Chief executive and permanent secretary, HM Revenue & Customs
In a year of political and economic change, what was your highlight of 2010?
My highlight of 2010 has been achieving significant numbers of criminal sentences and increased revenue yields from our tax compliance and criminal investigation work – particularly achieving sentences of over 40 years for a criminal gang who tried to claim more than £8m in tax repayments. HMRC’s investigators identified significant numbers of tax returns as fraudulent, and the repayments were stopped. I am incredibly proud of the role that our people play in revenue protection and cracking down on criminal activity, and this case demonstrates how their hard work is paying off.
What is the biggest opportunity that coalition policies have created for the civil service?
The opportunity to prove we can deliver more with less, and work in a more transparent way. I won’t pretend that this isn’t challenging, but here at HMRC we are working hard to achieve the efficiency savings needed, whilst increasing revenues and improving customer experience.
HMRC will be investing an additional £917m to tackle avoidance, evasion and fraud. We have already increased the tax yield from our compliance investigations from £7.5bn to around £12bn over the last five years.
What is the most challenging management task facing the civil service now?
Reducing our workforce, retaining our talent and doing more with much less. We know times of upheaval can be difficult for everyone, and our senior leaders are very much aware of the need to engage our people as we transform HMRC.
And what’s the key to succeeding in that task?
Leading our people through more change. Our people are our greatest asset, and we need to be open and honest and really listen to their views and ideas on how we can succeed. We’re doing everything we can to make sure they are kept in the loop about how they will be affected by the decisions being taken. My executive team and I will continue travelling to HMRC offices across the length and breadth of the country to keep our people updated, as well as taking their questions. The answers won’t always be easy but they deserve to have as much information as we can possibly give.
What was the best Christmas present that you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
The best present was from my daughter: a cosmetic product, YSL Secrets – it fills in lines created by the job. Santa ought to put it in all of our stockings!
As a child, the worst present ever was Scrabble. My elder sister wanted both Monopoly and Scrabble; she got Monopoly and I got Scrabble. I refused to play either game!