HMRC did not initially recruit at scale but has more recently recruited 4,800 new compliance staff, leading to 2,500 more FTE than in 2021–22. HMRC expects staff productivity to increase over the next few years, but told us that new staff take up to four years to be fully productive. The return per staff member is therefore likely to stay lower than before the pandemic due to lack of experience among newer staff.13 Prosecutions