Help us halt Private Sector involvement in HMRC

HMRC is piloting the use of private managed service providers (MSPs), including HGS (Hinduja Global Services) and SERCO, to support online helpdesk and PAYE customer contact work.

Early internal findings shared with staff show MSP teams reaching around 50% procedural accuracy, which is approximately 23% lower than the performance usually achieved by HMRC’s established in‑house teams. These figures emerged prior to the pilot's joint evaluation by PCS and HMRC.

We are concerned that a decision in principle on the continued use of MSPs in HMRC is expected to be made before the joint evaluation is complete.

Previous outsourcing arrangements provide useful context for understanding current staff concerns. The Concentrix contract experienced significant operational issues, falling short on many of its performance targets and generating large backlogs that required substantial HMRC intervention. A considerable share of contractor decisions was later overturned, highlighting risks around accuracy and oversight in outsourced models. 

PCS is holding a parliamentary drop‑in event on 24 March for MP's. Please contact your MP and ask them to support our campaign to keep HMRC work in-house, and to ask them to attend our drop-in event.