Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Following our April 2018 session we had questioned whether the regional office deals HMRC had...
Conclusion
Following our April 2018 session we had questioned whether the regional office deals HMRC had struck would offer sufficient flexibility to cope if plans did not work out as intended.38 In our 2020 evidence session HMRC told us that it expects to have more 31 C&AG’s Report, Figure 18 32 Qq 66, 69 33 HMRC, Annual Report and Accounts 2019 to 2020, HC 891, November 2020 34 Qq 68, 70–71 35 Committee of Public Accounts, The HMRC Estate, Fifty-third Report of Session 2016–17, HC 891 ,29 April 2017; Committee of Public Accounts, HMRC’s Performance in 2016–17, Twelfth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 456, 12 January 2018; Committee concerns raised in the April 2018 evidence session summarised in letter dated 6 June 2018 from Chair to HMRC Permanent Secretary 36 Q69 37 Letter dated 3 December from HMRC Permanent Secretary to Chair 38 Committee concerns raised in the April 2018 evidence session summarised in Letter dated 6 June 2018 from Chair to HMRC Permanent Secretary HMRC performance 2019–20 13 flexible working arrangements for its staff in the future, which will reduce its need for office space. It acknowledged that many more of its staff are likely to spend, say, two or three days a week working at home if they want to, and that this would affect the amount of office space it needed. However, the Department explained that in general its regional centres are “government hubs” that provide a great deal of flexibility in terms of who occupies them. For example, HMRC told us that it currently lends some of its estate in Croydon to the Department for Work & Pensions.39
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2021 3.2 The department is satisfied that its estates strategy continues to offer value for money in the light of the likely short- and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the department’s requirement for office space and on office rents. 3.3 Before making contractual commitments for its regional centres, the department obtained independent qualified professional advice which confirmed that the flexible lease terms they negotiated offer the best balance of value when building modern offices in locations with a large long-term government presence. It also built in terms enabling the department to sublet space if needed and build in future flexibility. 3.4 While the experience of working during the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have longer term implications for ways of working, the department expects to continue to be an office-based organisation, requiring high-quality workspaces where people can work together and develop their careers. The department will review what this means in terms of space requirements and work with the Government Property Agency to ensure space freed up by HMRC is made available to other departments who wish to secure long-term space, to support the government’s Places for Growth Programme. The high quality of the department’s regional centre office accommodation, and their prime location in Government Hubs, mean that they are eminently suitable for use by other government departments and there has already been demand from other departments for space in HMRC’s regional centres. 3.5 The lease terms negotiated by the department ensure optimum rental costs in the light of the expected long-term occupation of the offices by HMRC and other government departments.