What was your highlight of 2024?
Exceeding our compliance yield target in 2023-24 – securing an additional £41.8bn to fund the UK’s public services – and, more recently, improving HMRC’s customer service levels so we’re now on track to hit our targets in quarter three of 2024-25.
What was the hardest part of being a leader in 2024?
Taking tough prioritisation decisions. HMRC’s digital-first strategy has reduced customer contact demand (despite underlying growth in our customer base) but not fast enough to match the reduction in resources our plans required. That meant we couldn’t give a good service to all the customers who sought our help in quarters one and two of 2024-25, and prioritising who we helped was controversial. Thankfully, the strong relationship we have with HM Treasury colleagues and ministers meant we were able to put a new plan in place to improve service levels.
What are the main challenges facing your organisation in the coming year – and how are you planning to meet them?
Delivering on the government’s priorities – it’s both exciting and scary. Exciting that the government is investing an extra £1.4bn in HMRC’s compliance function; scary that in return we have to deliver £6.5bn of additional tax revenues over the five years to 2029-30. It means delivering on our digital strategy – watch out for our new digital roadmap in the spring – as well as recruiting, training and mentoring nearly 5,000 extra compliance colleagues. We’ve already got that under way – the first 200 new colleagues joined us in November.
What was the best Christmas present you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
It was different times back then, but I do remember one Christmas in the 1960s when the best-selling present every young boy wanted was the Johnny Seven gun (Google it!). And the worst… I recall another Christmas when I tried to hide my disappointment at the poor haul of presents that Santa had left for me, compared with my sister; it was only some time later that I found I had overlooked the go-cart behind the sofa!