Supplementary evidence from HMRC

 

Q80: Chair: Evidence and statistics from previous HMRC office closures. How many staff chose to relocate, how many took voluntary redundancy and how many took compulsory redundancy.

 

REGIONAL REVIEW PROGRAMME*

 

Location

No. of Staff affected by office closure

No of staff who remained with HMRC 

No. of staff who left HMRC

Reasons for staff leaving HMRC

 

Resignation

Retirement

Release schemes

**

OGD loan (unpaid)

OGD Permanent transfer

Other 

Not known

Hamilton

21

16

5

0

0

3

0

0

2

0

Perth

20

5

15

0

0

6

0

2

1

6

Dumbarton

7

3

4

0

0

3

0

0

0

1

Coatbridge

22

17

5

0

1

4

0

0

0

0

Motherwell

14

8

6

0

3

1

0

1

0

1

Edinburgh

678

385

293

26

75

20

1

23

55

93

Stirling

14

9

5

0

0

2

0

0

1

2

Rothesay

7

0

7

0

1

6

0

0

0

0

Greenock

19

5

14

0

1

9

0

0

0

4

Dunoon

9

1

8

0

0

6

0

0

0

2

Glasgow

162

121

41

7

14

10

0

2

3

5

Hawick

6

0

6

0

0

6

0

0

0

0

Grangemouth

25

17

8

0

3

1

0

0

0

4

Paisley

22

11

11

1

2

7

0

0

0

1

Wick

24

3

21

0

0

19

0

0

0

2

Dumfries

37

2

35

1

1

20

0

0

0

13

Falkirk

11

3

8

0

0

3

0

0

3

2

Peterhead

10

0

10

0

0

10

0

0

0

0

Prestwick

4

0

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

Inverness

9

3

6

0

3

0

0

0

0

3

Oban

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

Dunfermline

21

9

12

1

1

7

0

0

1

2

Buckie

14

1

13

0

0

13

0

0

0

0

Galashiels

19

2

17

0

0

11

0

0

2

4

Elgin

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

Ayr

58

12

46

0

1

33

0

0

0

12

Grand Total

1235

633

602

36

106

202

1

28

68

161

* The Regional Review Programme commenced in August 2006. It was a nationwide review of HMRC’s office network and accommodation to see how these could be brought into line with HMRC’s ambitions to modernise the Department and improve service to customers, whilst making efficiencies in its day-to-day operations. It required a radical re-think of staff deployment across the country, both to reflect HMRC’s more efficient ways of working and also to take out excess capacity, as HMRC continued to bring together the former Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise departments.  

** Release Schemes: Data is not available to identify the difference between voluntary and compulsory redundancies.

 

Q86: Chris Law: The full business plan that was created for the “Building Our Future” strategy.

 

HMRC’s published plan sets out the vision for the future and the high level costs and benefits over the period from 2015 to 2020. This plan can be found  - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-single-departmental-plan-2015-to-2020/single-departmental-plan-2015-to-2020

 

Q88: Chair: The proportion of HMRC customers who submit tax returns online, further broken down by the number of those who do so with no additional contact with HMRC, and those who seek advice or support (for Scotland/rest of the UK)

 

86% of Scottish taxpayers chose to file their 2014-15 Self-Assessment (SA) return online, compared with 85% for the UK as a whole. It is mandatory for businesses to file their VAT, Corporation Tax and Employer PAYE RTI returns online. There are some limited exemptions, and in practice 98-99% file online.

In January 2016, during the Self- Assessment online Filing peak, 114,000 customers contacted us for assistance with SA using Webchat, and there were a further 257,000 "Virtual Assistance" Sessions.  Additionally, across 2015-16, 391,000 customers telephoned for help in either completing their SA return or in filing online. 

We cannot provide numbers which relate solely to Scottish taxpayers