Disgruntled Lemmings II - HMRC's Intranet Outed

Just to prove the point @jimharra here is today's Hmrc intranet:@gregwrightYP@EmmaAgyemang @ClaerB @JonUngoedThomas @MeadowsOnMoney @RobinEveleigh @ken_frost @HMRCVictim @dotasscandal @nearlybankrupt @_citx_ @BaloPig pic.twitter.com/sws5vmkOwJ pic.twitter.com/1oFc2oNfnr

— Formerly @HMRCon - (now blocked by naughty MelBoy) (@FormerlyHMRCon) December 5, 2019

Interestingly the Tweet makes the valid point that HMRC might consider shutting the intranet down.

This "solution" has form, way back in 2007 I wrote about the HMRC staff discussion website (not on the HMRC system) Disgruntled Lemmings, which itself was shut down in 2007.

Take a look :).

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.

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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"

2018 People Survey - Engagement Falls

A loyal reader has just posted this:

"2018 People Survey Main Results:

Engagement figures DOWN in 7 out of 9 Sections

64% filled in survey...DOWN 3% from last year ever after all the bullying to fill it in.
Overall engagement figure is down 1%....senior management will be gutted about that...that's their headline figure.

The main dissatisfaction is with pay 22%.....Leadership 38%....and the useless learning and development 54%.

Jon Thompson has already come out with the usual waffle....."disapointing results...but great to see brilliant HMRC values....the Intranet comments section is already filling up.

No senior management or brown nosed corporate communications to be seen on the comments section....they will give it a few days....and then start the spin."

 Does anyone have a link to the actual results please?

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"

AA's To Get 4%+ Pay Rise?

As per a loyal reader:

"Intranet reply from Jon Thompson in his blog :..."We are upping the AA pay by at least 4% this coming year"

Why you may ask ??

Because the pay is so low in HMRC that the department is forced to pay an in-year increase to AA grade staff just to meet the same national minimum wage it is the department’s job to enforce."

Is this for real?

I can't find an outside source?

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"

HMRC's £3M Bonuses

Last year HMRC paid out £3M in bonuses to staff, the average bonus payment to employees was just under £250.

However, at the top end two staff received between £15,000 and £20,000, while another 17 received an extra £12,500.

I don't doubt that many were well deserved. However, given that the organisation is failing, I wonder if the top end payments were quite so appropriate?

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"

HMRC Reneges On A Promise

HMRC staff at Sidlaw House in Dundee Technology Park had been told by HMRC that they would move over to the DWP to undertake Universal Credit work over the next three years.

However, HMRC has changed its plans and staff have now been told that no positions can be guaranteed with the DWP once the HMRC’s Tax Credits work in Dundee ends in three years’ time.

Dundee West MP Chris Law is quoted by The Courier:

“This is a devastating betrayal for the highly-skilled staff at Sidlaw House, many of whom have dedicated years of loyal service to HMRC, and I share their anger and disappointment in this Tory U-Turn following our campaign in 2015 that had secured work at the offices.

The UK Government gave me written assurances then that the staff at Sidlaw House would definitely be transferred to Universal Credit Services in the DWP, assurances that they have now ripped up.

This disgraceful decision by the Tories proves once again that they are more interested in needless cuts than protecting the jobs and livelihoods of the people of Dundee, and cannot be trusted to lead our city or our country.”

An HMRC spokesman said:

“In 2016, we announced that tax credits customer services advisers would be transferring to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP will now be able to deliver as planned without the level of additional resource it originally expected, and so the managed moves of HMRC staff to DWP will not be going ahead as planned.

We will be doing everything we can to keep their skills, knowledge and experience, either in HMRC or elsewhere in the civil service, as the tax credits work they do reduces in the years ahead.”

No apology, simply a "promise" to do "everything..to keep their skills".

Well I don't think that "promise" is worth the paper it is printed on.

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"

HMRC's Culture Zone

My thanks to a loyal reader who advised me that HMRC has launched a Values and Culture Zone for staff on the intranet.

Theoretically HMRC want staff input on how HMRC should be in terms of behaviour and environment.

Staff were asked for their thoughts, and a word cloud was produced.

All well and good, thusfar.

Unfortunately, HMRC scored a massive own goal; the word cloud was not accessible to colleagues who are visually impaired and need screen readers.

Oops!

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"

HMRC Staff Forbidden To Tidy Their Desk Drawers

I would just like to follow up on a comment posted by a loyal reader last week about desks:

"Anonymous @ 11:52. 'ANOTHER day of tea,cake and online shopping'. I have no idea where you got the information that staff on phones could ever do any of those things except on their lunch breaks, but it couldn't be more wrong: Even when computers and everything is off, we are not even allowed to give our desk drawers a long over due tidy out. The managers forbid it, whilst running around like headless chickens trying to find some unnecessary training or creep checking of work to occupy our time."

Please can someone explain to me why members of staff are not allowed to tidy their desk drawers?

That makes no sense to me at all!

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"

HMRC 101st Out of 107 In Staff Engagement

My thanks to the loyal reader who posted this comment about HMRC's ranking in the people survey:

"101st out of 107 in staff engagement, yes thats bloody success isnt it. 1 in 9 reported being bullied, 61% not investigated. 33% didnt do the survey because we knew what wad going to happen with it. Pay and conditions score little improvement. Its a whitewash, no other word for it. How do these people sleep at night. The department is in crisis, come brexit it will be in meltdown. Rearranging the Deckchairs on the Titanic. As Churchill said "success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" says it all really."

Please can someone provide me with a link to the ranking, I can't see it in the Civil Service link I posted the other day?

Thanks


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"

HMRC To Get 5,000 More Staff

A few days ago I noted that Jon Thompson was asking fro 5,000 more staff to cope with Brexit.

Well blinkey, blonkey, blimey his wish has been granted!

The 5,000 extra workers taken on next year will be employed by HMRC as it looks to implement a new border regime on leaving the EU.

The Independent reports that the Cabinet was told by David Davis many of the preparations “will be needed even in our preferred scenario of a bold and ambitious deal – for example, implementing either of our proposed customs arrangements will require investment in new systems and customs officers by HMRC.”

What could possibly go wrong?

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"

HMRC Bans Satire

My thanks to a loyal reader for posting the following comment about HMRC's new rules for the intranet:

"New rules just introduced for commenting on the staff intranet: "no sarcasm or satire". Compared with HMRC, North Korea is a veritable beacon of free speech and democracy."

Sad to see that HMRC has no sense of humour!

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"

HMRC Wants 5,000 More Staff For No Deal Brexit

HMRC boss warns up to £450m needed to cope with 'no deal' Brexit https://t.co/d2MqSc36aM

— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 25, 2017

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"

HMRC Fake Staff Survey Responses

My thanks to a loyal reader who has written to me about multiple staff survey responses being submitted by a certain manager in a certain HMRC department (the results are published on the HMRC intranet).

"...You see ***'s (redacted by Ken) group in **** was around 100 staff at that time.

At the close of the staff survey period the published response rate for ***'s group was 130 responses out of 100 people. i.e. 130%!!!!

Generally around 60 responses would be expected.

This is fully checkable as number of responses are published with the survey.

Unsurprisingly his groups scores on certain key questions were 10-15 points above the HMRC average.

The point is that apparently you can submit multiple returns on the survey (the system does not stop you), and many staff in ***'s team are fully aware he and a few close 'minions' submit multiple positive responses for his area and have been doing so for several years.

Unfortunately the past couple of years he has gone over quota a bit.....

It not who votes that counts. It's who xeroxes the ballot paper."

Are there no depths to which HMRC will sink?

Ironically, despite the manipulation, *** still managed to score 20%+ response rate on the bullying question (people who felt they were being bullied or had witnessed it) over his team of 100!

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"

HMRC Rigs Staff Surveys - Latest Update

My thanks to a loyal reader who posted an update the other day as to the ongoing staff survey rigging that appears to be endemic within HMRC:

"2017 Staff Survey latest :We are now being "coached" on how to fill in the survey.....we are being told that if we are going to answer negatively to a question then there are 4 other questions we must look at before deciding...if we answer "yes" to any of these then the overall question becomes positive and therefore a "yes".....you couldn't make this shit up.This survey is "voluntary"...however each manager will be asked to submit how many of thier staff took part in it for "engagement" purposes.

I never filled in these forms but now because of these underhand tactics i will...just to stick it up them....they are a shower of bastards !!!"

Please feel free (if you are able) to share your experiences of the ongoing staff survey rigging in HMRC.

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"

HMRC Rigs Staff Survey - By Threatening Office Closure

My thanks to a loyal reader who dropped me this wee note below:

"I just thought that your readers might be interested to know that at least one office in HMRC has found a way to improve the engagement results of the 2017 staff survey. 

Staff in one of the many offices ear marked to be closed in the next few years have recently been advised at team meetings that too many negative comments on the 2017 survey may result in their office being closed earlier than planned!"

Loyal readers are aware that HMRC has an "issue" with staff surveys, wrt lousy results and poor response rates. Indeed it has been noted before that certain managers try to manipulate staff into making positive comments.

However, to threaten the closure of an office is lower than disgusting!

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"

HMRC Now Moving Into Croydon Hub

HMRC staff have begun moving into 1 Ruskin Square, Croydon, as from 24 July.

CCH Daily reports that HMRC will occupy building one at Ruskin Square in Croydon on a 25-year lease. Building one is the first structure to have been completed with over 180,000 sq. ft. of office space.

The 600 HMRC staff who are already based in Croydon will be part of the move to the new regional hub.

HMRC said:

"As part of our transformation programme, the existing Croydon office will be closing by late 2017 and staff will relocate to the new regional centre development.

It is a new building and part of the Ruskin Square development in Croydon next to East Croydon station. It has been chosen for its easy-to-reach location, with excellent transport links and quick access to Central London and a design which will provide HMRC with the digital infrastructure required by a modern tax authority."

Good luck to all who sail in her!

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"

Welcome To Croydon - HMRC Regional Hub Summer Opening

HMRC has confirmed that it will move staff into its first regional hub in Croydon in south London this summer and plans to open the remaining 12 regional centres by 2022.

In a statement HMRC are quoted by CCH:

‘We are now very close to being able to announce the locations of a number of our regional centres – and we expect to have announced the majority of them by the end of the summer.

The nature of negotiations means that it is difficult to provide an exact date.

We have promised our staff that we will tell them first of the location as soon as we are able to, but we plan to provide updates too.’

Ironically the headquarters of HMRC will remain in Whitehall!

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"

HMRC Staff In Dundee To Be Moved

Last week it emerged that 34 HMRC employees working at the offices at Caledonian House in Greenmarket were offered voluntary redundancy.

CCH reports that the ‘majority’ of HMRC workers in Dundee will be moved elsewhere in the city as part of a wider overhaul of staffing in the tax authority’s offices,

An HMRC spokesperson said:

‘HMRC has been working hard to avoid compulsory redundancies since we first announced that offices would be closing in November 2015.

On 22 June, we launched a voluntary redundancy scheme for people currently working in offices due to close between December 2017 and March 2018.

Every person in these offices has had the opportunity to hold a one-to-one meeting with their manager to look at whether they can move to another HMRC office. The people being offered voluntary redundancy are those who, following the one-to-one discussions, are confirmed as being outside of reasonable daily travel of another HMRC office.’ 

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"

HMRC Takes Up Farming

My thanks to a loyal reader who posted about a visit to Hull yesterday by Gerry Dorby (Assistant Director of Risk and Intelligence at HMRC).

"Just been told that Gerry Dorby was asked, at a SLT meeting today in Hull, a series of questions from staff (AOs and Band Os). 

One was, with the digitalisation of data gathering coming into effect soon, where will this leave AOs? 

His answer: they'll be farmed out to other departments. 

Another question: how does he see morale and well being going in Hull as it gets closer to closing? 

Answer: well, he apparently answered another question entirely, completely side stepping it, before adding "why would anyone complain, there's loads of work to do". 

He then said he had "no idea" where the regional office in Leeds will be, either exact location or time wise. "I promise, as soon as I know, you will"., he said. 

This is as rumours fly that Wellington Place will house the Leeds staff (and what's left of Hull's) from 2019."

Therefore it seems that HMRC has taken up "farming".

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"

Trouble In Hull

My thanks to a loyal reader who posted this comment the other day, warning about a possible "AO dump" in Hull:

"So, Gerry Dorby visited Cherry Court in Hull a week or two ago.

The first floor of the building holds the RIS section, and all ten or so teams were recently "re-structured" because, officially, Jenni Cooper had some problem with too many teams, but in reality it was done because A) She wanted to leave people doing something she'd ordered before taking maternity leave, and B) to split up people who were seen as talking too much.

When Dorby came, he noted that he wanted as many AOs "out the door" as soon as possible, adding that the floor was "far too noisy" still.

This was on a Friday when there were, apparently, very few people in.

He is also making it his mission to get production up - even though it already as high as it can be, I've been told..."

It is not clear as to whether the HMRC AO "dump" is redundancy or moving staff to the DWP.

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"

HMRC's Property Plans Are Shite - It's Official

The Public Accounts Committee has poured scorn on HMRC's "plans" to save more than £500m by condensing its sprawling office estate into just a handful of giant hubs.

PAC doesn't think that the 10-year scheme to reduce HMRC’s 170 offices to 13 regional bases in city centres, along with four specialist centres and a London headquarters will deliver the expected economies.

PAC also noted that closing down offices would damage local economies, with some offices being major employers in the areas.

The Telegraph quoted PAC:

"HMRC has yet to demonstrate it has a realistic and affordable plan to deliver such a radical change to its estate, and we do not believe that it needs to be based in expensive cities across the UK”.

In other words the plans, if they exist, are shite!

PAC, for good measure, also warned about the effects on staff:

“It already experiences too high a level of staff turnover with 5,000 to 6,000 staff leaving a year and it will take time to recruit and train staff in new regional centres.”

HMRC said that it will "consider" the report.

Snort!

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"