Protest over more enquiry centre cuts

Around 100 HMRC advisers gathered outside the Treasury this week to protest against a further reduction in the times members of the public and businesses can receive tax assistance in person.

In March, the Revenue cut opening times in 58 of its 280 tax enquiry centres across the UK: from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday, to part-time hours. A number are now open one or two days a week only.

The department recently announced plans for part-time opening in a further 117 tax enquiry centres – subject to a public consultation, which closes in July – with further reductions under consideration.

The demonstration on Parliament Street was deemed a success by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which organised the event for the schools’ half-term holiday. Many protestors were accompanied by their children, which the PCS said highlighted how families are being affected by Government cutbacks.

The union’s national officer for HMRC, Peter Lockhart, said the taxman’s face-to-face enquiry centres ‘deal with some of the most vulnerable people in society. These cuts will hit pensioners, tax credit claimants, migrant workers and those running small businesses.’

Mr Lockhart’s colleague, PCS deputy general secretary Hugh Lanning, remarked, ‘The scale of the proposed cuts could mean people having to wait days or weeks for an appointment. We believe HMRC need to halt the cuts as a matter of urgency and start re-employing staff to deal with the demand for what is a vital public service.’

The union’s demonstration was supported by the Federation of Small Businesses, which described the Revenue’s plans to reduce more enquiry centres’ hours as ‘fundamentally flawed’, adding there was ‘no viable alternative to properly staffed, and open, HMRC local offices’.

Categories: News , cutbacks , PCS