This is a House of Commons Committee report, with recommendations to government. The Government has two months to respond.
This is the full report, read the report summary.
HMRC employs around 64,000 people and is responsible for administering the UK’s tax system. For 2022–23, HMRC’s strategic objectives were to: collect the right tax and pay out the right financial support; make it easy to get tax right and hard to bend or break the rules; maintain taxpayers’ consent through fair treatment and protect society from harm; make HMRC a great place to work; and support wider government economic aims through a resilient, agile tax administration system. In 2022–23, HMRC reported £814.0 billion of tax revenues, an increase of £82.9 billion (11.3%) compared with 2021–22. HMRC estimates the tax revenue generated from its tax compliance activities (compliance yield) in 2022–23 was £34 billion, up 10% compared with 2021–22 (£30.8 billion). It estimated the tax gap (the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid) to be £739.3 billion in 2021–22, the latest year available, equal to 4.8% of total theoretical tax liabilities. HMRC paid out £34 billion in 2022–23, including £8.8 billon of Personal Tax Credits and £11.6 billion of Child Benefit. As part of administering the tax system HMRC is also responsible for managing tax reliefs, including the research and development reliefs available to businesses.
Corrigendum: In the Introduction page 4, the sentence beginning “It estimated the tax gap…” should instead read “It estimated the tax gap (the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid) to be £35.8 billion, or 4.8% of total theoretical liabilities (£739.3 billion) in 2021-22, the latest year available.”
1. HMRC’s customer service levels are at an all-time low because of conscious choices made by HMRC and HM Treasury. Since we last reported in January 2023, performance has continued to deteriorate, particularly for telephony services. In 2022–23, 62.7% of callers waited more than 10 minutes to speak to an adviser, up from 46.3% in 2021–22. Demand for HMRC’s phone and post services is increasing by more than 10% a year, driven by increases in the number of people paying tax, due to fiscal drag, and the complexity of their tax affairs. HMRC says it does not have the resources to meet this demand at expected service standards. It is instead insisting callers use digital services where they are available, and is closing helplines and redirecting callers to online guidance. HMRC insists it has good-quality digital services for customers to manage their taxes but this is not the experience shared by the taxpayers and their agents that got in touch with us.
Recommendation 1: HM Treasury and HMRC should ensure HMRC’s customer services are sufficiently resourced in the short as well as the longer-term so that it can meet its service standards until its digital services adequately address the needs of taxpayers and their agents.
2. While we recognise the progress HMRC is making to tackle tax debt, we are concerned that it should have sufficient checks to protect taxpayers from being pursued too forcefully. HMRC says it has now worked through the debts created during the pandemic but still new tax debt is being created at record levels, driven by self-employed people and small businesses in financial difficulties. It is reassuring that HMRC appears to be staying on top of these new debts, with the debt balance expected to reduce slightly over the course of 2023–24. It is also positive that HMRC is driving more value from the external agencies it uses to collect debts, with the rate of return improving from £23:£1 to £32:£1. However, we have heard about cases where taxpayers are being pursued repeatedly for often trivial amounts. While HMRC should make every effort to recover its debts, this should be proportionate to the size of the debt and the circumstances of the taxpayer. We are not convinced that customers have an easily accessible and responsive route via which they can raise concerns about HMRC’s debt collection activities.
Recommendation 2: HMRC should:
a) establish a clear, easily accessible route for taxpayers to report issues they face when dealing with debt collection agencies working on behalf of HMRC; and
b) report back to the Committee with a summary of any issues raised and how HMRC has dealt with them.
3. HMRC is not taking seriously enough the distress caused to innocent citizens when companies use the wrong address to register their business. One particular case involved a taxpayer receiving more than 10,000 letters due to an agent registering companies for VAT at the taxpayer’s address rather than a serviced office that shared the same postcode. Despite this Committee repeatedly raising this case, HMRC was unable to prevent further letters being sent out to the wrong address, including demands for payment, and even now HMRC cannot guarantee further letters will not be sent. We are concerned that there will be other cases not brought to our attention that remain unresolved. These cases create particular distress for innocent citizens receiving these demands for payments, and an extraordinary amount of time and effort to resolve with HMRC. While HMRC considers this particular case to be a “bizarre accident”, it accepts there is a more widespread issue with bogus registrations from companies seeking to defraud HMRC. It expects new powers for Companies House will help the entire system tackle this issue.
Recommendation 3: We expect HMRC to take serious action against companies registering with the wrong addresses. HMRC should report back to the Committee on:
4. We are concerned that HMRC’s approach to serious abuse is not deterring criminal activity sufficiently, while at the same time its approach to tackling IR35 is deterring legitimate economic activity. HMRC says that it is increasingly focusing its criminal prosecutions on the most serious cases, with the number of criminal prosecutions falling from 691 in 2019–20 to 240 in 2022–23. But we are concerned that if fewer criminals are prosecuted this sends the wrong message. In the case of civil disputes over the application of IR35 rules, HMRC said that it has been using litigation through the courts to test the employment status rules and that it may need to update its guidance and tools on the basis of the courts’ judgements. HMRC said that the reforms to IR35 shift the burden of determining employment status from workers to employers. Since the IR35 reforms, employers have moved between 150,000 and 200,000 workers from contractor status onto their own payroll. However, we are concerned that a lack of confidence in how to apply the rules, together with HMRC’s tough approach when taxpayers make mistakes, is deterring companies from using contractors unnecessarily.
Recommendation 4: HMRC should:
a) provide to the Committee further detail of the value of tax at stake in cases of criminal prosecutions in recent years and further explanation of how HMRC is using fewer prosecutions to achieve greater deterrence of egregious non-compliance;
b) provide to the Committee the number of active litigation cases for IR35 and the amount of tax at risk; and
c) assess the impact of HMRC’s approach to administering IR35 reforms on the use of contractors in different sectors.
5. HMRC has been too slow to identify the scale of error and fraud in research and development tax reliefs and its approach to tackling offenders does not sufficiently target those committing serious fraud over those making honest mistakes. We have been highlighting the risk of error and fraud on these schemes for a number of years. HMRC has improved its methodology and now has a more accurate picture of the level of abuse. Its estimate of error and fraud on the schemes in 2020–21 has more than trebled, from £336 million to £1.1 billion. On the scheme for small- and medium-sized enterprises, it has found one-quarter of the value of claims were non-compliant. However, HMRC’s approach to recovering this error and fraud is too passive and places too much reliance on companies correcting their own previous mistakes. We are not convinced that it is bearing down strongly enough on those companies, and the agents representing them, that have been consistently abusing the system.
Recommendation 5: Now that it understands the true scale of error and fraud, HMRC should ensure it goes back over previous years. This should involve:
6. HMRC’s reliance on the tax gap measure is not providing a sufficiently stretching target for its compliance performance. The tax gap is subject to a variety of factors, not just HMRC’s compliance performance, and its relationship to compliance yield is not straightforward. In 2021–22, the latest year available, HMRC estimated the tax gap had remained at 4.8% of all liabilities, despite compliance yield as a proportion of theoretical tax liabilities declining in that year. The lag in measuring the tax gap means that HMRC must pay closer attention to compliance yield as an indicator of performance in the short term. In 2022–23, HMRC’s compliance yield was £34 billion, against a target of £36 billion, set at a level to maintain the tax gap. HMRC expects to miss its compliance yield target again in both 2023–24 and 2024–25, and identified inflation as negatively affecting its performance on compliance yield. We are concerned that HMRC places too much reliance on the tax gap measure to justify its performance, rather than focusing on achieving its compliance yield targets, which are a more direct measure of its performance.
Recommendation 6: HMRC needs to demonstrate that its compliance yield target is sufficiently ambitious to provide stretch in HMRC’s performance each year and to take account of inflation in the tax base.
1. On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on its performance in 2022–23.1 HMRC published its annual report and accounts for 2022–23 in July 2023.
2. HMRC employs around 64,000 people and is responsible for administering the UK’s tax system. HMRC reported total tax revenue of £814.0 billion in 2022–23, an increase of £82.9 billion (11.3%) compared with 2021–22, reflecting the impact of inflation and the freezing of tax bands and thresholds. For 2022–23, HMRC’s strategic objectives were to: collect the right tax and pay out the right financial support; make it easy to get tax right and hard to bend or break the rules; maintain taxpayers’ consent through fair treatment and protect society from harm; make HMRC a great place to work; and support wider government economic aims through a resilient, agile tax administration system.2 HMRC estimates the tax revenue generated from its compliance activities (compliance yield) in 2022–23 was £34 billion, up 10% compared with 2021–22 (£30.8 billion) but £2 billion below its target. HMRC paid out £34 billion in 2022–23, including £8.8 billon of Personal Tax Credits and £11.6 billion of Child Benefit. As part of administering the tax system HMRC is also responsible for managing tax reliefs, including the research and development reliefs available to businesses. HMRC did not meet any of the service standards it set to measure its customer service performance in 2022–23.3
3. Since our last report on HMRC’s performance, in January 2023, HMRC’s customer services have continued to deteriorate and remain well below its service standards. While it has made some improvements in handling post, HMRC highlighted particular problems in its telephony services.4 It took on average 16:24 minutes in 2022–23 to answer the phone, up from 12:22 minutes in 2021–22 and with 62.7% of callers waiting more than 10 minutes to speak to an adviser, up from 46.3% in 2021–22. This proportion has increased every year since 2018–19.5 We received an unprecedented number of written submissions to our inquiry, with many highlighting HMRC’s deteriorating customer services and increasing delays as a key issue affecting businesses and the efficiency of the wider economy.6 The Chartered Institute of Taxation told us that HMRC’s service levels are the single greatest concern expressed by its members, and that they are having a detrimental impact on cash flow, the costs of doing business, attitudes to tax compliance and trust in the tax system.7
4. HMRC said that demand for its phone and post services is increasing, with volumes rising at more than 10% a year.8 This is being driven by an increasing number of taxpayers, as tax bands are frozen and wages increase, with an estimated 4 million additional income taxpayers expected between 2022–23 and 2028–29 and 3 million more moving to the higher rate of income tax. Tax affairs are also getting more complex, with more people paying tax on dividends and investment income.9 HMRC said it does not have the resources to meet this level of demand. It said that more than half of the phone calls it receives are capable of being serviced through an online service instead, including webinars, YouTube videos, chatbots and web chat.10 It has set itself a target to reduce incoming phone and post contact by 30% by 2024–25, compared to 2021–22. HMRC said that if it can achieve this reduction it should have the resources to meet its service standards.11
5. HMRC said that to achieve this shift onto digital services, it is increasingly encouraging, supporting and insisting that customers use digital services where they are available. It said that the majority of customers already engage with their taxes digitally and that HMRC provides safe, secure and good-quality digital services.12 However, several organisations that wrote to us felt that HMRC had implemented its digital services poorly and with inadequate testing, and that they lacked the functionality needed for taxpayers and agents to use effectively.13 HMRC said there are still a lot of people that do not know about the array of digital services that it provides and that it needs to draw people’s attention to them. HMRC told us about some of its interventions to insist customers use digital services, for example by closing the VAT registration helpline and redirecting callers to the Self Assessment helpline to online guidance. It said these measures are needed to free up capacity to deal with callers with more complex tax affairs, including from tax agents, for which it said it does not have the same array of digital services available.14
6. HMRC’s debt balance has significantly increased compared to before the pandemic.15 Its tax debt balance was £43.9 billion at 31 March 2023, up £4.7 billion since 31 March 2022 and significantly higher than the pre-pandemic level, when it was typically around £14 billion.16 HMRC said that it has now worked through the high level of debt that was created during the pandemic but now new debt is being created at record levels. It said that this is being driven by a large increase in self-employed people and small businesses not paying what they owe in income tax and VAT, typically due to financial distress rather than deliberate non-payment. HMRC said that in 2023–24 it has managed to clear this new debt slightly faster than it is arising and expects the debt balance at the end of 2023–24 to be slightly lower than at the start. It told us, though, that there are no indications, at least in the short term, that the debt balance will return to pre-pandemic levels. In the 2023 Autumn Statement, HMRC received funding for 700 additional debt officers to reduce the debt balance further, which it said it would use to fund both more in-house provision and external debt collection agencies.17
7. HMRC has recently increased its use of external agencies.18 In 2022–23 it spent £34.0 million on agencies to recover tax debt, up from £20.6 million in 2021–22.19 A new contract with these agencies from September 2022 means the rate of return that HMRC gets from this spending has improved, from £23 of debt recovered for every £1 spent to £32 for every £1 spent.20 HMRC said it has long-standing relationships with some of the agencies, which has allowed it to streamline the processes and help the agencies to be more effective. We asked HMRC about the accountability arrangements for these agencies. HMRC told us that they are all part of a Government framework and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and that HMRC agrees and oversees the letters and the processes that they follow.21 HMRC said that customers wishing to make a complaint about how they have been treated by an agency working on behalf of HMRC would do so through HMRC’s complaints procedures.22 However, we noted that in June 2023 the Adjudicator’s Office reported concerns with HMRC’s complaints procedures, with significant backlogs and increasing numbers of customers receiving no or little meaningful response from HMRC for long periods of time. HMRC said that the number of complaints has been increasing, mainly down to the time taken by HMRC to respond to queries, and that it is increasing its resources for complaints management.23
8. We have received written evidence that HMRC repeatedly pursues small debts over a number of years.24 We asked HMRC whether this was disproportionate to the size of the debt. HMRC told us it takes a risk-based approach to debt management and will pursue even small debts if it is cost-effective to do so. It said that small debts will stay on a taxpayer’s record and HMRC will periodically contact taxpayers for payment.25 Each year HMRC judges particular debts as no longer worth pursuing, either because there are no practical means of pursuing that debt or because it is not worthwhile on value-for-money or hardship grounds. In 2022–23 these revenue losses totalled £3.8 billion, up from £2.4 billion in 2021–22.26 HMRC told us it expects these losses to continue to increase as HMRC progresses with clearing its debt balance.27
9. We asked HMRC about a taxpayer who has received more than 10,000 letters from HMRC in relation to companies registered incorrectly at his address. HMRC told us it has investigated and found a foreign agent acting on behalf of overseas companies had incorrectly registered those companies for VAT at the taxpayer’s address rather than a serviced office that shared the same postcode. HMRC told us it had found no evidence of an attempt to defraud HMRC and that the incorrect registrations were a “bizarre accident”.28 HMRC said that these overseas businesses do not always understand their obligations.29 However, Borderfree Trade Limited told us HMRC’s guidance is often contradictory and sometimes incorrect.30 HMRC described some of the ways it is seeking to educate overseas companies further, including through providing Mandarin language guidance and having a liaison officer in Beijing.31
10. We have raised this case with HMRC on several occasions in the past, but the taxpayer affected has continued to receive letters, including demands for payments.32 HMRC told us that addresses on its VAT system feed through into other systems, including for customs purposes. But the corrections it has made to addresses on the VAT system have not always fed through to these other systems and HMRC accepted its systems still need to catch up. It said until they do there was still a risk that the affected taxpayer will receive further letters in error.33 HMRC said it was not confident it will recover all of the outstanding debts it is pursuing in this particular case.34
11. HMRC highlighted a more widespread problem with bogus registrations, where companies hijack taxpayers’ identities in an attempt to defraud HMRC.35 We have received written evidence on the time it takes for HMRC to resolve these cases and the distress this causes to those concerned.36 HMRC told us that Companies House has recently acquired new powers that will allow it to challenge information before it goes on its register as well as remove information. HMRC said that these changes will allow the entire system to better protect citizens from this type of fraud.37
12. We asked HMRC about how it is addressing issues created by the implementation of reforms to the IR35 rules on off-payroll working. HMRC said that the reforms to IR35 shift the burden of determining employment status from workers to employers. HMRC told us that it provides tools and guidance to ensure employers can apply the correct tax treatment to their workers.38 We asked about the impact of the reforms on certain sectors, particularly the broadcasting sector, and the restrictions the rules were placing on people working as self-employed contractors. We also raised concerns that the complexity of the rules was driving some companies overseas.39 HMRC said that since the reforms, employers have moved between 150,000 and 200,000 people from being paid through personal service companies to being on the company’s payroll.40 It said it would be HM Treasury’s role to review the impact of IR35 as a policy, although HMRC keeps under review how it is administering the policy.41
13. We asked whether HMRC’s pursuit of some IR35 cases through the courts was fair and proportionate. HMRC said it will always try to resolve disputes by agreement but that some litigation is inevitable. HMRC said it does not underestimate the stress involved when a taxpayer is facing potential litigation. It has published a litigation and settlement strategy that sets out when it will pursue a dispute through litigation.42 It said that much of the well-publicised litigation relates to cases before the reforms, and that around 70% of recent employment status disputes have been ruled in favour of HMRC.43 HMRC reports that IR35 litigation is rare, with only 22 cases heard at the First-Tier Tribunal since 2017.44 HMRC said through this litigation it has been testing the employment status rules and how they can be applied.45 It said it may need to update its guidance and tools on the basis of the courts’ judgements.46 However, HMRC did not accept that its guidance was not clear.47
14. HMRC’s approach to civil litigation contrasts with its approach to criminal prosecutions. HMRC said it is increasingly selective about when it uses its criminal investigation powers and when it seeks prosecution.48 HMRC’s criminal investigations resulted in 240 prosecutions in 2022–23. This is a significant reduction on the 691 prosecutions achieved in 2019–20.49 To pursue deliberate errors, it is now more likely to use its civil powers and penalties, including new powers to freeze accounts or get people disqualified as directors. It said it will only resort to criminal investigation and prosecution when the crimes are serious or when it needs to use criminal powers to get at the evidence. HMRC told us the reduction in criminal prosecutions is also partly due to backlogs in the criminal justice system.50
15. HMRC administers two research and development relief schemes to support companies that work on innovative projects in science and technology, one for large companies and one for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In 2022–23, businesses claimed research and development tax reliefs worth £10.2 billion.51 HMRC has previously told the Committee that the reliefs are an attractive target for abuse by companies that have not carried out any research and development or by advisors pushing the boundaries of what is eligible to be claimed.52 However, HMRC has previously underestimated the level of error and fraud in these schemes and in 2022–23 used the results of a mandatory random enquiry programme (MREP) for the first time to calculate its estimate of error and fraud. HMRC estimated the level of error and fraud in 2022–23 was £1.1 billion, or 13.3% of related expenditure. HMRC also used the results of the MREP to revise its estimate of error and fraud in 2020–21 up from £336 million (3.6%) to £1.13 billion (16.7%).53 HMRC did not restate its estimate for 2019–20 or 2021–22, but told us that it is reasonable to assume that the actual level of error and fraud in those years was significantly higher than it had estimated.54 For the SME scheme, HMRC has found 24.4% of the value of claims in 2020–21 were non-compliant, with around two-fifths of these (10% of all claims) showing indicators of fraud rather than resulting from error.55 HMRC said that it expects claimants to correct previous years’ claims where fraud or error has been identified through its compliance activity.56
16. HMRC has introduced a number of changes in response to the high levels of abuse. Since August 2023 HMRC requires companies to make all claims digitally, with more detail and endorsed by a named senior officer.57 It told us it is no longer paying claims directly to tax agents, and it now requires companies to disclose the identity of agents involved in the claim. It said that these changes should help fewer genuine claimants be subjected to HMRC’s compliance approach. HMRC has increased the number of compliance checks for research and development tax relief claims, now checking over 20% of claims compared with around 1% previously.58 HMRC told us that its increased compliance work has raised an estimated £250 million in 2022–23, but it has not estimated the impact of the new policy measures it has introduced.59
17. Organisations representing accountants and tax professionals wrote to us with concerns about the impact of HMRC’s volume compliance approach on companies.60 They felt HMRC compliance staff treated companies with suspicion and lack the necessary expertise and training to determine whether projects qualify as research and development for tax purposes. They raised concerns that HMRC’s approach was discouraging some firms from investing in research and development. HMRC told us it had needed to act in response to the high levels of error and fraud and does not accept its actions have discouraged research and development investment. It said that it needs to listen to feedback from its customers, and that the new information requirements it has introduced should allow HMRC to better target its compliance checks.61 It accepted that it does not have large numbers of engineering experts in-house but that these are typically not needed for its volume compliance work. It explained that for higher-level disputes it can bring in expertise externally or from other parts of government.62
18. The tax gap is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC and what was actually paid. HMRC estimates the tax gap in 2021–22, the latest year available, has remained at 4.8% of all liabilities. This is despite the tax revenue HMRC generated from its compliance work declining as a percentage of theoretical tax liabilities in that year.63 HMRC said that the relationship between the tax gap and compliance yield is not straightforward and that there are a variety of other factors that can affect the tax gap.64
19. HMRC said that it estimates the tax gap in accordance with best practice, and pointed to a review by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2019 as evidence of rigorous external scrutiny. It said it was always keen to improve its tax gap estimates if it can.65 HMRC said that the tax gap can only be properly measured two or three years after the year in question, and that it is best viewed over a number of years rather than a point in time.66 For assessing performance in the latest year, HMRC instead uses compliance yield to assess how effectively it is managing the tax gap in the short term.67
20. HMRC agrees a compliance yield target each year with HM Treasury and ministers, set at a level to maintain the tax gap at its current level.68 HMRC told us that this target is derived from a model endorsed by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Given how this model is set up, the target is closely linked to expected tax revenue for that year.69 We have previously expressed concern that any compliance yield projections or targets HMRC expresses in cash terms will not be sufficiently stretching during a period of high inflation.70 However, HMRC said that more employees earning more and hence paying more tax does not necessarily increase the tax gap, as there is little non-compliance associated with Pay As You Earn taxation.71 In addition, a lot of HMRC’s compliance yield comes from settling cases relating to prior years. HMRC said that this causes a lag in its compliance yield performance, which has been accentuated by increasing tax revenues due to inflation. In 2022–23, HMRC’s compliance yield was £34 billion, up 10% from the previous year but £2 billion below its target of £36 billion. HMRC said that it did not expect to hit its compliance yield targets for 2023–24 or 2024–25.72
Dame Meg Hillier, in the Chair
Olivia Blake
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
Mr Jonathan Djanogly
Mr Mark Francois
Ben Lake
Anne Marie Morris
Ms Marie Rimmer
Draft Report (HMRC performance in 2022–23), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read.
Ordered, That the draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 to 20 read and agreed to.
Summary agreed to.
Introduction agreed to.
Conclusions and recommendations agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report be the Sixteenth Report of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House.
Ordered, That embargoed copies of the Report be made available (Standing Order No. 134).
Adjourned till Monday 26 February at 3.00 p.m.
The following witnesses gave evidence. Transcripts can be viewed on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website.
Jim Harra, Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, HMRC; Justin Holliday, Chief Finance Officer and Tax Assurance Commissioner, HMRC; Angela MacDonald, Second Permanent Secretary, HMRCQ1–97
The following written evidence was received and can be viewed on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website.
HMRCS numbers are generated by the evidence processing system and so may not be complete.
1 Anonymised (HMRCSR0019)
2 Association of Accounting Technicians (HMRCSR0010)
3 Association of Taxation Technicians (HMRCSR0009)
4 Borderfree Trade Limited (HMRCSR0004)
5 Chaplin, Mr Dave (HMRCSR0023)
6 ContractorCalculator (HMRCSR0011)
7 Dibbens, David (HMRCSR0003)
8 Hillier Hopkins LLP (HMRCSR0012)
9 Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (HMRCSR0007)
10 Kelly, Michael (HMRCSR0005)
11 Loan Charge & Taxpayer Fairness APPG (HMRCSR0018)
12 Low Incomes Tax Reform Group of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (HMRCSR0017)
13 Minns, Jo (HMRCSR0021)
14 Pioneering Solutions Limited (HMRCSR0001)
15 Stocks, Mr Ian (HMRCSR0022)
16 The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) (HMRCSR0015)
17 The Investment Fraud APPG (HMRCSR0020)
18 Transparency International UK (HMRCSR0013)
All publications from the Committee are available on the publications page of the Committee’s website.
|
Number |
Title |
Reference |
|
1st |
The New Hospital Programme |
HC 77 |
|
2nd |
The condition of school buildings |
HC 78 |
|
3rd |
Revising health assessments for disability benefits |
HC 79 |
|
4th |
The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 |
HC 290 |
|
5th |
Government’s programme of waste reforms |
HC 333 |
|
6th |
Competition in public procurement |
HC 385 |
|
7th |
Resilience to flooding |
HC 71 |
|
8th |
Improving Defence Inventory Management |
HC 66 |
|
9th |
Whole of Government Accounts 2020–21 |
HC 65 |
|
10th |
HS2 and Euston |
HC 67 |
|
11th |
Reducing the harm from illegal drugs |
HC 72 |
|
12th |
Cross-government working |
HC 75 |
|
13th |
Preparedness for online safety regulation |
HC 73 |
|
14th |
Homes for Ukraine |
HC 69 |
|
Number |
Title |
Reference |
|
1st |
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2020–21 |
HC 59 |
|
2nd |
Lessons from implementing IR35 reforms |
HC 60 |
|
3rd |
The future of the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors |
HC 118 |
|
4th |
Use of evaluation and modelling in government |
HC 254 |
|
5th |
Local economic growth |
HC 252 |
|
6th |
Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts |
HC 253 |
|
7th |
Armoured Vehicles: the Ajax programme |
HC 259 |
|
8th |
Financial sustainability of the higher education sector in England |
HC 257 |
|
9th |
Child Maintenance |
HC 255 |
|
10th |
Restoration and Renewal of Parliament |
HC 49 |
|
11th |
The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in England |
HC 258 |
|
12th |
Management of PPE contracts |
HC 260 |
|
13th |
Secure training centres and secure schools |
HC 30 |
|
14th |
Investigation into the British Steel Pension Scheme |
HC 251 |
|
15th |
The Police Uplift Programme |
HC 261 |
|
16th |
Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic |
HC 29 |
|
17th |
Government’s contracts with Randox Laboratories Ltd |
HC 28 |
|
18th |
Government actions to combat waste crime |
HC 33 |
|
19th |
Regulating after EU Exit |
HC 32 |
|
20th |
Whole of Government Accounts 2019–20 |
HC 31 |
|
21st |
Transforming electronic monitoring services |
HC 34 |
|
22nd |
Tackling local air quality breaches |
HC 37 |
|
23rd |
Measuring and reporting public sector greenhouse gas emissions |
HC 39 |
|
24th |
Redevelopment of Defra’s animal health infrastructure |
HC 42 |
|
25th |
Regulation of energy suppliers |
HC 41 |
|
26th |
The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefits system |
HC 44 |
|
27th |
Evaluating innovation projects in children’s social care |
HC 38 |
|
28th |
Improving the Accounting Officer Assessment process |
HC 43 |
|
29th |
The Affordable Homes Programme since 2015 |
HC 684 |
|
30th |
Developing workforce skills for a strong economy |
HC 685 |
|
31st |
Managing central government property |
HC 48 |
|
32nd |
Grassroots participation in sport and physical activity |
HC 46 |
|
33rd |
HMRC performance in 2021–22 |
HC 686 |
|
34th |
The Creation of the UK Infrastructure Bank |
HC 45 |
|
35th |
Introducing Integrated Care Systems |
HC 47 |
|
36th |
The Defence digital strategy |
HC 727 |
|
37th |
Support for vulnerable adolescents |
HC 730 |
|
38th |
Managing NHS backlogs and waiting times in England |
HC 729 |
|
39th |
Excess Votes 2021–22 |
HC 1132 |
|
40th |
COVID employment support schemes |
HC 810 |
|
41st |
Driving licence backlogs at the DVLA |
HC 735 |
|
42nd |
The Restart Scheme for long-term unemployed people |
HC 733 |
|
43rd |
Progress combatting fraud |
HC 40 |
|
44th |
The Digital Services Tax |
HC 732 |
|
45th |
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2021–22 |
HC 1254 |
|
46th |
BBC Digital |
HC 736 |
|
47th |
Investigation into the UK Passport Office |
HC 738 |
|
48th |
MoD Equipment Plan 2022–2032 |
HC 731 |
|
49th |
Managing tax compliance following the pandemic |
HC 739 |
|
50th |
Government Shared Services |
HC 734 |
|
51st |
Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services |
HC 737 |
|
52nd |
Restoration & Renewal of the Palace of Westminster – 2023 Recall |
HC 1021 |
|
53rd |
The performance of UK Security Vetting |
HC 994 |
|
54th |
Alcohol treatment services |
HC 1001 |
|
55th |
Education recovery in schools in England |
HC 998 |
|
56th |
Supporting investment into the UK |
HC 996 |
|
57th |
AEA Technology Pension Case |
HC 1005 |
|
58th |
Energy bills support |
HC 1074 |
|
59th |
Decarbonising the power sector |
HC 1003 |
|
60th |
Timeliness of local auditor reporting |
HC 995 |
|
61st |
Progress on the courts and tribunals reform programme |
HC 1002 |
|
62nd |
Department of Health and Social Care 2021–22 Annual Report and Accounts |
HC 997 |
|
63rd |
HS2 Euston |
HC 1004 |
|
64th |
The Emergency Services Network |
HC 1006 |
|
65th |
Progress in improving NHS mental health services |
HC 1000 |
|
66th |
PPE Medpro: awarding of contracts during the pandemic |
HC 1590 |
|
67th |
Child Trust Funds |
HC 1231 |
|
68th |
Local authority administered COVID support schemes in England |
HC 1234 |
|
69th |
Tackling fraud and corruption against government |
HC 1230 |
|
70th |
Digital transformation in government: addressing the barriers to efficiency |
HC 1229 |
|
71st |
Resetting government programmes |
HC 1231 |
|
72nd |
Update on the rollout of smart meters |
HC 1332 |
|
73rd |
Access to urgent and emergency care |
HC 1336 |
|
74th |
Bulb Energy |
HC 1232 |
|
75th |
Active travel in England |
HC 1335 |
|
76th |
The Asylum Transformation Programme |
HC 1334 |
|
77th |
Supported housing |
HC 1330 |
|
78th |
Resettlement support for prison leavers |
HC 1329 |
|
79th |
Support for innovation to deliver net zero |
HC 1331 |
|
80th |
Progress with Making Tax Digital |
HC 1333 |
|
1st Special Report |
Sixth Annual Report of the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts |
HC 50 |
|
2nd Special Report |
Seventh Annual Report of the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts |
HC 1055 |
|
Number |
Title |
Reference |
|
1st |
Low emission cars |
HC 186 |
|
2nd |
BBC strategic financial management |
HC 187 |
|
3rd |
COVID-19: Support for children’s education |
HC 240 |
|
4th |
COVID-19: Local government finance |
HC 239 |
|
5th |
COVID-19: Government Support for Charities |
HC 250 |
|
6th |
Public Sector Pensions |
HC 289 |
|
7th |
Adult Social Care Markets |
HC 252 |
|
8th |
COVID 19: Culture Recovery Fund |
HC 340 |
|
9th |
Fraud and Error |
HC 253 |
|
10th |
Overview of the English rail system |
HC 170 |
|
11th |
Local auditor reporting on local government in England |
HC 171 |
|
12th |
COVID 19: Cost Tracker Update |
HC 173 |
|
13th |
Initial lessons from the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic |
HC 175 |
|
14th |
Windrush Compensation Scheme |
HC 174 |
|
15th |
DWP Employment support |
HC 177 |
|
16th |
Principles of effective regulation |
HC 176 |
|
17th |
High Speed 2: Progress at Summer 2021 |
HC 329 |
|
18th |
Government’s delivery through arm’s-length bodies |
HC 181 |
|
19th |
Protecting consumers from unsafe products |
HC 180 |
|
20th |
Optimising the defence estate |
HC 179 |
|
21st |
School Funding |
HC 183 |
|
22nd |
Improving the performance of major defence equipment contracts |
HC 185 |
|
23rd |
Test and Trace update |
HC 182 |
|
24th |
Crossrail: A progress update |
HC 184 |
|
25th |
The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2020–21 – Fraud and error in the benefits system |
HC 633 |
|
26th |
Lessons from Greensill Capital: accreditation to business support schemes |
HC 169 |
|
27th |
Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme |
HC 635 |
|
28th |
Efficiency in government |
HC 636 |
|
29th |
The National Law Enforcement Data Programme |
HC 638 |
|
30th |
Challenges in implementing digital change |
HC 637 |
|
31st |
Environmental Land Management Scheme |
HC 639 |
|
32nd |
Delivering gigabitcapable broadband |
HC 743 |
|
33rd |
Underpayments of the State Pension |
HC 654 |
|
34th |
Local Government Finance System: Overview and Challenges |
HC 646 |
|
35th |
The pharmacy early payment and salary advance schemes in the NHS |
HC 745 |
|
36th |
EU Exit: UK Border post transition |
HC 746 |
|
37th |
HMRC Performance in 2020–21 |
HC 641 |
|
38th |
COVID-19 cost tracker update |
HC 640 |
|
39th |
DWP Employment Support: Kickstart Scheme |
HC 655 |
|
40th |
Excess votes 2020–21: Serious Fraud Office |
HC 1099 |
|
41st |
Achieving Net Zero: Follow up |
HC 642 |
|
42nd |
Financial sustainability of schools in England |
HC 650 |
|
43rd |
Reducing the backlog in criminal courts |
HC 643 |
|
44th |
NHS backlogs and waiting times in England |
HC 747 |
|
45th |
Progress with trade negotiations |
HC 993 |
|
46th |
Government preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for government on risk |
HC 952 |
|
47th |
Academies Sector Annual Report and Accounts 2019/20 |
HC 994 |
|
48th |
HMRC’s management of tax debt |
HC 953 |
|
49th |
Regulation of private renting |
HC 996 |
|
50th |
Bounce Back Loans Scheme: Follow-up |
HC 951 |
|
51st |
Improving outcomes for women in the criminal justice system |
HC 997 |
|
52nd |
Ministry of Defence Equipment Plan 2021–31 |
HC 1164 |
|
1st Special Report |
Fifth Annual Report of the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts |
HC 222 |
|
Number |
Title |
Reference |
|
1st |
Support for children with special educational needs and disabilities |
HC 85 |
|
2nd |
Defence Nuclear Infrastructure |
HC 86 |
|
3rd |
High Speed 2: Spring 2020 Update |
HC 84 |
|
4th |
EU Exit: Get ready for Brexit Campaign |
HC 131 |
|
5th |
University technical colleges |
HC 87 |
|
6th |
Excess votes 2018–19 |
HC 243 |
|
7th |
Gambling regulation: problem gambling and protecting vulnerable people |
HC 134 |
|
8th |
NHS capital expenditure and financial management |
HC 344 |
|
9th |
Water supply and demand management |
HC 378 |
|
10th |
Defence capability and the Equipment Plan |
HC 247 |
|
11th |
Local authority investment in commercial property |
HC 312 |
|
12th |
Management of tax reliefs |
HC 379 |
|
13th |
Whole of Government Response to COVID-19 |
HC 404 |
|
14th |
Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak |
HC 405 |
|
15th |
Improving the prison estate |
HC 244 |
|
16th |
Progress in remediating dangerous cladding |
HC 406 |
|
17th |
Immigration enforcement |
HC 407 |
|
18th |
NHS nursing workforce |
HC 408 |
|
19th |
Restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster |
HC 549 |
|
20th |
Tackling the tax gap |
HC 650 |
|
21st |
Government support for UK exporters |
HC 679 |
|
22nd |
Digital transformation in the NHS |
HC 680 |
|
23rd |
Delivering carrier strike |
HC 684 |
|
24th |
Selecting towns for the Towns Fund |
HC 651 |
|
25th |
Asylum accommodation and support transformation programme |
HC 683 |
|
26th |
Department of Work and Pensions Accounts 2019–20 |
HC 681 |
|
27th |
Covid-19: Supply of ventilators |
HC 685 |
|
28th |
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s management of the Magnox contract |
HC 653 |
|
29th |
Whitehall preparations for EU Exit |
HC 682 |
|
30th |
The production and distribution of cash |
HC 654 |
|
31st |
Starter Homes |
HC 88 |
|
32nd |
Specialist Skills in the civil service |
HC 686 |
|
33rd |
Covid-19: Bounce Back Loan Scheme |
HC 687 |
|
34th |
Covid-19: Support for jobs |
HC 920 |
|
35th |
Improving Broadband |
HC 688 |
|
36th |
HMRC performance 2019–20 |
HC 690 |
|
37th |
Whole of Government Accounts 2018–19 |
HC 655 |
|
38th |
Managing colleges’ financial sustainability |
HC 692 |
|
39th |
Lessons from major projects and programmes |
HC 694 |
|
40th |
Achieving government’s long-term environmental goals |
HC 927 |
|
41st |
COVID 19: the free school meals voucher scheme |
HC 689 |
|
42nd |
COVID-19: Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment |
HC 928 |
|
43rd |
COVID-19: Planning for a vaccine Part 1 |
HC 930 |
|
44th |
Excess Votes 2019–20 |
HC 1205 |
|
45th |
Managing flood risk |
HC 931 |
|
46th |
Achieving Net Zero |
HC 935 |
|
47th |
COVID-19: Test, track and trace (part 1) |
HC 932 |
|
48th |
Digital Services at the Border |
HC 936 |
|
49th |
COVID-19: housing people sleeping rough |
HC 934 |
|
50th |
Defence Equipment Plan 2020–2030 |
HC 693 |
|
51st |
Managing the expiry of PFI contracts |
HC 1114 |
|
52nd |
Key challenges facing the Ministry of Justice |
HC 1190 |
|
53rd |
Covid 19: supporting the vulnerable during lockdown |
HC 938 |
|
54th |
Improving single living accommodation for service personnel |
HC 940 |
|
55th |
Environmental tax measures |
HC 937 |
|
56th |
Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund |
HC 941 |
1 Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, HM Revenue & Customs 2022–23 Accounts, HC 1466, 17 July 2023
2 HM Revenue & Customs, Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023, July 2023, pages 6,7
3 C&AG’s Report, paras 4, 6, Figure 9, page R4
4 Q 83
5 C&AG’s Report, para 8, Figure 10
6 For example, HMRCSR0007 ICAEW
7 HMRCSR0015 Chartered Institute of Taxation
8 Q 83
9 Q 31
10 Q 83
11 Qq 84–85
12 Q 83
13 HMRCSR0007 Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; HMRCSR0009 Association of Taxation Technicians; HMRCSR0015 Chartered Institute of Taxation; HMRCSR0017 Low Incomes Tax Reform Group
14 Qq 87, 89–90
15 Q 37
16 C&AG’s Report, para 7
17 Qq 37, 38
18 Q 36
19 C&AG’s Report, para 1.14
20 Qq 45–46; C&AG’s Report, para 1.14
21 Qq 46, 48
22 Qq 52–53
23 Q 86; C&AG’s Report, para 1.43
24 HMRCSR0003 David Dibbens
25 Q 36
26 C&AG’s Report, para 1.17
27 Q 43
28 Q 16
29 Q 19
30 HMRCSR004 Borderfree Trade Limited
31 Q 19
32 Q 19
33 Qq 16–17
34 Q 19
35 Q 18
36 HMRCSR0012 Hillier Hopkins LLP
37 Q 18
38 Qq 1–3
39 Qq 10, 11
40 Q 4; Letter to the Public Accounts Committee from HMRC, dated 11 January 2024
41 Q 11
42 Q 10
43 Qq 4,10
44 Letter to the Public Accounts Committee from HMRC, dated 11 January 2024
45 Q 1
46 Qq 8,13
47 Q 9
48 Q 33
49 C&AG’s Report, para 1.30
50 Qq 33, 34
51 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.2, 2.4
52 Committee of Public Accounts, HMRC performance in 2021–22, 33rd Report of Session 2022–23, HC 686, 11 January 2023, para 22
53 C&AG’s Report, para 2.6, Figure 11
54 Q 56; C&AG’s Report, Figure 11
55 Q 57; C&AG’s Report, para 11
56 Q 59
57 C&AG’s Report, para 2.18
58 Qq 60–62
59 Q 58
60 HMRCSR0007 Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; HMRCSR0015 Chartered Institute of Taxation
61 Q 62
62 Q 64
63 C&AG’s Report, para 5
64 Qq 24–25
65 Q 24
66 Qq 24, 31
67 Q 30; C&AG’s Report, para 1.26
68 C&AG’s Report, para 1.26
69 Q 26
70 Committee of Public Accounts, HMRC performance in 2021–22, 33rd Report of Session 2022–23, HC 686, 11 January 2023
71 Q 31
72 Qq 25, 26; C&AG’s Report, para 6