minimise job losses by keeping as many people as possible and expect people to travel or do different work
•While we need to continue to become smaller, we will minimise redundancies wherever possible
•We will keep a limited number of Transitional Sites, which will enable some people to work there for between five and ten years. Where we can, we will move people to offices that are staying open longer
•We will consider everyone’s individual circumstances and take them properly into account when making individual decisions through one-to-ones that will cover individuals’ opportunities, choices and careers
•We will be honest, tell you as soon as we can and give you as much notice as possible to help you to consider your own choices and make your own plans.

We have established Regional Implementation Groups, led by a local senior leader, to support the process. These will seek to ensure that your thoughts on local issues and concerns are heard and understood as we develop our detailed implementation plans.

We want to tap into your local knowledge to make sure that we’ve considered everything that we need to, whether it’s travel options or ways of working. We’ll also be asking for your view on how we can best support you and your colleagues through these changes.

Finally, I want to repeat that what we are planning is absolutely necessary to ensure that HMRC modernises, both in what we do and in how we do it, so that we can both deliver better careers for our people and better public services.

Creating modern Regional Centres, with a mix of professions, operations and corporate services, will enable people to build careers up to SCS level, without having to move around the country to get experience and get a promotion. And they will be better places to work than much of our current estate, which we all know isn’t up to scratch.

Thursday’s announcements will be a big event for everyone, and we know that for some it will be difficult – including local managers making the announcements. There will be a lot to take in, and I want to assure you that there will be a lot of time to take it in. We will give you as much information and support as we can – not just on Thursday, but in the days, weeks, months and years that follow.
 


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31 comments:

  1. Last one out turn off the lights.

    You all knew it was coming and have been too afraid to speak out.

    See how strong your PCS or FDA is now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Homer.....blah...blah...fucking blah....you and your EXCOM buddies should be the turkeys before Xmas...not the poor staff who have had to put up with your pacesetter bullying for the last several years !!

    And i love this "we care about you" bollox......another tick box exercise to put on your PMR as "engaging" with your beloved staff.

    I have just one last thing to say ...FUCK AWAY OFF !!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suprised they dont announce the sombre news at 11 on 11/11. About their level of respect.
    Please pay me off. Please please please...... Dont want to leave with nothing.
    Bet they still leave most staff unclear on when offices will close.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think even HMRC managed to realise that doing the announcement today would have left it open to even more criticism and ridicule than it is already receiving.

      Delete
  4. Yes, they will keep staff in the dark as long as possible in the hope that more leave, retire, die or otherwise go away
    Anyone wishing to progress to the exalted heights (LOL) of SCS level will already be a Lean acoylyte who has had a chip embedded at the same time as the lobotomy was carried out.
    It must be sheer fucking hell in there these days, dog eat dog.
    It serves to prove how totally useless employee engagement indices and staff surveys are.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Am expecting a vague announcement which will only serve to make staff even more miserable.

    In many respects we've only got ourselves to blame: union is a mess, and the time to stand up and walk out has long gone.

    Hoe many times have I heard "I'm in the union but I'm not striking"? Too many. And now we're all fucked.

    My office is practically falling apart, the staff are unhappy, management are mostly bullies entirely unsuited for the job, PMR is a joke - it's all just built and built.

    Just let the ones who want to go - GO!

    ReplyDelete
  6. If only they would let those do the jobs they were trained to do-criminals are laughing at HMRC for targeting those avoiding or fiddling a bit of tax, yet those smuggling alcohol and tobacco go practically unhindered. Disgusting management.

    ReplyDelete
  7. If only they would let those do the jobs they were trained to do-criminals are laughing at HMRC for targeting those avoiding or fiddling a bit of tax, yet those smuggling alcohol and tobacco go practically unhindered. Disgusting management.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This brings back memories, the official announcement, the consultation, the notice period then THE PAY OFF, THE FREEDOM! GOODBYE HMRC!!

    As Cher almost sung there is life after HMRC you do move on and you do get over the place if you are one of the chosen ones to leave, embrace it and move on, it will be one of the best things you do. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. The tone of this briefing shows that BOF is not a conversation, it's a parade ground lecture - in North Korea. But if you dare to question anything you'll be in the 'Needs Improvement' category.

    ReplyDelete
  10. HMRC are now making us lie to customers. We have to tell them that we are still doing their work when we are flexed onto a different job. If we tell the truth we are threatened with a 'must improve' marking on our PMR. Can it get any worse?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just get out if you can, if they offer you redundancy grab it with both hands and run as fast as you can.

      Delete
  11. Some of us will not not be offerred that option....

    ReplyDelete
  12. No they are trying to sicken us all off so we get ill from stress, retire, drop down dead or whatever so it doesn't cost.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Most of us won't be offered redundancy. We'll be told that we have to travel miles away to another building to work..........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They told the EC staff that and they ended up just offering it to everyone because there were no jobs to move to. If they are downsizing they won't have anywhere to send anyone. They tried to frighten the EC staff but we waited and they backed down and admitted there was nowhere for anyone to go.

      Delete
  14. We are all gonna be shafted tomorrow...good luck to all my HMRC colleagues...this ain't gonna be pretty :((

    ReplyDelete
  15. Its all right for that fucking Harpie, she will probably be well gone with a nice fat pension or another position to wreck her havoc on. Thanks Lynne, thank you very much....for nothing. You'll get yours some day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope EXCOM all rot.........scum

      Delete
    2. .....and the Tory scum.....Osborne you are a heartless bastard !!

      Delete
  16. All I wanted to do was a good job, and help the people I serve....the customers..my hands have been tied for years as I see job cuts in the past have had a devastating effect on the service we give....Its apalling. The UK tax system is falling apart and the only losers in all this are the customers and people like me who cant travel the extra distance every day...week in week out.
    I have been a loyal employee for 15 years....and now just feel like I have been fucked over.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your not alone 19:49, we have all been fucked over big time, pensions, work conditions, PMR, Pacesetter and now this. This sounds ripe for running the place down and privatising it. Gideon / Dave and their financial chums are all waiting to pick at the bones. Despicable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah ur so right lol....Where is the reward for my loyalty and service? 19.49

      Delete
  18. 19:49 our loyalty and service counts for jack shit , trust me i know,

    ReplyDelete
  19. I know someone who spent 41 years in Revenue since age 17, when HMRC closed the offices in 2010 they asked HMRC management for a gift for long service and the response was "no you can buy your own". When asked whether getting rid of 40 years experience was a good thing the response was "we can train someone else up in a week or two. If people still in HMRC still think they will get rewarded for loyalty and service they are living on another planet. They do not care you are just numbers to them.

    ReplyDelete
  20. If you want to build your own tax office these are the government tender documents:

    https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/9791ff90-185f-49a6-861c-d657f21ed2e0

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And they will pay over the odds and get a substandard build in the mix too - what cunts the government are

      Delete
  21. I wouldn't get involved with HMRC management if you still work there. A colleague of mine from the former Customs and Excise ran into a lot of issues with them over the years since the merger. Relocation, bullying, yearly reviews. He had a heart attack and died. Now I'm not a doctor but I'm convinced dealing with them was a contributing factor in his death.

    I don't want to sound defeatist but I don't think its worth it. They will simply grind you down in order to get rid of you and you'll end up sick or worse.

    ReplyDelete
  22. BOF3 will be entertaining - i think after yesterdays announcement and the way it was sold to us at BOF1/2 . I think the staff will grow some balls and have an appetite to not lay back and take all this BS this time. People are very angry about this being lied to and treated like shit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BOF3 has been and gone.....it was as boring as fuck !!!

      We should all boycott their BO4 charade....but it ain't gonna make a button of a difference...they do not give a fuck...we are all fodder to them...and as i read today on the forum,it's a case of getting rid of the long service staff and getting in new compliant brown nose blood.

      Delete