FOI/DPA Support Team
3rd Floor, Two Broadway
2 Broad Street
Birmingham
B15 1BG
Mr A Chittenden
Response sent to email address:
Tel / 0121 697 4217
Monday to Friday 08.30 to 17.00
Fax / 0121 697 4175
www.hmrc.gov.uk
Date / 28 November 2011
/ Our ref / FOI 2549/11
Your ref
Dear Mr Chittenden
Freedom of Information request
Thank you for your request, which HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) received on 31October 2011.
You asked for the following information:
1) an explanation of the arrangements for the administration, technical support, management and organisation of HMRC resources for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Construction Industry Scheme (‘the Scheme’) in the ‘London and Anglia’ region (‘the region’) during the period 2008 to present (‘the period’).
2) the postal address and telephone contact details for relevant managers within the region with a responsibility for compliance with the scheme during the period.
3) information as to HMRC’s policy for the recording, management and escalation of complaints in the region, in relation to the scheme during the period and for a copy of HMRC’s complaints policy.
4) on a year by year basis, information on the number of complaints concerning the administration or handling of the scheme within the region during the period.
5) An explanation of the various levels of review of complaints regarding the administration of the scheme.
6) the contact details of the individual with ultimate responsibility for the administration of the scheme within the region during the period.
7) the Job Description of the ‘Technical Support Officer’ working from 5th Floor Alexandra House, 21 Victoria Avenue, Southend on Sea during the period.
8) the Job Description of the CIT Compliance Officer and Employer Compliance Officer working from St Clare House, Greyfriars, Princes St, Ipswich during the period.
For the following questions, you asked for the information in two ways:
· for the whole of the London and Anglia region as a whole
· for the two offices based respectively at 5th Floor Alexandra House, 21Victoria Avenue, Southend-on Sea, Essex and also St Clare House, Greyfriars, Princes St, Ipswich (‘the locations’).
9) how many ‘CIT Officers’, ‘CIT Compliance Officers’, ‘Employer Compliance Officers’ and ‘Technical Support Officers’ (collectively ‘the officers’) have been employed during the period within the region and at the locations for distinct financial years.
10) the attendance rate (at work) of the officers within the region and at the locations during the period.
11) what professional qualifications the officers are required to have as a minimum in order to be appointed to these officer roles at the locations and within the region.
12) what professional qualifications the post holders administering compliance with the scheme at the locations actually had during the period.
13) a copy of the relevant handbook, standard operating procedures, policies, governance manual or any other such information which constitutes guidance for the officers which was available to them during the period in relation to the administration of the scheme.
14) how much has been spent on procuring legal advice in relation to the administration and compliance of the scheme within the region and at the two locations during the period, and where that advice was procured from.
15) how much money has been collected by way of compliance enforcement activity within the region, and attributable to the locations during the period in relation to the scheme.
16) how many cases of review of compliance activity have been instigated by companies subject to compliance activity in relation to the scheme within the region and at the locations during the period.
17) who within HMRC could issue a formal determination or assessment within or concerning the scheme which carries a right of appeal against the outcome of an assessment.
18) in how many instances has an Independent Reviewer been appointed by HMRC to consider administration or management or compliance of the scheme by the locations and within the region as a result of a right of appeal.
19) in how many cases has a company subject to the scheme had the case escalated to Tribunal within the region, and the locations.
20) copies of the written outcomes of those Tribunals.
21) how much has been repaid to complainants as a result of reviews by Independent Reviewers and Tribunals in relation to the scheme within the period and region/locations.
22) the contact details of any Independent Reviewer with responsibility for the scheme within the region and the locations.
23) the contact details for the government minister with ultimate accountability for HMRC and for the administration and compliance of the scheme.
I can confirm that HMRC holds some of the information that falls within the description specified in your request. However, we estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £600. The appropriate limit is specified in regulations and for central government is set at £600 based on staff time of £25 per hour. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3½ working days determining if the department holds the information and includes locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12(1) of the FOIA the department is not obliged to comply with your request.
The right in section 1 of the FOIA is to information held at the date the public authority received the request. HMRC does not hold an existing analysis which exactly meets your request and it is the cost of extracting and collating this information that I believe would exceed the fees limit. Further, in order to respond to some of your questions we would, in effect, have to create new information, which the FOIA does not require.
If you are able to narrow the scope of your request, the department may be able to provide the information free of charge because it would cost less than the appropriate limit to do so. Any reformulated request the department receives from you will be treated as a fresh FOI request. I have provided below some general information which you might find helpful and may allow you to narrow the scope of a new request.
The administration of the CIS
Due to the history of compliance work in connection with the CIS, statistical information is not necessarily available for CIS work in isolation as, since April 2009, the specialist CIS team has been integrated into the main business streams of the Local Compliance directorate.
The normal practice for HMRC is to withhold names of our employees below the Senior Civil Servant grade, unless the officer is in a customer facing role. The Director of Local Compliance is Mr Richard Summersgill and he is based in St Mary’s House, St Mary’s Street, Preston PR1 4AT. In specific cases, the names of officers and their managers who are dealing with that case would be disclosed.
With regard to qualifications, I can confirm that it is mandatory that all compliance officer undertaking visits to contractors must have completed training courses and passed the appropriate assessments.
The guidance provided for officers can be found in:
· the CIS Reform manual at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/CISRmanual/index.htm
· the Compliance Handbook at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/chmanual/index.htm
· the Compliance Operational Guidance at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cogmanual/index.htm
Complaints policy
HMRC’s complaints policy relies on a two stage process and it applies across all geographical areas, business areas and regimes. We encourage customers to try to resolve their concerns directly with the HMRC office they have been dealing with, but where this fails, one of our complaints handlers will carry out a full review of the customer’s concerns. This is the first stage.
If the first stage review does not resolve matters, the customer can ask for a different complaints handler to review the decision. This is the second stage and when we reply at the end of this stage it is the end of our HMRC process. We tell the customer that if they are not happy they can ask the Adjudicator to look at the complaint. The Adjudicator is independent, acts as an impartial referee and the service is free.
An outline of the process is at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/complaints-appeals/how-to-complain/make-complaint.htm
HMRC’s policy on complaints can be found on our internet set at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/chgmanual/index.htm and at
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/rdgmanual/index.htm
We have also produced a Factsheet which is available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/factsheets/complaints-factsheet.pdf
HMRC does not record complaints in a way that enables us to drill down to provide information about specific areas of work. To obtain that information would involve a manual exercise to identify complaints and to do so would exceed the fees limit.
Reviews and appeals
It is not clear from your questions whether, when you use the term ‘review’ you are referring a statutory review or if you are using the term with a more general meaning.
I confirm that HMRC does not hold information about reviews and appeals on a regional basis.
I confirm that all Tribunal decisions are available from the Tribunal website at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/tax/index.htm
If you are not happy with this reply you may request a review by writing to HMRC FOI Team, Room 1C/ 25, 100 Parliament Street London SWIA 2BQ or by e-mail to . You must request a review within 2 months of the date of this letter. It would assist our review if you set out which aspects of the reply concern you and why you are dissatisfied.
If you are not content with the outcome of an internal review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner will not usually consider a case unless you have exhausted the internal review procedure provided by HMRC. He can be contacted at The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely
Jane Kingdom
FOI/DPA Support Team
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