As loyal readers know, at present, taxpayers et al can speak to an HMRC adviser between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 4pm on a Saturday...if they are lucky!
However, according to Jon Thompson (CEO of HMRC) who was speaking at yesterday's HMRC annual conference, he "believes" that the lines should be open between 8am and 8pm for seven days a week:
"..an aspiration I think this organisation should be able to deliver in the next year or so."The media are reporting this as a firm commitment.
Call me a cynic, but he doesn't sound at all committed to this this!
Tax does have to be taxing.
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Jon Thompson is an awful self-publicist and career senior civil servant well taught in the art of spin. Doesn't sound like a firm commitment to me either and I can't believe a word Thompson says.
ReplyDeleteThe contact centres used to be open on a Sunday but nobody phoned. Debt Management Telephone Centre stopped allowing collectors to change their hours to include Sundays due to lack of calls in on Sundays. More people to take calls during current hours is what is required as well as proper training of staff so that stuff is dealt with properly and repeat calls not required. Last year we were getting told that calls are going to reduce and soon nobody will be doing a phone-only job because of "going digital". Bollocks. That ceo is talking through his arse
ReplyDeleteA number of us were paid overtime back in the 1980's when IR experimented with 'keeping the office open' to handle enquiries until 9pm three nights a week.
ReplyDeleteFour hours a night x three nights x four weeks = 48 hours at time + a half. Easy money... Why...?
Not one taxpayer came into the office with a query during the experiment. Not one.
We spent most of the the time watching TV and eating fish and chips. The experiment was not considered to be a success, and the idea was scrapped.
The current bunch of over-educated buffoons who are 'running' HMRC will of course blame the frontline troops when this all goes tits up as usual.
While I can't comment on the 'education' of those grabbing over-inflated salaries for doing little or nothing at the top of HMRC, they do not seem to have any real world experience or common sense and I would have to agree their latest little experiment will fail. I pity the frontline staff who will get bullied when it all goes wrong and taxpayers cash gets wasted as usual.
DeleteManagement keep comparing us for example paying your gas bill, contacting your insurance company. You expect to get through 7 days a week, or up to 8pm. These retards forget that much of the contact is from businesses who are closed at such times. There would be contact from some individuals, but its minimal in comparison and doesnt justify the extra costs. Certainly for some lines of business it will flop completely.
ReplyDeleteThe fact management tell you that HMRC is comparable with utility and insurance companies, just goes to show how out of touch they are. We taxpayers are not customers with a free choice whether to deal with the shambolic HMRC, our contact is owing to our legal duty as a citizen. Extending opening hours is not of itself going to sort things out. As much as the senior hmrc civil servants would like there to be, there are no easy or lazy options. They really do need to analyse what the problems are (including with the culture & practices of the Department) before having a deep think of the best way to raise their game. Acting with integrity and ensuring there is a level playing field would be a good place to start maybe.
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