Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Yet again customer service has collapsed and HMRC’s recovery plans are not clear.
Conclusion
Yet again customer service has collapsed and HMRC’s recovery plans are not clear. For over a decade this Committee has repeatedly reported on HMRC’s inadequate levels of customer service. Following an examination by this Committee in 2016, HMRC’s customer service improved, but since 2017–18 it has been declining. The decline in performance accelerated in 2020–21 as HMRC diverted resources to its COVID-19 response and UK’s transition from the EU. HMRC told us that its call handling performance had improved in 2021–22, but there were still long delays in responding to correspondence. Since HMRC was established in 2005, its staffing levels have reduced by around 40%. HMRC told us that its customer service resources had been reducing over time and that it was resourced to give a “decent” rather than a “brilliant” service. HMRC’s strategy for customer service is to discourage the type of calls that do not change people’s tax outcomes or move such calls online. We are concerned whether this strategy is deliverable. As the Committee reported in 2016, HMRC tried a similar approach before, but it was overly optimistic about reductions in calls, with service levels collapsing when it cut staffing. HMRC is not publicly reporting call handling speeds for 2021–22 and has not a set a target for its correspondence response time measure. We will continue to scrutinise HMRC’s response times until confident that HMRC is sustaining acceptable service levels. 8 HMRC Performance in 2020–21 Recommendation: HMRC should, in its Treasury Minute response, explain: • the service levels it is aiming to provide and by when, including for the time taken to answer calls and respond to post, and commit to publishing outturn against these measures; • how it has tested the realism of its customer service plans; and • its contingency plans if the numbers of taxpayers writing and calling exceed forecast levels.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
6: PAC conclusion: Yet again customer service has collapsed and HMRC’s recovery plans are not clear. 6a: PAC recommendation: HMRC should, in its Treasury Minute response, explain: • the service levels it is aiming to provide and by when, including for the time taken to answer calls and respond to post, and commit to publishing outturn against these measures; 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2022 6.2 HMRC have been working through the stocks of correspondence that built up while the department’s resources were deployed on the COVID schemes, whilst keeping helpline service levels stable. Correspondence stock is on track to reduce to around 2 million by the end of Q4, back to pre-pandemic levels and to a level that should enable HMRC to achieve its service standards going forward. Performance across core service lines will have recovered by the start of 2022-23. Some other work areas will continue to recover in Q1 2022-23. HMRC have used some initiatives to help reduce correspondence stock levels; see paragraph 6.15 below for details. 6.3 HMRC’s expected performance levels and commitments for 2022-23, agreed with HM Treasury and ministers, will be presented in the Department’s Outcome Delivery Plan, to be published early in 2022-23. 6.4 HMRC publish performance data monthly and quarterly. This includes: • Percentage of Telephony Advisor Attempts Handled (AAH) • Average Speed of Answer (ASA) • Customers waiting more than 10 minutes for their telephone call to be answered Correspondence: percentage worked within 15 working days of receipt 6.5 AAH is HMRC’s primary telephony performance measure. It shows the percentage of those customers who want to speak to an advisor who get to do so (excludes calls handled by automated systems). 6.6 ASA measures the average time that customers wait for a reply. It captures service levels for customers who join a telephony queue (excludes those played a busy message). 6.7 Customer service on the phones is now measured by combining AAH, NetEasy and Customer Satisfaction; ASA is a supporting measure.