My thanks to a loyal reader who sent me a wee note wrt the following that was announced within HMRC last week:
"Karen Wheeler has been appointed as Director General for Border Coordination, a new post in HMRC.The new role will oversee the cross-government approach to coordinating work at the border, bringing together the work of 18 departments across policy, strategy, operational delivery, IT, infrastructure, legislation and security.Karen joins HMRC from NHS England and has previously worked in the Ministry of Justice, Cabinet Office and as a management consultant in the private sector.Also today, Chief Executive Jon Thompson confirmed Rachel McLean as interim Director General for Customer Services and David Richardson as interim Director General for Customer Compliance.This follows the recent announcement that Ruth Owen and Jennie Granger will be leaving HMRC in May.Rachel is Director of Finance and Planning in Customer Services. She joined HMRC in 2015, and before that was a director at Transport for London.David is Director of Counter-Avoidance. He joined the Inland Revenue as a trainee inspector in 1979 and has been a director at HMRC since it was formed in 2005 in a wide range of compliance and policy roles.Rachel and David will be in post until permanent appointments are made following a fair and open competition for the Director General roles."
All of this in spite of the fact that there is a general election and, as such, senior appointments surely ought to be kept in abeyance until a new government is formed.
#HMRC other #gov departments are now in #purdah so no news (unless absolutely essential) until after the #election. https://t.co/j72qlvBuKP
— Julia Penny (@JSPenny) April 24, 2017
Tax does have to be taxing.
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How many Director Generals does one organisation need?
ReplyDeleteIf HMRC really is aiming to become a 'high performing organisation' makes you wonder if they understand the old saying that too many cooks spoil the broth?
DeleteBut the pay they get is huge remember. And it looks like the jobs have gone to the 'elite' already in the higher echelons of the public sector. When the rest of the public sector face year after year pay freezes(including those doing essential and productive real jobs), and while our tax is always going up while our essential public services are cut, I can't see how this is morally justifiable. The idea that HMRC champion social mobility would be almost laughable were it not so wrong. Is it a case of pull the ladder up, Jack, I wonder?
Doesn't matter how many Director Generals HMRC has - nothing ever changes for the better.
ReplyDeleteA Director General for Customer Services is in my view a non-job and a total waste of taxpayers cash.
I know it maybe a wee bit innovative for HMRC, but how about organising the department so that frontline staff are empowered to actually deliver genuine brilliant 'customer' service - and let taxpayers and accountants be the judge of how they are getting on?
Highly Paid Muppets....
ReplyDeleteOn the issue of how much pay senior HMRC managers collect - public service or self service?
ReplyDeleteThis has to be brought out in the open so I shall attempt to give clarity to the content.
ReplyDeleteWhen HMRC was created and it was patently obvious that the old C&E was doomed with spin off creations such as Border Farce and the Homer person who had begun perambulating through various public sector jobs and ensuing disasters, many Customs Border Facing staff were oblitereated, either by transfer or in some cases escaping to the likes of Border Farce and SOCA (remember these).
Of the remainder some stayed in Law Enforcement related work areas which were rapidly being populated by 'fast trackers' and managers nearing retirement.
Of the very few unfortunates who were unable to escape, the majority tried to prevent management and government dropping the ball with regard to Border related work, be it fiscal or freight and even people (think!). What a waste of time and effort that was, border related issues were treated as a 2nd rate consideration by management and government.
But, as has been said before, Organised Crime do their homework and gather their intelligence.
Now, over a decade later, the advent of Brexit has thrown the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons and Whitehall appears to have woken to the issues, which strangely will include everyone believing everyone else has a grip of the Border issues.
Utter Bollocks of course, and to coin another phrase, shutting the stable door some 12 years after the horse has bolted is a slow reaction to a predictable set of problems.
Good luck then with someone from NHS England running this part of the pantomime and coordinating 18 and more, diverse agencies!
On behalf of myself and many colleagues who were C&E whether frontline, Investigation, Intel., or audit - WE TOLD YOU SO, but you wouldn't listen.
YCNMTSU, SNAFU, DILLIGAF (Yes, even now).
But don't worry, it is only 'customers' money being wasted.
Did I forget to mention the IR, oh well, there we are then.
Somebody from NHS England management joining HMRC management?
ReplyDeleteNHS England have the best doctors, medics and other health professionals in the world.
However, NHS England as an organisation repeatedly fails - they even have high profile issues with data failings (like HMRC).
Surely Senior Appointments to office in HMRC - 'jobs' with huge salaries - ought to have been delayed until after the General Election? HMRC are a Government Department, not a Private Business, or have we misunderstood something? What is going on?
ReplyDeleteIf senior management positions at HMRC are filled through 'fair and open competition' how come the appointments almost always are from those who have already held elite senior roles in the public sector and never from those with long private sector business records or experience of frontline public service from the lower grades of the public sector? If only they would try something new, if might bring new (and better) results!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to poor performance in senior public sector management roles it seems that rarely does it get addressed.
ReplyDeleteHence once one has held such position then they can just keep moving round the public sector.
The elites always look after their own in the establishment despite polite public nods at 'social mobility'.
What it means though is that just because you've held high office in one part of the public sector you can keep moving round, but surely it doesn't mean you'll actually any good at management? And HMRC desperately needs some good management.
Looking at the results I wonder if they are hard-working careerists or on board the 'gravy train'?
Jon Thompson
ReplyDelete@JonThompsonHMRC
Chief Executive of HM Revenue & Customs. Social mobility champion. Fascinated by leadership.
Social mobility champion? He doesn't say upward social mobility. He is responsible for extensive downward social mobility by making thousands of HMRC staff in relatively well paid jobs redundant and putting them on jobseekers allowance.
What vile and disgusting claim from someone responsible downward social mobility!!!
DeleteNotice how Mr Thompson doesn't claim to be fascinated by tax or fascinated with public service? (which would have been a little more reassuring to 'service' users)
If this is the kind of 'leadership' the HMRC staff are getting, its little wonder they don't understand the difference between tax and nics.
There isn't much leadership in HMRC, so is the CEO's mind on the job or elsewhere?
DeleteAnd while HMRC are putting thousands of skilled staff out of work(at a massive cost to the public purse - redundancy packages etc)they are seemingly replacing them with inexperienced and untrained staff who don't how to write a quality letter and don't know what national insurance is. How on earth does it make any sense? Which politicians are asking these difficult questions to HMRC management?
Delete17.19 redundancy packages,yes please, where are they?? Bring it on!!! No chance of that, they have told us no and they mean it, they are just intent of sickening everyone off so we jump ship and it's working!
DeleteThe leadership of HMRC inspires me about as much as Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party... and I feel Mr Corbyn is destroying a once great political institution...
ReplyDelete