An ex Concentrix employee, who was made redundant last week, told the Belfast Telegraph it had been "tough and stressful" for the workforce since the news broke that the contract would not be renewed in 2017.
The Government said Concentrix had "not been providing the high levels of customer service that the public expect and which are required in their contract".
advertisement
However, the ex employee disagrees:
"I don't agree that it was Concentrix's fault. It's the HMRC's systems - everything needs updated.
They need systems to be able to take on information much quicker.
It takes up to 48 hours. The staff are trained in exactly what they have to do. We worked on behalf of HMRC carrying out compliance checks. Sometimes you would be on the phone, or off the phone working on cases."
The former employee claimed that once staff had dealt with and processed a case, as well as the massive delay, the systems used by the Government body were not up to scratch.
"After we were closing cases off... it then sits in a sort of limbo stage."As ever, views and comments are 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.
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
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"
And the truth comes out. I feel sorry for the Concentrix staff being put of work as a result of all this. It seems they were set up to fail by the incompetence of HMRC. Rather than the telling the world about his private life on his Hmrc official twitter this morning, perhaps the HMRC Chief Thompson should objectively investigate why the contract failed - its public money HMRC are spending after all.
ReplyDeletePot and kettle springs to mind.
ReplyDelete'Fiddling' while Rome burns
ReplyDelete"Doing a Homer"
DeleteBalderdash. It's not the IT, it's how C were gunning for what looked easy targets and did it with total unconsidered aggression which provoked a massive and justiable negative response. That's what blew that one. When you use the law against someone who's supposdly living with someone in the same flat as someone who is merely in the same block that ain't to do with 48 hour delays. It's called arrogance and greed.
ReplyDeleteSpot on. Some HMRC systems are shite but have a read on immanent; Concentric are to blame.
ReplyDeleteHMRC are to blame. They are the Department entrusted by Government with responsibility for this work and are the people who outsourced it to the company. IF, and we do not know, there are any shortcomings on the part of the company, then I am afraid serious questions need to be asked of HMRC about their due diligence and supervision. The blame all goes back to HMRC, and as they are themselves a shambles the PAC should have a good look at all and hold them accountable.
DeleteWhen EFAC started messing up there was a positive spin put on it. This time with it being blown wide open to the media there is mad panic on. Double time paid overtime on Mandatory Reconsideration work on the Concentrix mess in some areas,plus offers to train workers up to do this task with the offer of similar overtime.
DeleteAnd running side by side with this there is an increasing amount of bullying prevalent - this involves managers on team members, invariably on those who have given long, hard working service but are content to remain at the same grade. It cannot be coincidence. So many who have never had any problems are suddenly victimized through the Performance Management process where a nefarious manager can use Marxist Pacesetter Tools to find a weak spot - you can't complain or they get you on 'behaviors'.
It's happening too much to be coincidence. Those that binned their scruples, knew what side their bread was buttered on and jumped on the Pacesetter gravy boat. They have escaped from this and moved on up to positions with daft titles. But the gravy is running dry and there is little room left for too many more to jump aboard this ship full of shysters,slicksters,liars and lowlifes who defend this joke for the good of themselves.
'Benefits Realization' ha ha - we have never had a figure for the losses made wasting time on this Pacesetter buffoonery as we all know it would far exceed 'Benefits Realization'.
Truth is the whole concept of Pacesetter is a lie. The truth about Pacesetter WILL hit the media sometime.That is inevitable.
Stupid is as stupid does, have compared the HMRC debacle to 'The Emperors New Clothes' scenario for years on here, to no avail.
DeleteThe Muppets will continue to dance to their own tune safe in the knowledge that the system, apart from the very rare and very weak chide, will let them get away with it.
When any organisation covers up wrong doing, let alone criminal activity and conspiracy then something is very wrong at the heart of said organisation, however, when this continues to occur and with more frequency to an organisation such as HMRC then you know that the civil service is no longer that, civil nor serving, apart from managements own interests.
Prvatise the damn thing fully instaead of playing at it.
As a taxpayer it really is disturbing to note the above comments about bullying within HMRC and the apparent lack of due process for dealing with it. The comments appear to read as though from personal experience and I am sorry to read of it. It cannot be right that our taxes are used to fund such immoral and wrongful behaviour and I would suggest Hmrc should be subject to independent investigation in the public interest.
DeleteIf this is how the HM Revenue & Customs behave internally, how can we trust them to deal fairly and honestly with our tax affairs?
On the above issue of bullying - as someone who champions anti-bullying, my advice would be to keep notes of all incidents. Everyone should be able to go work free from such abuse - thugs in an office are no different to thugs on the street AND ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW whoever their employer is. Clearly each case is different and must be assessed on its individual merits, however there might circumstances when bullying becomes a criminal matter, particularly if a pattern emerges, and victims should not be afraid to seek criminal investigation of the cowards.
DeleteROFL
DeleteYou have not got a clue how these despicable managers treat the staff. The system covers up for the individual very efficiently starting with a climate of fear and progressing through a resolving issues/grievance parody where the decisions are made by managers from the same silo as those whom the issues are about.
When a bad example of a manager whose 70+ complaints against him/her has 2 of those complaints found to such a standard that the staff concerned were paid compensation you know its bad. When that individual is allowed to continue to manage staff despite such a history of abuse and law breaking which then continues and is covered up constantly you know the system is beyond the law.
I challenge our P.M. to have this situation investigated, not reviewed. Please get it sorted once and for all and prove to the average person that these people are NOT ABOVE THE LAW.
Then the staff might well assist getting this trainwreck of a department back on the rails.
The above 10/10 11:51 provides some further insight into HMRC's bullying culture. We taxpayers - who have to deal with these very people - believe in the rule of law and I am shocked that they appear to be above it. Where does that leave our trust in their ability to act with integrity? Surely if those employed to enforce the law act as above the law they undermine the very system. People's lives & careers get ruined by bullying in the workplace - it is cowardly (always carried out by the disturbed & they clearly hide behind their position and, at the end of the day, the threat is to one's livelihood & wellbeing). It is thug like behaviour. I demand better from the so-called Civil Service. If this were happening in a private firm there would be a lot of noise and a great deal of fuss, but this seems to be kept quiet. Why? Now is surely the time for the mainstream media to investigate what is going on.
DeleteIf cover-ups are happening then that would be appear to any normal decent human being as being corruption. It would therefore appear that the situation is out of control and it is clearly in the public interest to demand investigation. If anyone knows of who to write to raise concerns about the HMRC bullying issues, which obviously impact on us taxpayers, and an address, then please do share it.
Maybe a newspaper such as the Daily Mail, who recently covered HMRC's alleged deals about image rights, would be interested to hear about HMRC's away days at Arsenal & Chelsea?
DeleteWe all have every right to hold HMRC to account.
DeleteWhy don't HMRC invite an OUTSIDE INDEPENDENT investigator to investigate the culture of bullying past and present? If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear, surely.
DeleteHMRC cover up bullying. Do not believe the Zero Tolerance to Bullying Policy - as always with HMRC its just a load of bull. Any small business without such a 'policy' would not treat people in such an inhumane and repugnant manner, its called having a little human decency. I wonder how those responsible at HMRC sleep at night. They have loads and loads to hide.
DeleteWe have online courses that we have to take that 'educate' us on how to treat fellow workers with respect.The underlining theme of these courses is that bullying happens between fellow,same grade workers on account of 'differences'.
DeleteIn nearly 15 years at HMRC I can state that I have NEVER seen workers bullied by fellow workers on account of race,gender,sexuality,disability, cultural differences, as these courses lead us to believe. ALL of the bullying I have witnessed is by managers against staff, and I'm talking low down the grade, mainly HO's or/and O's against AO's.
If HMRC are having to 'educate' their staff how to behave decently then there really is something rotten going on there. Most people should know how to behave, such courses an insult to the majority who do. The fact HMRC have courses suggests they know of the problems and its a patronising plastic measure designed to look like they're doing something while REALLY they're doing nothing but covering it up and avoiding the discomfort and accountability of bringing the bullies to account. Disgraceful.
DeleteReading Jon Thompson's Hmrc twitter account you would think away days at famous football clubs and promoting alleged 'social mobility' take up enough time, now we read of 'staff behaviour courses'. Get real HMRC management, we pay you to collect tax.
DeleteWhat has social mobility got to do with HM Revenue & Customs? There's not much social mobility for bullied staff or those made redundant. Its great PR to promote such pc concepts but really HMRC need to look at what goes on within the organisation before lecturing others.
DeleteSocial mobility is a myth and is not something taxpayers expect HMRC tax collectors to be lecturing on. The whole concept requires downward as well as upward mobility but is often talked up among the left wing chattering classes to make themselves feel good but without actually having to do anything. It does seem to be playing at politics and my understanding is that the Civil Service Code states Civil Servants should be politically impartial in their duties. A complaint will be made to the head of the Civil Service.
DeleteMy social mobility went downwards when I last had to pay tax to HMRC... I'll explore what loopholes are available next time, I going to try to get advice from an accountant at one of the multinationals...
DeleteIf you legally organise your tax affairs offshore in the Cayman Islands or Bermuda you'll probably achieve upward social mobility.
DeleteNow HMRC seem to be social mobility champions, to stay in their good books we all have a moral duty to legally minimise how much money we give to them in tax. Every pound we give to them risks downward mobility and I am sure they wouldn't want that.
DeleteI note that there are always several people calling for privatisation of HMRc. However I disagree with this for the following reasons:
ReplyDelete1)A privatae company is only interested in making a profit for the owners/shareholders - this cannot be allowed to happen with peoples Taxes
2)In the newspapers today there is an example of this- Acadamy Schools= paying their trustees exorbitant salarys, along with employing several members of their families again on high salaries- family members who probably wouldnt even qualify for the job in normal circumstances
3)security- although HMRC has had some mishaps in this area- a private company would be 1000 times worse
4) I would definately NOT trust a private company with my personal information- NINO address DOB etc- we are forever being warned to protect our personal information and we can at least trust the majority of civil servants with this information. A private company would employ anyone who is willing to work for the minimum wage without carrying out security checks on them as their main goal would be to screw as much money out of the business over a few years before putting the company into liquidation and the bossess having made a few million would walk away
Why can a private company not be allowed to make profit out of people's taxes, if they're delivering good quality services at a reasonable cost??? I really do understand this left-wing sounding view that is often put forward by certain unions. Profit is already made out of people's taxes - employees gain a profit i.e. their wages, and public sector buys goods & services from the private sector. People should pay their taxes and expect good quality services in return, whether they are delivered by the public or private sector does not at all, what counts is what works. There is nothing wrong with profit, we all rely on it for a healthy economy.
DeleteThe unions try to make 'profit' issues sound very moral - there is nothing moral about the civil service having senior staff on huge wages but failing to deliver, neither is there anything moral about Hmrc senior managers enjoying away days at famous football clubs at an expense to the public purse.
As for the personal information date protection argument, I cannot except it as a reason not to privatise. There is good and bad in both the private and public sectors. Hmrc do not have the moral high ground and have a very poor record with data security.
Opinion understood and respected, however;
ReplyDelete1. A fair number of private companies are already making exceptional profits from HMRC via its 'customers' e.g. Mapely, IT wizzos, HR advice, hotels and car hire including booking service.
2. Have you looked at the salaries for Excom and above recently? Also, have a close look at family member ties in HMRC...
3. I am not sure that security exists in any format within HMRC they sent me a secure communication encryption key in internal mail once in an open envelope within an open transit envelope - clowns!
4. Just how strong is the vetting and other security system these days then? Perhaps a perusal of the SOCA/NCA risk assessment or reports into public sector and/or law enforcement corruption and coercion would provide an insight?
I think there problems are bigger than we realise.