The SSAC has published a follow up report on work it carried out in 2007 in relation to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and in 2009 in relation to HMRC, looking at telephony costs for customers.  It found that ‘significant issues and challenges remain in relation to their telephony services’.

The report states: ‘During the period since our earlier reports there have been major developments in the customer channel strategy for both departments as they seek to move increasingly towards a "digital by default" environment. But efficient and low-cost telephony is still a vital need for many customers, especially the more vulnerable; and is likely to be for some time to come, even if on a declining scale.’

The latest report focuses on the costs to customers of making contact with HMRC, and says that Ofcom’s decision to make 0800 numbers free to call from mobile phones is important for low income taxpayers, who are more likely to only have access to a mobile.  It wants 0800 numbers introduced for helplines used by vulnerable or low income customers.

However, it points out that whereas DWP offered 42 different 0800 numbers (in 2014), HMRC only offer a handful (for example, those encouraging the public to inform on those who might be committing fraud or in the case of flooding).

SSAC says HMRC has told them that the cost of moving to 0800 numbers would be in the region of £3m-£4m annually and that the department has ‘taken a judgement that a better and more long-term solution would be to invest in its staff who deal with the incoming calls, ensuring that they are better equipped to deal with often complex queries from customers quickly, efficiently and reducing the need for follow-up calls.’

The report finds: ‘This could potentially reduce both the duration of the call and waiting times. HMRC have committed to monitor the impact of this approach, and we look forward to seeing what impact this investment has.’

As well as changes to the charging regime, SSAC also wants HMRC to address the cost of call waiting times and says its 2009 report identified offering a callback service as a short-term measure which should be prioritised. It now says ‘the continuing lack of significant improvement in customer service reinforces the need for such a system.’

However, SSAC says it can find no evidence that HMRC have yet implemented a general callback service. The exceptions are that a call-back can be arranged for customers identified as having special needs or if a call needs to be referred between tax and tax credit helplines, although the report says ‘even here it is not evident that this is made clear on GOV.UK.’

SSAC says that any lines with excessive waiting times should have the facility to inform the customer on being connected (before any other automated message) of the average wait to be expected. HMRC is taking steps to address this by introducing a trial on the employer helpline to play minimum expected delay messages with the eventual aim of testing and rolling out more widely.

However, SSAC says there is uncertainty as to the timescales for any widespread roll-out that would include benefits and credits, which account for the majority of calls. It wants HMRC to review its approach to both call back systems and waiting time messages.

The report also suggests HMRC’s own research indicates that ‘millions of calls do not add value’. It points to the HMRC contact centres survey report 2013-14 (as at June 2016 the 2014-15 report had not been published) which shows that, taking HMRC as a whole, 30% of customers had to speak to HMRC at least twice about the same issue; 20% called because they had not received a reply; and 19% called because HMRC had made a mistake.

It says: ‘We recommend that both HMRC and the DWP consult with their stakeholders with a view to establishing working groups which would map customer journeys in relation to tax credits, child benefit and universal credit in order to identify processes which could be improved so as to reduce wasteful customer contact.’

It warns, in particular, that HMRC will need to improve call handling during the period of transition to universal credit when many taxpayers will need advice on their options.

The HMRC has included its latest call handling figures as part of its published quarterly business plan indicators. These confirm a low point in performance in May 2015, when only 48% of nearly seven million call attempts were answered, and half of all callers waited longer than 20 minutes.

By March this year, HMRC recorded an 87.7% response rate, but on a lower call volume (just over four million calls) with 53% of calls answered in under five minutes.  The volume of abandoned calls remains at around 250,000, compared to some 1.4m at the height of the department’s problems.

SSAC Occasional Paper 17: Telephony in DWP and HMRC: an update is here.

HMRC business plan indicators are here.