We asked HMRC why call handling performance had been declining before COVID-19. HMRC told us that it was resourced to give a “decent” rather than “brilliant” service and it had efficiencies that it had to deliver. It said that although some phone contact was very important to HMRC and to the taxpayer, some of it was “low value”, in the sense that it did not change tax outcomes. HMRC’s strategy is to reduce this type of 43 HC Committee of Public Accounts, HM Revenue & Customs: Handling telephone enquiries, Twenty-fourth Report of Session 2009–10, HC 389, March 2010, page 3 44 HC Committee of Public Accounts, Quality of service to personal taxpayers and replacing the Aspire contract, Thirteenth Report of Session 2016–17, HC 78, Incorporating HC 79, July 2016, pages 3 and 4 45 HC Committee of Public Accounts, HMRC’s performance in 2017–18, Sixty-Sixth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 1526, November 2018, para 20 46 C&AG’s Report, para 1.28–1.29, Figure 7, Figure 8 47 Q 117 48 Q 119 49 HMRC, HMRC quarterly performance report: July to September 2021, November 2021 HMRC Performance in 2020–21 17 contact or to get people to self-serve online if they can.50 HMRC believes that its spending review settlement for the next three years is sufficient to enable it to do a good job, but the settlement requires it to make efficiencies. If it does not achieve these efficiencies, customers were likely to experience a poorer service.51