PCS: Years of cuts have demoralised revenue staff

PCS: Years of cuts have demoralised revenue staff

PCS: Years of cuts have demoralised revenue staff

Years of cuts and under-resourcing at HM Revenue and Customs have led to rock-bottom morale, with staff saying they have little confidence in their senior managers, the Public and Commercial Services union says.

In the latest departmental staff survey, only 11% of respondents expressed any positive confidence in senior managers’ decisions, with just 12% believing HMRC is managed well and only 15% believing the senior management team have a clear vision for the future. Only 9% of staff believed that when changes were made they were usually for the better.

Levels of ‘engagement’ – a measure of how staff feel about their working lives – were 23% lower than the civil service average at just 34%, three percentage points down on last year’s survey results.

In a damning indictment of the organisation, only 12% said they would recommend HMRC as “a great place to work” and just 15% said they were proud to tell others where they worked – 40% lower than the average across the civil service.

The news comes as PCS prepares to join anti-poverty charities War on Want and Jubilee Debt Campaign at a protest against cuts at 1pm today (Friday 17 December) outside HMRC headquarters at 100 Parliament Street in London. The event also comes on the eve of a day of mass action against tax avoidance organised by the campaign group UK Uncut.

Peter Lockhart, PCS national officer for HMRC, said: “The survey results make depressing reading for anyone who believes HMRC has a crucial role to play in our society.

“We are committed to working with HMRC to create a department where staff are proud to work. It is in nobody’s interests for HMRC’s own staff to think so poorly of the department they work for.”

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Sadly, this comes as no surprise. High quality public services go hand-in-hand with good working conditions, and low morale is a direct result of job insecurity, chronic underfunding, increasing workloads and the waning public confidence in HMRC.

“The government has the opportunity, and the public support, to invest in HMRC to allow it to collect the tax we need to lower the deficit. Cuts in HMRC must be stopped before the problems that have built up become irreversible.”

ENDS

Notes

– For information and interview requests contact PCS national press officer Richard Simcox on 020 7801 2747 or 07833 978216

– The Public and Commercial Services union represents civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies, as well as staff in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich

– Follow PCS on Twitter http://twitter.com/pcs_union