Concerns voiced about low morale at UK tax office
From United Kingdom Dec 5 2011 BY: Ray Clancy
, Contributor
, International Adviser
Concerns are being raised about low staff morale at the UK’s tax department affecting the level of service taxpayers receive.
It comes as a new HMRC staff survey shows that only 18% of staff feel motivated to help the department meet its objectives and just 17% have confidence in senior managers.
The survey also found that a mere 13% of HMRC staff think change is for the better and 37% believe that poor performance is dealt with effectively.
A similar lack of morale was found in last year’s survey and although this year’s poll is slightly better, national accountancy group UHY Hacker Young says that continuing low levels of staff morale at HMRC is affecting the level of service taxpayers receive.
“The sense of disillusionment present in HMRC is clear to see; the worry is that it seems to be affecting customer service. It is of great concern that when there is a problem with staff performance, which may impact the service HMRC provides, roughly two out of three employees feel that HMRC is not going to tackle that problem effectively,” said Roy Maugham, tax partner at UHY Hacker Young.
UHY Hacker points out that staff cuts and the closure of offices are adding to the pressure on current staff as well as fears over job security. “Even taking this into account, HMRC urgently need to address the issues raised in this survey because ultimately it is the taxpayer who loses out,” added Maugham.