Public and Commercial Services Union

HMRC published its departmental business plan, ‘Delivering Our Vision’, earlier this week. This sets out HMRC’s high level priorities up to 2012, and seeks to develop the objectives outlined previously in the department’s ‘Vision’, published in November last year.

Job cuts and office closures

We expect the detail behind these announcements to emerge over the coming weeks and months.

Further discussions with the department, both centrally and at business level, have been arranged in order that we might understand more fully the extent to which any detailed plans may impact on members.

In particular we expect to be able to provide some clarity in relation to the department’s stated intention to make 58 full and 70 partial vacations of property during 2009-10.

Announcements are being made during the course of this week at affected sites, particularly where offices previously scheduled for closure are now being redefined as earmarked for partial closure only.

Whilst this potentially represents comparatively positive news for many of our members in some of the remotest offices, it is clear that our active campaigning work to save offices, and use of the HMRC Staffing agreement and related agreements, must continue.

What is equally clear is that the department remain intent on pressing ahead with its programme of job cuts.

We will continue to press the department on the detail that lies behind their objective of delivering “an affordable and sustainable cost base”, and how in any event this might be balanced against the additional objective of creating “a working environment which motivates and develops our people to give of their best and take pride in working for HMRC.”

Reliance on overtime use

A related issue is the continued use of overtime across the department. Section 4 of the HMRC Staffing Agreement, at paras 70-72, acknowledges the issues that we have consistently raised about overtime use, establishing a review of overtime use by business, with the stated aim being to identify options for replacing overtime with permanent posts, or allocating the work to potentially surplus staff, where this is possible and justified.

Whilst respective AGSs have sought to engage their OS counterparts on overtime use no real commitments have been forthcoming that suggest a will exists to curb or seriously review overtime use.

Indeed in key areas, notably Customer Operations, DMB, Benefits and Credits, Local Compliance and Customer Contact, overtime has been offered on a fairly continuous basis for any member of staff who has been prepared to take this up.

The extent to which overtime use has increased as the impact of job cuts has begun to take effect makes it impossible to conclude anything other than that overtime use is being used to mask the impact of job cuts.

On this basis we have formally written to the department insisting that HMRC cease offering overtime forthwith except as a short term measure and as agreed with PCS, and that we expect work that is being covered by overtime use to be converted into permanent posts.

Overtime ban

In the circumstances the GEC have agreed to seek authority from the union’s national disputes committee (NDC) to move to a ballot of all members for action short of strike action to take the form of a continuous, departmental wide ban on overtime.

The aims of the dispute should be clearly based around the impact that overtime use specifically has on masking the impact of job cuts. Further detailed information on this will be issued to members and branches in light of advice from the national union and any further discussions with the department.

PCS vision

In the meantime, we take every opportunity to set out to the department and to the government the kind of vision which we envisage for HMRC.

This includes continuing to set out our case for reasonable assurances on job security, resourcing, working conditions, privatisation and office closures.

In keeping with the department’s stated aims, we continue to emphasise the need for HMRC to take staff with them, to improve morale, reduce stress and address the legitimate concerns of members; we argue that job security and good working conditions go hand-in hand with improved performance.

We also continue to highlight our concerns, at every opportunity, about the Government’s ongoing public sector pay policy in the context of the current pay negotiations and the department’s current pay offer, and our desire to work with the Department to establish an acceptable settlement.