HMRC to move staff into 'transitional centres' before showing them the door

Computing understands that IT contractors won't be affected

As part of its 10-year "modernisation" programme by which HMRC aims to cut £100m in costs, the organisation will have transitional centres for staff likely to leave over the next five to 10 years, Computing understands.

Earlier this week, HMRC said it would close 137 local offices by 2027 and replace them with 13 new regional tax centres, which are to open over the next five years.

It said that it expected the "majority of staff" to be able to move from their current offices to a regional centre, and said it would phase moves over 10 years in order to minimise redundancies.

Computing understands that in line with those phased moves, HMRC will have transitional centres for people who are likely to leave the organisation within the next decade - a move that is likely to affect morale within the organisation as employees would surely be able to find out which centres are the "transitional" ones at some point during their time at the government department.

HMRC is keen to move as many people as possible to regional centres, and in cases where that is not possible, it will move employees to other government departments.

But it also seems that HMRC will move certain roles and perhaps even teams to transitional centres where they will work until the department deems them obsolete.

There are no plans to change the use of IT contractors in light of the regional centres announcement, according to sources

Earlier this week, HMRC said in a statement that it would be striving "to have fewer staff in the future as it streamlines how it works and uses the best of modern technology to reduce costs".

This is believed to include HMRC's digital mail service, which enables the organisation to scan incoming post so it can be processed digitally, and a new contact centre platform that enables the organisation to be more flexible about how it handles calls and integrates telephony with scanned mail and webchat and social media tools.

However, the regional centres announcement will not alter HMRC's existing technology plans, as the organisation believes its digital transformation is already well underway.

In a statement sent to Computing, HMRC said it was taking the next step in creating a tax authority fit for the future.

"We will do this at a lower cost to the taxpayer by using the best of modern technology and basing our staff in modern and more cost-effective buildings," a spokesperson said.

"These 13 new regional centres will make a big contribution to the economy of the cities where they are based providing high-quality, skilled jobs supporting a national recovery that benefits all parts of the UK," the spokesperson added.