Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether decisions to close HM Revenue and Customs offices are subject to ministerial approval on a case-by-case basis.

As HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced in November, it is transforming the way it works to be able to deliver better public services at lower cost to the taxpayer, meeting the Government’s challenge to all departments to do more with less.

As part of that programme, HMRC plans to bring together its employees in 13 Regional Centres. These will be large, modern offices, equipped with the digital infrastructure and training facilities needed to build a more highly-skilled workforce.

Treasury Ministers are supportive of the objectives of HMRC’s transformation programme. However, HMRC is a non-ministerial department and decisions on where to locate the future Regional Centres are operational ones, which are ultimately approved by its Executive Committee.