Lin Homer Tingles About Empowerment

My thanks to a loyal reader who pointed me in the direction of a recently posted article on the civil service blog by Lin Homer, entitled "Empowerment: advice from a pot to a kettle!".

Homer, in her own words, was apparently "still tingling from the helpful and challenging 360-degree feedback I read last night."

Well then!

She struggles with her interventionist streak:

"I know, within my team, that it’s important that I give strong permission for people to wrestle the controls physically from me, as my character will revert to its more directive style."

However, apparently, things at HMRC are improving thanks to Pacesetter:

"HMRC has used a continuous improvement process, which we call Pacesetter, and using those basic skills, but also empowered by the confidence that that Ruth will support them, the teams have come up with hundreds of simple and effective changes. The results are improvements for customers, efficiencies for HMRC and a great sense of value and purpose."

Given her confidence, I am "surprised" that the comments made by HMRC staff members don't resonate with her view from the top eg:

"HMRC is definitely not an inspiring place to work! As for empowerment, I can honestly say I was more empowered 5-10 years ago than I am permitted to be now! Until the civil service abandons the universally hated PMR system, with its associated ‘guided distribution’ (which translates to ‘quotas’ – certainly within HMRC anyway), then I doubt all those good things like empowerment, morale or engagement will ever reappear!"

Views and comments from the frontline are always welcome!


Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

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To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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Lean On Me - Toyota In Another Massive Recall

Toyota, the company that bequeathed the world and HMRC "LEAN", has had to issue yet another recall of cars along with Nissan and Honda.

Reuters reports that 3.4 million cars are being recalled because of issues over airbags.

As per a loyal reader this morning:

"LESSONS FROM THE WHITEBOARD STILL NOT LEARNT...

Memo to all managers and evangelista's

Its all gone pear-shaped, again!

Manufacturer's of what are sometimes known as "rice burners" such as Toyota, Nissan & Honda would appear to have been involved in yet another round of multi-millon, world-wide vehicle recalls involving safety issues (don't forget, recalls are usually a last resort after ignoring the problem with collective insertion of heads into places where the sun don't shine).

Is there a lesson to be learnt from this?

There is, despite all the hype, Pacesetter/Lean systems, as developed from the land of the rising sunny (Nissan), are unable to cope with the rigours of mass production environments.

What does this mean? Despite years of man/women hours and billions of Yen, Pounds and Dollars it is now there for all to see, it does not work, and continues to fail regularly.

Watch out for falling lemmings and other practitioners of hari kari (that's falling on your sword for Excom!)."

Sadly I suspect that HMRC will not give up using LEAN, whatever the cost!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Lean Goes From Strength To Strength

In October I mused on the "success" or otherwise of Lean, and what it had done for the once fine brand of Toyota:

"Toyota, you may be aware, has had to recently recall "some" of its cars because of a production fault over a number of years.

How many cars?

Over 7.4M (manufactured between September 2006 and December 2008), it is in fact the largest recall in the company's history!

Mind you, it has had other recalls in earlier years; again because of failures in production.

Oh dear!

What does this tell us about Lean?

At the very least it tells us that Lean is not a panacea for the ills of the public (or indeed the private) sector. The evangelists and zealots who spoke at last month's conference (after they have counted their earnings from the conference and Lean consultancies) may care to reflect on that! "

One month on and blinkey, blonkey, blimey, Toyota have had to issue yet another product recall. This time Toyota will recall 2.7 million cars worldwide because of problems with the steering wheel and water pump system. The recall affects nine models, including the Toyota Corolla and the second-generation Prius.

Lean goes from strength to strength!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Taxwise.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Lean On Me

As loyal readers are aware, the ever "popular" subjects of Pacesetter and Lean raise their heads on this site from time to time.

I am therefore indebted to a loyal reader who flagged up the Lean Government Conference held at the Barbican on 20th September:

"A capacity crowd descended upon the Barbican for the opening of Public Service Events' 4th annual Lean Government conference. Featuring a keynote address from Francis Maude, Minister of State for the Cabinet office, the conference boasted a programme of high profile speakers, discussing how lean thinking can transform public sector performance. If an organisation is to improve, it must be constantly searching for ways to do better, said Maude; this is the fundamental ethos of lean. The event, sponsored by Lean Consulting, also featured a range of interactive masterclass sessions and great networking opportunities in the packed exhibition areas."

The speakers at the event are all evangelists for Lean and, I assume, earn "a few pennies" from their Lean evangelism (some have connections with HMT and HMRC). Hence they are, I suspect, rather motivated to push the government/taxpayer to "buy into" Lean.

All very well, if Lean actually works.

The question is does it?

Let us consider where it came from; namely the private sector.

To my humble view (and this may surprise some of you) not every "management/consultancy fetish" that comes from the private sector, even if it works in the private sector (and often it doesn't), is applicable/suitable for the public sector. After all, the techniques and processes used to manufacture widgets are not necessarily the same as the processes/competencies used to collect taxes.

Now, let us consider where in the private sector Lean actually first came from.

Anyone?

Yes, that's right, Toyota.

Toyota, you may be aware, has had to recently recall "some" of its cars because of a production fault over a number of years.

How many cars?

Over 7.4M (manufactured between September 2006 and December 2008), it is in fact the largest recall in the company's history!

Mind you, it has had other recalls in earlier years; again because of failures in production.

Oh dear!

What does this tell us about Lean?

At the very least it tells us that Lean is not a panacea for the ills of the public (or indeed the private) sector. The evangelists and zealots who spoke at last month's conference (after they have counted their earnings from the conference and Lean consultancies) may care to reflect on that!

Tax does have to be taxing.



Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Taxwise.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

People Engagement In HMRC

On Monday I wrote that HMRC hired a consultant, Nita Clarke, last year to produce a report on internal "people engagement":

"Step forward the Sunday Herald, which has obtained a copy of the report.

On the relationship between HMRC and its staff, the report was blunt:

"At the heart of the engagement challenge in HMRC is a disconnect between employees and the overall organisation.
Many employees feel that the organisation as a whole neither values, listens to, nor respects them."" 

My thanks to Paul Hutcheon of The Herald who has provided me with a link to the full report.

Nita Clarke (the author) is dismissive of HMRC's process based approach to challenges, and notes that such an approach often leads to disengagement. She states that employee engagement cannot be reduced to a process.

She notes that there is a disconnect between HMRC employees (at all levels, including management at senior levels) and the organisation itself.

Regrettably she thinks that Pacesetter is "highly effective".

She does, however, provide real insight into how absurd the bureaucracy in HMRC has become. Seemingly, in order to determine whether to fix a faulty door handle, HMRC needs to know how many people use the handle to be sure it’s economic to fix it. The solution to HMRC's mouse infestation (that's news to me) has been to ban people from eating at their desks.

Unfarkingbelieveable!

Those of you who wish to read the report may do so via this link "People Engagement in HMRC A report to ExCom and the HMRC trade unions".

Tax does have to be taxing.







Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Exodus II

Yesterday I wrote about the exodus of senior tax officials from HMRC, leaving the organisation short of senior people with experience and tax knowledge.

Quite rightly a loyal reader pointed out that the exodus is not just occurring in the rarefied upper echelons of HMRC, but also in other ranks as well:

"Rats and ship are the two words which spring to mind. 

There are more and more leaving, everyone is fed up with pacesetter, stats which are nothing short of a figure fudging exercise, promotion for anyone who can talk bollocks at 'shiteboard meetings' and managers who can't answer a tax query. 

I got my 8th new manager in a year today. 

Another pacesetter practitioner! 

There are not too many of us around who have a taxes background, the place is a shambles. 

But we all know why, the government are making it so crap so they can sell it off bit by bit cheaply to their mates." 

It is clear that "form over substance" is the mantra being applied in HMRC, where knowledge and experience of tax is subordinated to management claptrap dogma and box ticking.

I am not yet convinced that the government plan is to privatise HMRC, I think that would be politically impossible. However, I am of the view that a catastrophic failure of RTI et al will give the government the impetus/excuse to untangle HMRC and probably reverse the merger that caused many of the problems in the first place.
 
I may of course be proven wrong by events.

As ever I welcome views, opinions and comments.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Issue 12,000 Erroneous Penalty Notices

Oh dear,  it seems that (despite what we are told) Pacesetter can't quite fix everything in HMRC.

The BBC reports that approximately 12,000 people, told by HMRC that they no longer needed to fill in self-assessment tax forms, have been sent penalty notices in error.

The penalty notices from HMRC come ahead of new £10 daily fines for non-filing which start on Tuesday. Those affected were told that they no longer had to complete a self-assessment form, because their tax bill could be dealt with through PAYE.

All those on HMRC's records who did not complete a self-assessment, as expected by HMRC, received a letter in February/March asking them to contact HMRC if they felt they no longer needed to be in the self-assessment system.

Fair enough.

As a result, 130,000 people were taken out of the self-assessment process and HMRC's records were changed.

However, 12,000 of these people are now receiving penalty notices in error.

HMRC are quoted (using the obligatory Pacesetter "C word" again):

"We are very sorry and can reassure these customers that we know who they are and that this letter is incorrect - they do not owe a penalty. We are writing to all of them to apologise and to explain this error.

It is very unfortunate that this process error has taken the shine off the good news that we have taken 130,000 people out of self-assessment."

The penalty notices state that in addition to the fixed penalty of £100 for late filing, fines of £10 a day kick in from Tuesday, up to a maximum of £900.

I dare say that this snafu can be added to the whiteboards for process improvement!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Pacesetter Works!

On Wednesday I wrote the following:

"However, it is suspected that this is an excuse to cover the fact that the Solicitor's Office has a backlog of thousands of such cases.

Why has such a backlog arisen?

Step forward HMRC's much "loved" Pacesetter work process, which seemingly has caused the backlog.

Apparently endless amounts of time and money are now being spent trying to reinvent the wheel to make processes more efficient. Unfortunately all that happens is that the opposite happens, and work doesn't get done and backlogs develop ."

Well, it looks as though I was wrong. Pacesetter, according to this comment posted by a loyal reader, is in fact working very well indeed:

"Unfortunately though (for all the Pacesetter/Naysayers) across ALL depts, productivity has increased significantly year by year since it's introduction.

I'm sure Ken a simple FOI request would clarify this, rather than an observation that is 'seemingly' apparent. Unless you want to share your source? "

So you see folks I was wrong!

As were all staff across "ALL depts", who have been slagging Pacesetter off; it really does work, and we are very foolish to even to try to deny that!

No more negative comments about Pacesetter please, as these seem to be upsetting the powers that be.

Of course claiming that Pacesetter is a "success" all very much depends on what your definition of "success" and "increased productivity" is, and what KPI's are used (not all KPI's add real value to an organisation or its processes).

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC's Pacesetter Shambles

My thanks to a loyal reader (LR) who advised me of some issues that he/she has heard about in HMRC's enforcement office in Worthing.

LR understands that staff there have been told to stop sending work to the Solicitor's Office in London, the official reason being a lack of money to fund such proceedings; ie, if this is the real reason, there is no longer enough money in the relevant budget to collect tax!

However, it is suspected that this is an excuse to cover the fact that the Solicitor's Office has a backlog of thousands of such cases.

Why has such a backlog arisen?

Step forward HMRC's much "loved" Pacesetter work process, which seemingly has caused the backlog.

Apparently endless amounts of time and money are now being spent trying to reinvent the wheel to make processes more efficient. Unfortunately all that happens is that the opposite happens, and work doesn't get done and backlogs develop.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

The Revolving Door II

My thanks to a loyal reader who commented about an article in Private Eye wrt Corven Consulting, the SFO and a couple of ex HMRC bods who are directors of the SFO.


"Q. What is the connection here as reported by Private Eye, issue 1296 p.29:-
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Corven Consulting, £500,000, Philippa Williamson SFO CEO, Richard Alderman SFO Director?


A. Williamson and Alderman are both ex. HMRC, Corven are the Pacesetter "Guru" company, £500,000is the amount paid by the SFO to Corven since June 2010.


Is there something behind all this Pacesetter evangelism after all?"

A cursory poke around Corven's website indicates that they are the "go to" place for PaceSetter:

"Since 2005 Corven has been engaged by HMRC where it supported the design and implementation of its PaceSetter programme. Through the development of leadership at all levels and the application of Lean techniques across an organisation of 70,000 staff, HMRC has achieved audited savings to date in excess of £370m per annum. As part of this work, skills have been transferred to over 420 staff that are now trained in individual and team coaching and as Lean practitioners".

Which is "nice".

I wonder how all this started then?

Oddly enough, way back in July 2006, the Telegraph reported that HMRC had awarded consultancy contracts worth £4M (some to Corven) without first putting them out to tender.

The paper noted that Crispin Ellison, a director of Corven, had worked with Sir David Varney, ex chairman of HMRC, when Varney was chairman of MMO2.

"The revelation that a number of firms have been given work outside the tendering process will only heighten concerns that HMRC is not delivering value for money. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the organisation has "uncovered issues with the procurement of consultancy services".

The body's annual report, released a fortnight ago, also refers to the failings. One section refers to "non-adherence to public procurement rules" in relation to the use of consultants and says HMRC is now trying to ensure fully compliant contracts are in place by this autumn.


It also reveals HMRC is reviewing invoices to ensure "future spending on consultancy is made using these contracts".

The report does not identify any of the individual contracts that breached the rules, but documents seen by this newspaper show that in June 2004 Corven Consulting received work worth more than £120,000 without going through competitive tendering.

HMRC admits Corven began work on this assignment even before a contract had been drawn up because of "tight deadlines".

Corven has since won additional HMRC contracts worth £2.8 million, some at the behest of senior members of HMRC's executive committee.

In the past year Corven has provided coaching and support to senior members of the executive committee as well as general support and advice to Sir David Varney. HMRC refused to say whether Sir David, 60, had personally suggested Corven for any of the work.

Prior to joining HMRC, Sir David worked for some of Britain's biggest companies, including British Gas, MMO2 and Shell. Corven lists all three companies as clients on its website. 

Crispin Ellison, a director of Corven responsible for the revenue contract, insisted that the company had won work on the basis of its good reputation in the field. He said he was personally unaware of problems because the awarding of contracts was a matter for HMRC.

"I have no idea why we were chosen for the contract," he said. "We tend to focus on large scale transformations in the public and private sector."

Mr Ellison confirmed that the firm had worked with Sir David while he was chairman of MMO2 but said this collaboration was totally unconnected with any work it was now carrying out for HMRC.

An HMRC spokeswoman said: "Our own internal checks highlighted some issues in connection with the procurement of consultancy services. These issues have now been addressed."

Let's bookmark this and come back to it in due course.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

We're Off To See The Wizard

My thanks to a loyal reader who posted a comment under my recent article "Failure" about the fact that HMRC are now so desperate to fix internal problems, that they are resorting to witchcraft.

Yes, you did read that correctly, apparently HMRC's "leaned teams" will have a volunteer champion called a "Wizard".

It has come to this!!!

Here is the comment in full:

"It is amazing what opportunities exist for the malevolent individuals in this day and age. Create an impenetrable wall of managers ( if you are an AO, there are 5 layers above you before you reach G6 and this is just local management!), then create another impermeable layer if management via Pacesetter processes. 

This acts like a buffer between the administrative grades and manage. Next up the chain as all "communication" us via the data on the boards. If it's green, everything is fine, if it's red, work harder. If something is wrong, 3 Cs. Be quiet at the back, pacesetter is your friend. 

By the by... Pacesetter 3 cs are being overhauled. 

Sycophants appointed as CIP champions (continuous improvement process), after having renamed the failure of the "Golden Key", as CIP was formerly known. 

Now each team in an operational "leaned" environment will have a volunteer champion to be called a "Wizard". 

I shit you not! 

And people wonder why HMRC is Shite. Management, management, management!"  

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions

HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Qualified NAO Report II

The National Audit Office (NAO) have been busy of late wrt HMRC.

Not content with issuing a qualified report on the accounts of HMRC, they have also issued a report on HMRC's PaceSetter Programme.

"PaceSetter is travelling in the right direction but not fast enough. After five years HMRC's approach to process improvement should be better measured, more sophisticated and more ambitious in its transformation of the Department."

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 15 July 2011.

"We conclude, therefore, that the programme is not yet value for money."

NAO are of the view that PaceSetter is not yet value for money because the extent to which efficiency has improved is not clear; and some key principles of process improvement are not yet being applied strategically across the entire organisation and embedded into the Department's core processes.

For reasons best known to HMRC, it decided to monitor only certain of the costs involved, and excluded, for example, the salary costs of its own PaceSetter experts.

Why does a financially literate organisation only monitor certain costs (ie do things at half cock)?

NAO estimate that thus far (since 2005) PaceSetter has cost at least £115M on consultancy, equipment, staff and travel costs.

The report notes that evidence that is available on overall business performance shows improvements and deterioration. In other words, given the ongoing restructuring within HMRC, PaceSetter is not necessarily having any discernible effect (be it good or bad) other than costing the taxpayers £115M.

The effect on staff engagement is "bugger all".

"The Department’s employee engagement index, derived from its 2009 People Survey, was 36 per cent, compared to an average of 58 per cent across other government departments. The analysis for areas where PaceSetter has been introduced gave an index of 37‑40 per cent."

Impressed?

- Why did HMRC go for PaceSetter in the first place?

- Why does the senior management team continue to support PaceSetter?

- How reliable are the internal statistics provided by middle management to senior management? etc

Feel free to comment.

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Turning Japanese

My thanks to a loyal reader, who posted a comment yesterday about HMRC's Pacesetter programme (the Japanese management "tool" imported by HMRC from Toyota - a company currently experiencing quality control problems - et al).

It seems that Pacesetter is so loaded with jargon (some of which is actually in Japanese) that a "jargon busting" booklet of 11 pages has been produced (courtesy of the tax revenues raised from the taxpayers), to help explain the jargon to the increasingly bemused and confused long suffering staff of HMRC.

Here is the comment in full:

"From the heart of the "Beast" itself comes proof positive (as if it were needed at this stage) Pacesetter Jargon Buster, yep another one you couldn't dream up only this proves that HMRC has really lost the plot...there are 11 pages of crap purely given over to the jargon associated with Pacesetter, that's right dear customer, tax payer, reader or whatever, 11 pages!

What is going on FFS?

There are even Japanese words and phrases needing explaining listed in the 11 pages.
How much has this poisoned chalice cost the taxpayer?
More than you might believe.

So whether you believe it or not is immaterial, the fact remains that phrases and words like swim lane flowchart, Poka Yoke (aka error proofing) Heijunka, Ishikawa, Jidoka, Kaizen, Muda (Japanese for waste!!!) Problem-Solving "O" (unsure about this, query sexual act), as might Sensai be?
Take your pick people....

Were all doomed I tell ye, doomed, aye...."

Being in awe of Japanese management/leadership techniques is all very well, maybe. However, as the ongoing disaster in Japan is proving, government/management based on consensus and contemplation does not work in times of crisis. The Japanese are crying out for someone to "step up to the plate" and take charge/responsibility.

Where are the leaders when you really need them?

Into the valley of death rode the 103rd..

Needless to say, if anyone is able to email me a copy of the jargon buster I will be more than happy to upload it onto the site.

Sayonara everyone!

"Tax does have to be taxing.

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To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

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The Hail Mary Response

Last week I wrote that the "Grande Dame" (Lesley Strathie) had apparently talked up the recently published Civil Service People Survey 2010 (in which HMRC came 103rd out of 103).

My thanks to a loyal reader who has taken the time and trouble to make a transcript of the "Grande Dame's" pep talk. I understand that this has been typed from the script as it appears in the HMRC intranet, therefore there may be a few small errors and omissions. However, I am sure that you will all get the underlying message!

"Message from Leslie Straithie Improving Our People Survey Results

There's no question we have to improve our People Survey results.

Overall engagement was the lowest of the 103 organisations surveyed and all on the senior team take responsibility.

Tempting to think nothing can be done short term. People point to pay freezes and staff cuts insist we can't turn things around while this is happening.

Yet our highest performing teams show it can be done, Benefits & Credits we have front line operational teams whose scores have jumped over 20%.

These are fantastic results we can learn from them.

In the summer I set out what we were doing to start turning things round. Every HMRC leader now has to publish the 3 leadership behaviours they want to improve personally.

Frontline people have taken part in focus groups to examine what you expect from us as an employer (and what we can expect from you in return), we are currently looking at the HR policies and procedures we need to change.

Where our people survey have improved - and we've seen good results in parts of Information Management Services there are 4 common themes:

Pacesetter - People don't want to hear about changes they want to be part of the solution. Fundamentally it is about solving problems the 3 C's process is about making sure issues can be raised escalated and dealt with not simply ignored.

In 2009/2010 B&C adopted 75 staff ideas under Pacesetter Change Control Process this year they have taken up over 230. What's more leadership visibility scores in Pacesetter areas are an average 10 higher.

Communication - essential- especially where it involves line management. High performing teams use face to face briefings whenever possible and don't rely on intranet, newsletters or emails (Editor's note: Does that ,mean that HMRC - which does rely on emails and intranet - is not high performing?)

We have seen this in IMS with their fortnightly briefings and seen how these teams score higher where managers explain how their work fits into HMRC's overall strategy.

Good Line Managers - The manager is crucial especially when it comes to day to day issues that really affect morale and performance.

Not all of these issues will be within their gift but we have seen excellent results where they have listened (Editor's note: this implies that some line managers do not listen), fed back concerns and taken action.

CaM and B&C Ops have developed something called The Link Model to help managers do this. Last year just 20% of B&C believed action would be taken as a result of the survey, this year it was 42%.

Excellent managers tackle things that damage morale like poor performance, and take early and decisive action on sickness absence.

High scoring teams reward good work either through the Simply Thanks scheme, similar local initiative or celebrate it at special events.

Strong Leadership - Visible credible leadership is characteristic of high performing teams and a key part of our leadership behaviours. The most successful managers even have staff engagement built into their PDE's.

We expect them to talk openly and honestly about what's taking place in HMRC (key part of Change Programme) This is something we will measure them against.

Finally you said you wanted to see action so every month Pulse magazine will include a new Listening, Acting, Improving section setting out the changes large and small we make that month.

I firmly believe we can build a Department we can all be proud of. Its a big challenge and I want to thank the high performing teams who prove it can be done."

Well, from my perspective as an outsider, there is a lot of management consultant jargon in this "Hail Mary" plea for faith in the future. However, I would like to ask those who actually work in HMRC:

1 Do you believe that she is sincere in the above, in that she really believes that things can/will improve?

2 Are the tactics she refers to above really being rolled out across all of HMRC?

3 If these tactics are actually being rolled out, are they actually working and helping improve performance and morale?

4 What really needs to be done?

5 As a member of staff of HMRC, what was your genuine feeling about the Strathie response to the survey?

Tax does have to be taxing.

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To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Pacesetter Award Nomination

Nominate me for a Pacesetter Award by signing this petition, feel free to pass it on.

Nominate Ken Frost for Pacesetter Award

Thanks.

Ken;)

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Staff Survey 2010 - Strathie Responds

In February 2010 HMRC published the results of their staff survey which were less than, ermmm, "encouraging".

The good news is that, some 4 months after publication, Lesley Strathie (CEO of HMRC) has commented/responded to HMRC staff about the results on the HMRC intranet.

The bad news is that it may take a wee while for the promised improvements to materialise. Strathie expects the results of the next survey to be equally dismal:

"We may not see much, if any, improvement in the next set of People Survey results. These issues are deep-seated and will take time to turn round; with your help, we can do that."

As John Maynard Keynes once said:

"In the long run we are all dead".

Here is the text of her message:

"Whenever I visit one of our offices, it's not long before someone asks what we are doing in response to our People Survey results (PDF). It is one of the biggest issues in the Hotseat and I know people take the whole issue extremely seriously. Quite rightly, I want to see action.

Let me be clear. The results of the People Survey were incredibly disappointing and, along with my ExCom colleagues, I appreciate most of you are passionate about the work you do. It is not acceptable for HMRC to be placed as poorly as it was and we need to work hard to reverse that situation.

Over the last few months, we have looked carefully at the results. We have done a great deal of research about what motivates people in HMRC; what do you expect from us as an employer; and what gets you out of bed in the morning.

This has given us a real understanding of the action we need to take. It is why we are looking at the following three big areas that we are confident will make a real difference.

Getting leadership right

The first is leadership. Getting the right leaders in place with the right skills is absolutely critical if we are to motivate people and unlock their potential. That's why we are making it clear what good leadership is and – equally importantly – spelling out the actions and approaches we do not want to see in this Department. We will be very clear that bad leadership has no place in HMRC.

This won't just be words on a page. Our appraisal and reward strategies are being redesigned so it is clear what we, and you, can expect from our leaders. The customer is central to all of this, along with a more open and collaborative approach. We are also looking at the skills our leaders have and the support we can give so they can do their jobs better. You will see more about this from July.
Great expectations

The second big area of work is all about the relationship our people have with us as their employer. That means being clear about what you can expect from us and what, in return, we can expect from you. This will cover many of the practicalities around our work.

It will look at a range of topics including how you can expect your career to progress; the benefits you receive as an employee; and the type and amount of work we can reasonably expect from you when you're at work.

We've already started on this and we will be talking to many of you about what this means in practice over the summer months. We are, of course, working closely with our trade unions on all of this.

The work itself

People have repeatedly told us they want more of a say in the decisions that affect their work. This is already a fundamental part of PaceSetter, which we are continuing to introduce and embed across the whole Department.

HMRC's strategy, which will be launched in the autumn, sets out how our processes and procedures will be designed around the behaviours and needs of our customers. Clearly, the involvement of the people who interact with our customers day in and day out will be a fundamental part of this work. We will tell you more about what this means during September and October.

Your own business areas are also committed to acting on the results of the survey. You should have all had conversations with your line managers by now about your team’s results and what can be done about them.

Our challenge

It is important to be realistic and honest about the challenges we face. Things will not get any easier over the coming months. Equally, there is no magic wand we can wave to improve the way people feel about the Department.

We may not see much, if any, improvement in the next set of People Survey results. These issues are deep-seated and will take time to turn round; with your help, we can do that.

Despite the challenges we face, our achievements as a Department are considerable. We need to be proud of what we do but should never forget that we can always do better."

Tax does have to be taxing.

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What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Late

The Independent Certified Practicing Accountants Group claims that HMRC is taking too long to process tax refunds.

Tony Margaritelli, ICPA chairman, said that refunds are taking an interminable time:

"Most galling is the fact that the revenue has been encouraging accountants to file self-assessment for clients because refunds are automated and should therefore come through within days."

One of the reasons for the delay may well be the new processes being introduced by HMRC.

I am advised that as part of the LEAN programme (or Pacesetter as it is now called in National Insurance Contributions Office - NICO), millions has been spent on private consultants (some from Unipart).

The consultants are implementing a production line way of working based on that of the Toyota company.

Fair enough, if it works.

However, I understand that in some departments "customer" waiting time has risen from three days to approximately eight weeks.

I am also advised that HMRC are not allowed to tell "customers" (taxpayers) about the backlog. Meanwhile HMRC presses ahead with implementing this across all departments.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

The Death of Ambition?

I would very much appreciate having some more background on the possible "sad" demise of "Ambition" within HMRC, and the creation of "Vision":

"HMRC's Ambition (like that of many of its staff disillusioned with the never ending stream of distracting initiatives - Pacesetter being public enemy number one) is no more.

We now have the HMRC Vision which was conceived (allegedly) for a mere six figure sum. I presume this is due to it having two fewer letters!"

In the event that "Ambition" has died, I would guess that few taxpayers may be asking why £1.5M was spent on coming up with the word less than two years ago.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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