HMRC 'must improve staff morale'

HM Revenue and Customs must improve staff morale in order to deliver the savings envisioned in its transformation plan, according to a new report from the Whitehall spending watchdog.

The report from the National Audit Office said the department had so far achieved estimated benefits of £2.4bn for a cost of £851m but warned that staff morale "remains at a low ebb", adding: "The department needs to more actively demonstrate the benefits to its staff and manage the expectations of customers as many of the improvements for them are scheduled for 2011 and beyond."

HMRC is projecting a total £11.5bn benefit from increased tax yield and reduced bureaucratic costs by the time the programme is complete in 2011, though the NAO report warned that this figure was "volatile", as it assumed tax would be collected in full.

Auditor General Tim Burr, the head of the NAO, said: "This is an ambitious programme of change with the potential to provide significant benefits in terms of tax yield and improvements for the department's customers.

"To succeed, the department must determine what it expects the programme to achieve with the resources available. It should also establish that the planned benefits are realistic and confirm each year that those achieved are robust."