1
00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,280
that

2
00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:17,520
the

3
00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,120
is in five year high.

4
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:27,520
So, we all know about HM revenue and customs.

5
00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:33,440
So, they've terminated the employment of 179 civil servants

6
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,960
for gross misconduct so far this year,

7
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:41,760
marking the highest number of such dismissals in at least five years.

8
00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:49,680
So, there must be an element of people working,

9
00:00:49,680 --> 00:01:00,960
which are potentially very close to the gross misconduct or work to rule.

10
00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:06,160
I mean, the figure represents a 43% increase since 2020,

11
00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,040
according to data obtained by the Telegraph,

12
00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,440
through a Freedom of Information request.

13
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:18,240
Well, why doesn't this information come from the government?

14
00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:25,040
Now, I mean, the main issue that I have had is that,

15
00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:32,520
if you want to get in contact with HMRC,

16
00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:38,720
you get to pay quite a lot of money to get there,

17
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:43,040
because there's normally not many people on the line,

18
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:49,440
and I've tried sort of early morning, late, midday,

19
00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:54,960
and irrespective of the time, you still have at least a two hour wait,

20
00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:56,480
if you can get through.

21
00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:01,520
I mean, I think one site was on there for about four hours.

22
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:03,320
I mean, it wasn't actually peak.

23
00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,840
And if you have other things to do in your day,

24
00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,400
you can't just hang around, because I've had a number of times

25
00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:18,800
where you're doing something else, you get distracted, and hello, hello,

26
00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:20,280
is anybody there?

27
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,840
Nobody's there, put the phone down.

28
00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:30,600
But even when you get in touch with people,

29
00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:36,920
you have to be fully prepared, because I mean,

30
00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:39,760
I can only see it that I was very unlucky,

31
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,800
or the training is very, very poor.

32
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:52,680
I mean, I've seen it with lots of people that I'm acquainted with.

33
00:02:52,680 --> 00:03:00,680
If you change a job, or you go from permanent contracting,

34
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:05,520
or contracting to permanent, they think you can work both jobs.

35
00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:14,640
So when it comes through with your tax code, tax code is glaringly wrong.

36
00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:20,040
The system doesn't actually have the necessary information

37
00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,760
to actually highlight this.

38
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,960
And then when you phone up HMRC, they say, oh, it

39
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:31,840
looks like this information is incorrect.

40
00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:33,760
Oh, you're only working one job.

41
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,520
I'll remove the other and send out another stack of paperwork,

42
00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,760
which is expensive and normally wrong.

43
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,440
So you have to sort of at least chase them again

44
00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:49,840
another couple of times before they get the correct tax code.

45
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:58,680
And together with lack of training, as I foresee it,

46
00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:05,120
it's a lot of cost to the taxpayer.

47
00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,440
And the other thing is that there are loads of people

48
00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:15,560
who do not recognize it until you think, hang on a minute,

49
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,320
where's all my money going?

50
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,680
It's all going in tax.

51
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,560
And then you get it back in six months' time.

52
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:29,480
So the government can actually utilize this money,

53
00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,120
which you shouldn't have paid.

54
00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:37,800
I mean, who can work two 40-hour jobs?

55
00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,440
I mean, not many, if any people.

56
00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,160
And it's just some process or procedure

57
00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,480
which needs to be addressed.

58
00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:53,520
So going back, gross misconduct, which

59
00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:58,160
can lead to immediate dismissal, encompasses serious offenses.

60
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,440
So you've got that many people with serious offenses,

61
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,840
such as bullying, theft, intoxication, damage

62
00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:12,080
to a company, property, gross negligence.

63
00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,960
At HMRC, this could also include the unlawful disclosure

64
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,320
of sensitive taxpayer information or fraud

65
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,560
involved in misuse of company systems.

66
00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:29,280
So there was a high-profile case where this work defrauded

67
00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:35,040
the taxpayer over $300,000 in child benefit.

68
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,280
So it's falsely claiming that three of her children

69
00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:41,040
were disabled and submitted fraudulent tax credit

70
00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:47,240
claims for another 15 children using details from her work

71
00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,840
computer to facilitate the crimes.

72
00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:57,480
From memory, I think that the actual slap on the wrist,

73
00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,000
shall we say, was very minimal.

74
00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,760
I mean, you're taking a huge amount of money.

75
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:11,160
There should be a lot of checks and balances.

76
00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:18,600
And you're probably looking at fraud to be 3% to 5%.

77
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:24,480
I mean, if a lot of these processes were tightened up

78
00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:31,280
and a lot of this nonsense of sending stuff through the post,

79
00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:34,040
because that is incredibly expensive,

80
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:41,040
we would need to have a leaner government in the way

81
00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:47,240
of communication by different means.

82
00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:53,720
Because you could have most people utilizing a mobile,

83
00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:58,840
and they can get this information that way.

84
00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:00,920
Just needs a bit of a joined up thinking.

85
00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,560
So the customer service, as I said before,

86
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:08,880
is also at an all-time low.

87
00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:14,280
So you're hanging on at a local number.

88
00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,080
Most people would probably want to do this via mobile

89
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,280
so that they can carry on for the two to four hours

90
00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,800
that they have to wait.

91
00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:29,440
And a lot of times, it's sort of, oh, this isn't my role.

92
00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,760
You need to phone up somebody else.

93
00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,240
So over half of the 321 total dismissals

94
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:47,160
at HMRC, which has a workforce of 65,000,

95
00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:56,080
in comparison in 2020, only 28% of the 441 dismissals

96
00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:57,920
were due to gross misconduct.

97
00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:03,040
So the increase is there.

98
00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:09,680
So I mean, that's sort of somewhat doubled.

99
00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:11,840
The wave of dismissals comes at a time

100
00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,280
when HMRC is struggling with customer service,

101
00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,640
described as being at an all-time low

102
00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:23,440
as the agency faces challenges in managing a growing tax payer

103
00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:24,960
population.

104
00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,160
With plans for increased funding to recruit additional staff,

105
00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:35,680
there is an emphasis on the importance of training.

106
00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:38,400
New recruits to understand the highest

107
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,920
standards of conduct expected of them.

108
00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:52,880
So I think there needs to be an element of,

109
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:58,680
through the portal, you can actually

110
00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:10,280
challenge to say, OK, I challenge that tax code,

111
00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,160
and here are the reasons why.

112
00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:14,720
I've only got one job.

113
00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,840
My job, AAA, I have finished.

114
00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,960
And the job, BBB, is current.

115
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:30,760
Here is what I believe my current gross salary to be.

116
00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,200
And then somebody in the back office

117
00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:40,800
can actually deal with these particular information.

118
00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:47,360
And then you could potentially get a redacted text message

119
00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,320
to say, right, we've processed your request.

120
00:09:52,320 --> 00:10:00,920
Please log in or say something like, you know,

121
00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:06,080
the tax code has changed to X, Y, and Z.

122
00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:15,320
I mean, we need to be mindful of securing our tax arrangements

123
00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:23,840
but to be reasonably flexible on how we engage.

124
00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:34,720
And you need to have the staff to deal with difficult cases.

125
00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:40,760
But simplistic cases should be quite easy to do.

126
00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,880
For example, there are lots and lots of people

127
00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,880
are saying, oh, I've missed this credit on my pension.

128
00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:50,360
How much is it?

129
00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,040
How do I pay?

130
00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:56,200
The process of paying, it should be straightforward,

131
00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:00,760
where you log into the portal.

132
00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,560
Oh, sorry, I've got a frog in the throat.

133
00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:05,280
Log into the portal.

134
00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,880
There's probably half a dozen major items

135
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:14,200
that are always reflected.

136
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:19,960
And they should be done with a very simplistic query.

137
00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:27,120
You know, maybe not even signing in.

138
00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:32,600
You just have enough information about you.

139
00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,960
And then an email is sent to the relevant people.

140
00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,000
Maybe that's a way of sorting it out.

141
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:44,280
But I suppose how many of these people

142
00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,640
have just been let go because they

143
00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,800
haven't been trained properly?

144
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:57,520
Or the individual has found a quicker or easier way.

145
00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:07,840
Or they just don't meet the current environmental model

146
00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:14,560
as new parties get elected and old parties leave.

147
00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:16,920
So thank you very much for your time.

148
00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,560
I hope you enjoyed this particular rant from mine.

149
00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,080
If you enjoyed it and want more, you

150
00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,960
can donate, I'll leave the details in the show notes.

151
00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,160
You can also sponsor this particular channel.

152
00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:38,280
And please share, comment, and subscribe,

153
00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:43,080
so I can get this content out to a lot more people.

154
00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,160
So have a great day.

155
00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,040
And I'll see you on the next one.

156
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:49,040
Sayonara.

157
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:57,160
Bye.