PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament

451WH
HMRC Closures
26 MARCH 2013
HMRC Closures
452WH
[Catherine McKinnell]
(Mr Turner) on securing this afternoon’s extremely timely
and important debate. His record of assiduously standing
up for his constituents and their interests is well known
to the House. The issue of HMRC closures is clearly of
particular importance to the people living on the Isle of
Wight, given its geographical isolation from the mainland.
He set out clearly and carefully the potential impact of
HMRC’s proposals on his constituents. I look forward
to hearing the Minister’s reply and how he intends to
ensure that such problems and issues are mitigated and
addressed.
The debate is timely; we heard only two weeks ago
about HMRC’s proposals to change the way in which it
supports customers who need extra help. I use the word
“customers”, because that is the language deployed by
HMRC and, no doubt, the Minister will use it in his
reply, but as the Public Accounts Committee has frequently
articulated, those who come into contact with HMRC
have little choice about whether they do so. Many of
those people—an estimated 1.5 million—find dealing
with HMRC difficult because they have a disability or a
mental health condition; they have low literacy or numeracy
skills; they do not speak or read English; they do not
have the confidence or capacity to deal with what can be
a very complex situation; or because of a combination
of any or all of the above. Ensuring that such people
have access to the best possible support and advice in
their dealings with HMRC is, of course, something that
we all wish for, and we on the Opposition side of the
House have regularly advocated that.
Mr Mark Williams: I want to add something to the
mix of problems that the hon. Lady identified. In my
constituency, we have a problem with broadband: 20%
of my constituency is not broadband-enabled. The assertion
is made that a lot more of the transactions and discussions
can take place over the internet, but that simply is not
available for many of my constituents. The Government
are doing some sterling work to change that, but a
solution for my constituents is some way off.
Catherine McKinnell: I thank the hon. Gentleman
for raising that issue, which is very important, not only
for areas without access to good broadband that allowed
online dealings with HMRC not to end in utter frustration
—even when people have broadband, it may not be
sufficiently fast—but for constituents who do not even
have computers or have access to them. I will mention
later a concern in my constituency, which is that many
public services, such as libraries and community centres,
are struggling, and some are set to close, but many
provide the only access that some people have to a
computer. Although we would love to live in a digital
age, we are not there yet.
We heard from the hon. Member for Isle of Wight, in
his excellent contribution, about the 10-week consultation
that was launched on 14 March, and the proposal to
close every one of the 281 inquiry centres that provide
face-to-face advice for customers. The centres are apparently
to be replaced by “more accessible”, “targeted” and
“tailored” services for people who need extra help in
engaging with HMRC, either all the time, or in response
to a particular life event, such as a bereavement. It is
proposed that the new service will include specialist
expert help over the telephone by a new team, and
face-to-face support delivered by a mobile team of
advisers, who can meet customers at suitably convenient
locations in the community, or in their home.
That issue is particularly pertinent to me, not only in
my capacity as shadow Exchequer Secretary, responding
to the debate, but because I represent the esteemed
people of Newcastle upon Tyne North, and HMRC
proposes to trial or pilot the new idea on them. From 3 June
to 31 October, the pilot will run throughout my region
of the north-east, and 13 inquiry centres will be closed
in the process. For the record, those centres comprise
Alnwick, Bishop Auckland, Hexham, Darlington, Durham,
Middlesbrough, Morpeth, Newcastle, Stockton, Sunderland
and—although I, and many proud Yorkshiremen and
women, might quibble over the Minister’s geographical
knowledge of the north-east—Bridlington, Scarborough
and York. Apparently, depending on the outcome of
the consultation and the pilot, HMRC states that it will
look to introduce the new service across the UK in
February 2014, resulting in the closure of the remaining
inquiry centres between March and May next year—
including the one in the Jobcentre Plus in Newport, on
the Isle of Wight.
The proposal will clearly also have a direct impact on
the 1,300 HMRC staff employed in inquiry centres
across the country, although I understand the intention
is that many of them will be redeployed either within
HMRC or to other parts of the civil service, and that is
to be welcomed. As I stated earlier, I fully support the
notion of providing a better service to the most vulnerable
people with whom HMRC comes into contact. I welcome
the fact that HMRC has said that it is working with
TaxAid, Tax Help for Older People, the Low Incomes
Tax Reform Group, Citizens Advice, Gingerbread, the
Child Poverty Action Group and Age UK as part of the
consultation on what additional support may be required
and how it might be delivered. However, I want to
probe the Minister on exactly how he thinks that HMRC
will be able to improve its performance in that area,
given the context in which the Department is operating.
I have previously told the Minister—indeed, only last
month in this Chamber—that serious concerns remain
about the customer service provided by HMRC. The
National Audit Office report on HMRC’s customer
service performance, published in December, revealed
genuinely troubling findings about the way in which
HMRC treats some of its customers. To remind hon.
Members, 20 million telephone calls went unanswered
by HMRC last year, costing customers £33 million in
call charges; that is in addition to the estimated £103 million
cost of customers’ wasted time. As I have stated previously,
that is particularly worrying for people on low incomes
who cannot afford to sit waiting on the telephone, and
for small businesses that could be making much better
and more profitable use of their time, which is particularly
important in the current economic climate.
The Public Accounts Committee report on HMRC
customer service published earlier this month was equally
scathing, describing the Department as having an “abysmal
record” in this area. Those concerns have been echoed
by eminent professional bodies, such as the Chartered
Institute of Taxation and the Institute of Chartered
Accountants in England and Wales, whose members’
surveys have found significant concerns regarding the
customer service performance of HMRC, which often
fails to meet its basic responsibilities.