In 2015-16, the adjudicator recommended HMRC pay a total of £82,580 in redress to complainants for worry and distress and poor complaints handling, compared to £243,967 in 2014-15. HMRC was also asked to reimburse £57,126 for direct costs, compared to £123,605 in 2014-15. The adjudicator recommended that HMRC give up liability for tax and overpaid tax credits amounting to £806,755, substantially lower than the £2,629,197 in 2014-15.

The report 2015-16 covers its work on complaints relating to HMRC, the Valuation Office Agency and the Insolvency Service. The bulk of the complaints received were about HMRC tax credits, while the number of complaints referred to the adjudicator by users of the other two agencies remains very low at 41 complaints altogether.

In contrast the agency received a total of 1,226 new HMRC complaints, up from 1,044 in 2014-15. Of the 2015-16 total, the adjudicator resolved 914, upholding approximately 73% either partially or substantially.

This is half the number of HMRC cases resolved the previous year (1,808). The report suggests this is partly because during 2015-16 the complexity of cases increased particularly from HMRC personal tax and enforcement and compliance, with only the most complex and sensitive issues being referred to the adjudicator.

However, the adjudicator’s report states: ‘The upheld rate for benefits and credits is starting to fall and figures indicate there has been a clear improvement in the final months of 2015-16. This is a really positive indicator that quality is improving, even though the number of complaints coming to the adjudicator’s Office remains high.’

The upheld rate for benefits and credits complaints has improved by 12 percentage points overall, with a consistent improvement month on month from December 2015. At 31 March 2016, 16.83% of benefits and credits cases were substantially upheld and 63.97% of cases partially upheld. For the month of March 2016 their substantially and partially upheld rate was 6.17% and 54.32% respectively.

The number of personal tax complaints partially or substantially upheld decreased to 63% over the year, while for tax credits the upheld rate decreased to 80.8%. Overall, the adjudicator’s Office upheld or partially upheld 72.87% of HMRC complaints.

The report covers the final year of Judy Clements’ tenure as independent Adjudicator. She has left the post at the end of her seven years’ appointment, and the position has been filled by Helen Megarry since April.

Megarry said: ‘I look forward to my role as adjudicator. Over the coming months, I will be working with my team to develop the strategy for the Adjudicator’s Office for 2016-21. I aim to continue to refine processes to improve customer service while maintaining the quality and independence of investigations. The Adjudicator’s Office business plan will be published in the autumn once we have had time to define our strategy for the next five years and our delivery plans.’

Complaints about the Insolvency Service are scheduled to be transitioned in-house to the Insolvency Service in future. The Adjudicator also had responsibility for Pension Wise during 2015-16, its first operational year, but no complaints were received. From 1st April 2016, Pension Wise has transferred from the Treasury to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and in future the independent review of complaints about the service will be dealt with by DWP’s independent case examiner.

The Adjudicator’s Office annual report 2015-16 is here.