"HMRC seems to be going
in the right direction seeking strategic savings by reducing face
to face interaction where the job can be done by telephone or
online. However, this may not be much comfort if yours was one
of the 43 per cent of calls which did not get an answer in
2008-09. HMRC needs to get telephone service standards up
significantly if the transition to technology-enabled working is to
have taxpayer support and deliver value for
money."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 15 January
2010
HM Revenue and Customs' performance in
answering telephone calls in 2008-09 was well below its own targets
and industry standards, the National Audit Office has reported
today. In its Customer Contact Directorate, which answers 95
per cent of calls to the Department's contact centres, only 57 per
cent of 103 million call attempts were answered, compared with 71
per cent in the year before and an industry benchmark of over 90
per cent.
Recognising that this level of performance was
unacceptable, the Department launched initiatives to improve its
management of caller demand. There have been signs of significant
improvement in 2009-2010, with the percentage of calls answered
rising to 73 per cent in the first half of the year. The
Directorate has introduced a change programme with the aim of
answering 90 per cent of calls at around 30 per cent less cost by
March 2012.
Call volumes vary greatly throughout the year
reflecting the flow of work on individual taxes and benefits and
associated statutory deadlines. The number of calls per month
in 2008-09 ranged from four million to 17
million. Consequently performance in answering calls also
varied throughout the year, with 33 per cent of calls answered
during the tax credit renewals peak (July) and 85 per cent of calls
answered in December.
Overall staffing levels do not fluctuate in
line with call volumes and consequently, in 2008-09, the monthly
average cost per call answered ranged from around £2.50 to over £5.
The percentage of contact centre staff time actually spent on
customer contact or follow-up work was 38 per cent. This does
not appear out of line with other central government agencies but
is well below a best practice industry benchmark of 60 per
cent.
The NAO estimates that, by halving the 35 per
cent of contact with customers that the Department considers to be
avoidable and better use of its resources, the Department could
answer 90 per cent of calls and achieve a substantial reduction in
its costs.
The Directorate measures the quality of its
work against three standards. Eighty-nine per cent of calls met its
standard on accuracy of advice and 94 per cent met standards on
both appropriate security checks and correctness of follow-up
action. The Directorate has introduced measures to improve
these scores, particularly on accuracy. Improving quality is
likely to bring benefits in people getting their tax and benefit
affairs right and reducing repeat enquiries.
Publication details:
HC: 211, 2009-10
ISBN: 9780102963403