Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 30 July (HL1654), whether HM Revenue and Customs has target times by which members of the public can reasonably expect to get through on the telephone and speak to an official; and by what percentage extent there has been a change over the past three years in the number of telephone calls from the public seeking information or assistance from that Department.

As stated in an earlier response (HL897), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes its performance data quarterly on the gov.uk website.

HMRC handles 50 million calls a year from customers. It aims to answer 80 per cent of all calls and accepts that it is not currently delivering on that aspiration. HMRC published a press release on 25 June in which it apologised for the poor service, acknowledged that some customers were struggling to get through on the telephone and outlined a number of initiatives it is putting in place to improve performance.