Memorandum from the Public and Commercial
Services Union (PCS)
The Public and Commercial Services union represents
300,000 members in the civil service and related areas including
over 80,000 who are employed by HM Revenue and Customs.
PCS welcomes the PAC's timely meeting on the
"Tax obligations of older people" and would be grateful
if the committee would consider this memorandum and suggested
questions.
HMRC are currently undergoing a workforce change
programme which could see 25,000 job cuts and over 200 office
closures by 2011. We have serious concerns about the effect this
is having on our members' ability to continue delivering a quality
service to the public.
We are concerned at moves to reduce the opening
days of tax enquiry centres. This is happening despite repeated
commitments having been given in response to concerns raised by
MP's that face-to-face advice will still be available to taxpayers
and claimants in all localities where they can get it now.
59 tax enquiry centres have already been
announced for reduced opening and HMRC is considering rolling
this out across all offices.
These offices primarily deal with some of the
most vulnerable people in society such as the elderly, migrant
workers and tax credit claimants.
The elderly regularly require access to face-to-face
services. For example they will use the offices to assist with
a R27 form (potential repayment to the estate of the deceased).
It would be distressing for a widow or widower stood at a closed
office door at such an emotional time of their lives.
Increasingly the public are being encouraged
to call HMRC's contact centres for tax queries. It is concerning
that while calls have increased by six million over the last three
years staff at these offices have only increased by three. Even
if there was the capacity, PCS do not believe that forcing older
people to deal with their queries by telephone or even the internet
is an adequate alternative.
PCS would like members of the PAC to ask the
following questions:
— Has HMRC investigated the impact of the
decision to reduce the opening of enquiry centres on older people
who access the service?
— Has any work been undertaken to identify
the demographics of service users?
— What evidence is there to suggest that
older people would prefer to use telephone or internet services
rather than face-to-face?
— What are the findings of any equality
impact assessments that have been carried out on the closure of
enquiry centres?
4 December 2009
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