It would seem that, if this letter published in today's Telegraph is correct, there is a massive backlog of letters at HMRC:
"I therefore telephoned (on a premium-rate number) on December 19 and was informed that, due to a large workload, letters dated October had not yet been dealt with and there was no guarantee that I should receive a reply before the end of January...."
I wonder if the restructuring (ie job cuts) has been properly thought through?
Clearly it benefits no one if there are insufficient staff and resources to handle the basics (such as correspondence).
Tax does have to be taxing.
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"
Same old same old.
ReplyDeleteHow does it go?
Too many chiefs and not enough indians?
They hire expensive CEOs, expensive consultants, open expensive offices, order expensive computer systems, then pause to wonder how to pay for it all.
A little 10 watt light flickers and they say "I know, we'll get rid of some (or a lot) of staff."
How often have we seen this? One man's pay rise/bonus is usually at the expense of another's pay cut/job.
Robert Heilein wrote more than 50 years ago that there are three types of people -
makers, takers and fakers.
The takers and fakers live off the makers- only there aren't enough of this endangered species anymore.
Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged", also more than 50 years old, is ringing truer by the day.
UK Plc is bankrupt. It's terminal. HMRC couldn't collect all the tax that's due because they no longer have the staff. We now have an answer for them. The form's in the post, and the post is in your office unopened
Sorry should be Robert Heinlein
ReplyDeleteThis is a national disgrace. When you eventually get through to the "helplines" they can't even tell you if they've got the letter you sent them to complain about the mistake they made!
ReplyDelete..I am not a luddite, technology exists to make jobs easier and cheaper etc so it makes sense to bring in IT to make the work of HMRC more efficient.
ReplyDeleteHowever what screws it all up is HOW these systesm are brought in. Very often the new IT system is implimented without any run-in time, so any mistakes are not found until the system goes live. This also applies to job cuts. Very often the savings are made before the new system is brought in (so when it screws up there is no-one left to try and put it right.
There are even instances where systems are designed, built and are ready to be implemented and are cancelled. It would be an 'interesting' FOI request to find out how many IT systems fall into this catagory.
The other thing is that certain areas have now re-organised their internal post distribution. If you ,wether as a member of the public, or fellow collegue within HMRC, want to send post, its highly unlikely to actually arrive. All of this is being done in the name of "efficiency".
Being a member of this organisation has become a major embarrasment (whichj is a major shame).
"[Post is] highly unlikely to actually arrive" - probably a little strong!
ReplyDeleteIf you're lucky and the post actually arrives, then great. The trouble is, when it arrives it is merely added to the mountain and gathers dust for a few weeks/months gathering dust. Then when eventually it is actually dealt with, some poor sod at the coalface only ever answers the first two or three questions you raise (and ignores the rest) because he/she is being bullied into meeting workflow and post-timings target lest they receive a "not met" marking at appraisal time. No-one gives a shecht because it is all about playing the numbers game and keeping your miserable and incompetent, bullying manager off your back. Don't waste your time phoning and complaining, you'll only get to speak to some bored, poorly-trained and inexperienced spotty kid in a crappy call centre who wants to get you off the farking line as quick as poss so they can keep their call turnover stats looking nice... and keep their socially inept manager sweet. It's all a great big game and no-one cares a toss. What a farking shambles from start to finish. It is high time a genuinely independent audit is commissioned and mass sackings among the senior managers take place. Nothing short of scandalous!!!!!
ReplyDelete"Post Higly unlikely to arrive-probably a little strong" - errm actually no. Its not.
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact that any post that is judged to not be business critical (by just looking at the envelope) is classed as "dirty post" and left until there is absolutely nothing else to do. and then MAYBE its picked up and delivered.
In my own workplace, individuals who still get their union magazines delivered to the workplace have not seen an edition since September 2008.
"Don't waste your time phoning and complaining, you'll only get to speak to some bored, poorly-trained and inexperienced spotty kid in a crappy call centre who wants to get you off the farking line as quick as poss so they can keep their call turnover stats looking nice... and keep their socially inept manager sweet. It's all a great big game and no-one cares a toss."
ReplyDeleteNice attitude, yes we work in a contact centre but we are not all spotty kids, some of us are intelligent individuals who thought that working for HMRC would be a good job with opportunities and a decent pension. (I personally have a degree and worked in manufacturing for 15 years before HMRC). How wrong we were!!! We do the job to the highest standard that we ARE allowed. We are also dismayed at the state of the postal backlog, its appauling, its wrong that we are only allowed to do what the taxpayer asks even when we can see a problem...so please before you slag us off, yes some staff dont care but believe me the majority do!!!