Supplementary memorandum from Paul Gray,
HMRC
Q90 (Mr Prentice)
How many complaints have you had about the enforcement of the
National Minimum Wage?
The Department has received 1950 complaints
in 2006-07 from workers that their employer has not paid them
the NMW and we have successfully identified arrears in 52% of
cases. In 2005-06 we received 2,141 complaints and identified
arrears in 47% of cases.
In 2006-07 we have received 12 complaints to
date about our administration of NMW.
Q96 (Mr Prentice) The Committee asked for
an explanation for the increase in complaints against debt management
and enforcement from 3,800 in 2004-05 to 5,300 in 2005-06 as disclosed
in HMRC's 2005-06 Annual Report
The figure of complaints in Debt Management
& Banking (DMB) quoted in the Board's Report for 2004-05 is
incorrect and should in fact be 4351. We apologise for this error.
We use complaints as a valuable tool to help
us improve our business. We distinguish between complaints at
Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 1 is a complaint we can deal with quickly
in a local office. A Tier 2 complaint is one where the customer
remains dissatisfied and asks for a review at a higher level.
Such complaints are dealt with by a specialist team.
After the creation of HMRC, the management of
DMB put a priority on identifying and learning from complaints.
We established that Tier 1 complaints were not always being recorded
(because they were resolved quickly and to the customer's satisfaction).
Improvements were put in place to ensure that the recording process
captured all complaints, whether Tier 1 or Tier 2. We believe
that the better recording of complaints has led to the increased
volume in 2005-06.
This information is for direct tax complaints
only. Complaints on debt management issues arising purely on indirect
tax cases are included in the Indirect Taxes figures. From 2007-08
this information will be available within Debt Management.
April 2007
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