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TaxationWeb wants to know if ordinary HM Revenue & Customs employees feel that the  Pacesetter Strategy is working.

I was interested to read HMRC's 'Continuous Improvement Strategy' this week. What is it exactly? HMRC describes it in the following terms:

"The HMRC Continuous Improvement Strategy, known as PaceSetter, sets out how HMRC will create an organisation that is focused on customers, uses proven techniques from across the public and private sectors to strengthen delivery, and learns so that HMRC systematically capitalises on the lessons of success and failure to improve performance month-on-month and year-on-year."

HMRC's 'PaceSetter Strategy 2.1 2011-2015' adds that its strategy is (among other things) HMRC's way of "continuously improving everything we do, from the perspective of the customer experience, involving the people who do the work. This will remove waste, improve efficiency, and improve the quality of customer service."

So everything that HMRC does in this respect is driven by you, the taxpayer (sorry, customer)!

The strategy presumably involves seeking the comments and feedback of HMRC staff at the coalface. I have never worked for HMRC, but I know people who have. There is also anecdotal evidence to suggest that staff morale at HMRC is not all that it could be, due to issues such as staff cutbacks and internal structural changes.

It is quite right that HMRC should be seeking to strive for constant improvement. As the saying goes, if you are standing still, you are actually going backwards. However, I wonder about the extent to which HMRC actually listens to its staff, and about how motivated HMRC's staff feel to participate in the Continuous Improvement Strategy in the current climate.

If you are one of the HMRC staff "who do the work" I would be interested in your thoughts on 'PaceSetter' and whether you feel that your views could make a difference within HMRC.

Best wishes,

Mark McLaughlin

Managing Editor