HMRC chief steps down and leaves “mixed legacy”

Lin Homer is to stand down as HM Revenue and Customs chief executive in April after four years in the role.

The Whitehall mandarin, who was made a Dame in the New Year’s Honours list, has faced intense criticism from MPs while holding key Civil Service roles.

Ms Homer, came under fire last year for her handling of tax dodgers and faced a scathing attack by MPs for her “catastrophic leadership failure’’ when in her previous position in charge of the UK Border Agency.

However, as the government announced the news of Ms Lin’s departure, Chancellor George Osborne said: “Lin Homer has made a real contribution to public service modernisation and transformation. She has put the foundations in place that will see HMRC become one of the most digitally-advanced tax authorities in the world.”

Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, who is head of the Civil Service, said Ms Homer was a “dedicated and courageous colleague”.

But Ms Homer has been forced to defend the department after securing only one prosecution from a list of 6,800 UK-related secret Swiss bank accounts provided in 2010 by French authorities.

Labour’s Margaret Hodge, who was one of Ms Homer’s chief critics while heading the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said: “Lin Homer retiring at 58? Always polite and solid performer at PAC but presided over awful service to public, huge tax gap and poor morale.”

Mrs Hodge said Ms Homer would leave “a mixed legacy”.

The former PAC chair told BBC Radio 4’s PM: “Last year, the ability of HMRC just to answer the phone and give a service to its customers was abysmal. They were answering half of the calls made and people were hanging on for a quarter of an hour before anybody picked up the phone.

“If you look at the tax gap between what HMRC should collect and what they do collect, that hasn’t shifted. Actually, it went up to about £34 billion.

“And if you look at morale amongst staff, the Government does a survey across all departments every year and HMRC comes pretty much bottom of that poll.

“And she was made a dame… That happens to people. I don’t know quite why.”

Mrs Hodge added: “The other interesting thing about Lin Homer is she has run a lot of difficult departments, but she has always managed to get out just before the trouble is revealed.

“At one point, she was permanent secretary of the Department for Transport and just after she left, we had the fiasco over the contract for the West Coast railway, which had happened on her watch.

“She then went off to run the UK Border Agency. Just after she left, it became so apparent it was dysfunctional the Home Secretary decided to abolish it.”

“And now she is leaving HMRC before retirement age, at the age of 58, and I just wonder what is round the corner.”

HMRC said Ms Homer had led the department “through a period of recovery and significant performance improvements”, including a reduction in the tax gap and an increase in the number of customer calls being answered from 48 per cent in 2011 to almost 90 per cent in December 2015.

Conservative Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury committee, said: “Lin has done a tough job in difficult circumstances.

“It is now very important that the Government finds a high quality replacement. The taxpayer experience of HMRC is still well short of what they have the right to expect. The committee will want to hold a pre-appointment hearing with her successor.”

Ms Homer said: “After 10 years as a chief executive and permanent secretary in the Civil Service, the start of the next spending review period seemed to be a sensible time to move on.

“HMRC has secured ministerial support and funding for our ambitious transformation programme and it has the leadership team in place to deliver it. My successor will be able to put their full weight behind seeing the transformation through to 2020.

“It has been a privilege to have been with HMRC during a period when the improved performance of the department has been increasingly recognised and we have the full backing of ministers for our future plans.

“HMRC is a critical organisation which does vital things - to collect the revenues to pay for public services, support families with targeted financial support and facilitate trade for UK businesses.

“I have found commitment to public service and dedication to customers among our people wherever I have been, coupled with a deep level of specialist expertise and operational excellence.”