You are in > manchester.com  > News > HMRC staff set for strike ballot

Finance

HMRC staff set for strike ballot

07/01/2008

Workers at HM Revenue and Customs (HRMC) will be balloted today on the prospect of a 24-hour strike and overtime ban over job cuts and office closures.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) says there is a direct link between "deteriorating services" and plans to remove 25,000 posts by 2011.

At the end of last year HMRC hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when it emerged the identities of 25 million child benefit claimants had been lost.

Chancellor Alistair Darling was forced to make an emergency statement to the House of Commons after an HRMC employee sent two data discs containing the personal and financial details of every British family claiming child benefit to the National Audit Office – CDs that would disappear in transit.

A police investigation has so far not uncovered any evidence of criminal activity.

According to the PCS, HMRC's plans to cut jobs and close 250 offices will lead to further "serious service failure".

"With office closures and 13,000 job cuts to date, the department is already running on empty resulting in deteriorating services," its general secretary Mark Serwotka said.

"HMRC cannot deliver a quality service in the face of continued arbitrary cuts and the government and the department need to recognise that HMRC needs to be properly resourced and staffed if public confidence is to be restored."

The results of the ballot will be announced on January 23rd, with the strike and overtime ban planned for January 31st – the deadline for self assessment tax returns.