More than 20,000 tax officers were planning to hold “lightning walkouts” today in protest against plans to “bring in private companies to do their work”, the Public and Commercial Services union announced.
The appointment of two private companies to run year-long call handling trials at tax credit contact centres in Lillyhall in Cumbria, and Bathgate in Scotland, risked paving the way for privatisation, the PCS said. HMRC defended the "small scale" trial, saying it would not involve replacing HMRC jobs.
Two 30-minute walkouts were planned for today. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: "When jobs in HMRC and the civil service are being cut in their tens of thousands, it is entirely wrong to start handing contracts to private companies.
"Instead of privatising ever more of our public services, the government should be investing in its own staff to ensure they are equipped and trained to provide the essential services they are proud to deliver."
An HMRC spokesman told Tax Journal that the department planned a short-term, small scale trial to test “how using additional capacity from the private sector might work and what the costs and benefits of doing so might be”. The results would be published.
He added: “HMRC is not privatising existing HMRC contact centre jobs but we are determined to improve the service we provide to our customers and this means considering a variety of options including drawing on the knowledge and experience of external contact centre operators. Industrial action is unwarranted and unnecessary. We are doing everything possible to maintain contact centre services to the public and we will continue talking to the unions to address their concerns.”
More than 20,000 tax officers were planning to hold “lightning walkouts” today in protest against plans to “bring in private companies to do their work”, the Public and Commercial Services union announced.
The appointment of two private companies to run year-long call handling trials at tax credit contact centres in Lillyhall in Cumbria, and Bathgate in Scotland, risked paving the way for privatisation, the PCS said. HMRC defended the "small scale" trial, saying it would not involve replacing HMRC jobs.
Two 30-minute walkouts were planned for today. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: "When jobs in HMRC and the civil service are being cut in their tens of thousands, it is entirely wrong to start handing contracts to private companies.
"Instead of privatising ever more of our public services, the government should be investing in its own staff to ensure they are equipped and trained to provide the essential services they are proud to deliver."
An HMRC spokesman told Tax Journal that the department planned a short-term, small scale trial to test “how using additional capacity from the private sector might work and what the costs and benefits of doing so might be”. The results would be published.
He added: “HMRC is not privatising existing HMRC contact centre jobs but we are determined to improve the service we provide to our customers and this means considering a variety of options including drawing on the knowledge and experience of external contact centre operators. Industrial action is unwarranted and unnecessary. We are doing everything possible to maintain contact centre services to the public and we will continue talking to the unions to address their concerns.”
