3rd Report - HMRC Customer Service and Accounts

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 347 22 January 2025
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 22 items (10 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 22 of 22 classified)
Accepted 12
Acknowledged 4
Deferred 3
Rejected 3
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Third report from Session 2024-25 · published 6 May 2025
Read the government response ↗ Response on the tracker
Clear

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results
2 Recommendation Rejected
Allocate sufficient resources to HMRC customer service and establish service level guard rails.
Recommendation
HMRC’s digital services have not sufficiently reduced demand on the phone and HMRC has failed to prioritise the resources needed to sustain an appropriate standard of telephone service. HMRC has been working to become a ‘digital-first’ organisation since 2010 and … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation, stating it already proactively reviews and adjusts resourcing levels daily and weekly, and continuously discusses performance and resource needs with HM Treasury and ministers.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Rejected
HMRC faces resource shortages as taxpayer numbers and complexity continue to increase.
Conclusion
HMRC says it has not had enough resources to deal with all the contact it has been receiving.17 It estimates that in the last two years, the number of taxpayers in the income tax system has increased by 3 million … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the conclusion that HMRC has been too willing to let its telephone services fail and states that improving customer services is one of the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury's priorities. It says it will publish a Transformation Roadmap in 2025.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Rejected
HMRC reversed controversial helpline closures following public criticism, with no further plans.
Conclusion
HMRC closed or reduced the queries it handles on four helplines in 2023–24. For the largest change, the trial closure of the Self Assessment helpline in summer 2023, it gave customers only two working days’ notice.31 HMRC said it was … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the conclusion that HMRC has been too willing to let its telephone services fail and states that improving customer services is one of the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury's priorities. It says it will publish a Transformation Roadmap in 2025.
HM Treasury
View Details