Minutes of the Tax Credits Consultation Group Meeting 26 September 2007
Attendees
HMRC
Nigel Jordan (Chairman)
Kevin O'Hanlon (Secretary)
Irenka Timlin
Derek Lyall
Andrew Burland
Chris Fox
Jenny Foden
Jo Toal
Des Dolan
Roberto Specos
Alison Walsh
Jane Ashton
Rachel Watson
Sarah Dorman
Irene O'Brien
Keith Golding
Gio Marino
Adrian Dixon
Representatives
Lindsay Isaacs - Citizens Advice Scotland
Robin Williamson - Low Incomes Tax Reform Group
Alaster Calder - Local Government Association
Jane Hayball - Local Government Association
Frances Corrie - TaxAid
Beth Lakhani - Child Poverty Action Group
Lucy Cochrane - Citizens Advice (NI)
Apologies
Fran Bennett - Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Sylvia Gilbert - Local Government
Peter Gravestock - Association of Tax Technicians
Katie Lane - Citizens Advice
Jane Moore - Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales
Fran Robinson - Local Government
1. Welcome and introductions
Nigel welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2007
Representatives
- Suggested that suspension of recovery of tax credits overpayments should mirror the tax system in that recovery of an overpayment that a customer disagrees with should only be pursued after the process of dispute, complaint or appeal has been fully exhausted. HMRC acknowledged that they had an email from a representative about this and would reply in writing.
- Asked for clarification whether recovery of an overpayment is suspended when an appeal goes beyond Tribunal, to the courts. HMRC said that they would need to check.
Representatives wanted further information about some of the actions which had arisen at the last meeting:
- Clarification on the DWPs payment of Income Support during the Child Benefit extension period. HMRC suggested that representatives speak direct to DWP about their approach. If representatives want to send any comments to the secretary, he will pass them to DWP.
- A timescale for the work being done to comply with Disability Equality Measures. HMRC said that their Individuals Customer Unit are taking this forward and they would be asked for an update.
- Progress on the review of 0800 numbers. HMRC said the review is at an early stage but they will report back to the representatives at future meetings. Representatives pointed out that there was a report from SSAC on this subject.
- HMRC confirmed they would set up a separate meeting to enable time for detailed discussions on the representatives' various queries about the recovery of debt.
3. Operational positions
TCO
HMRC confirmed that there are no major delays with processing new claims and reminded representatives of the guidance they had produced earlier in the year on avoiding common errors when completing claim forms.
HMRC also confirmed that the new arrangements for handling claims going through the fast track system were working well.
Some representatives had seen a few examples where claims did not appear to be on the system for helpline advisers to see, and queried the process. HMRC explained that claims are generally scanned on the day of receipt and should then go on to the system overnight. They asked representatives to let them have details of any case where this did not appear to have happened so they could investigate.
Contact Centres
HMRC said that, as expected, there had been a high level of calls because of the renewals period and they had extended the opening hours in the run-up to the 31 July deadline.
Representatives asked if HMRC would check the guidance that Helpline advisers use when answering calls about Working Tax Credit and Disability Living Allowance.
Debt Management
HMRC reported that, for those customers who had failed to renew their claims, payments had been stopped and notices to pay are being issued. Customers who need time to pay should get in touch to discuss arrangements.
4. Outcomes from High Level Technical Workshop
HMRC confirmed that the issues identified at the workshop had all been passed to the appropriate operational areas to consider and address. They would provide a summary of the outcomes shortly.
5. Renewals - this year's cycle and looking forward to next year
HMRC said that the renewals window had been shortened this year by one month, to 31 July. Indications are that there was a good customer response. HMRC said that for next year they would be considering how to identify and target latecomers to further encourage them to renew in good time.
Representatives were concerned about the size of overpayments where customers do not renew. HMRC said that they tried to help people to renew on time - they sent reminders to those who did not renew promptly and they carried out advertising to remind customers of the deadline, in the run-up to it. Where customers were late with their renewal, but called to give us the information we needed, and good cause can be applied, the claim is renewed with effect from 6 April and payments which have been stopped can be reinstated.
6. Wallsend pilot - further update
HMRC explained that the Wallsend pilot was a joint venture between HMRC, DWP and the local authority to help customers who are moving into and out of work. Its aim was to provide customers with a one stop shop and it had been very successful.
The approach is now being trialled in six different local authority areas. The trials will finish in the New Year when decisions will be made on the future of the project. HMRC said that they will report further at a future meeting and would welcome any feedback in the meantime.
Representatives asked which local authority areas were involved in the trials - HMRC said that they would provide this information.
7. Communications update
Website - work was underway in the Department to transform the HMRC website; this should deliver improvements for the tax credits pages and address points which have been raised by representatives. HMRC said that they will arrange a meeting of the Website sub group to provide more information as it becomes available.
Representatives suggested that CTC should be shown more prominently in the list of support available on the directgov site.
Leaflets - WTC 5 & 6 have been updated and are available on the website, and revised WTC 1 & 2 will be available shortly with up-to-date and accurate information. Where customers contact the Helpline or an Enquiry Centre, HMRC staff will try to answer their specific queries rather than just provide them with a leaflet. Arrangements have been made for printed copies of the updated material but they will not be available immediately.
Claim form - HMRC is exploring whether the claim pack notes can be improved with a clearer focus on helping customers to complete the questions on the claim form.
Provisional payments from April 2008 - as last year, HMRC plan to ask customers to provide an up-to-date estimate of their income so that they can work out the amount of provisional payments to pay from April 2008.
8. Working hours
Representatives remained concerned about the position for customers with fluctuating hours of work. They queried the dates from which the four week run-on period for WTC starts to run and an overpayment starts to build up.
HMRC confirmed they had revised the guidance on the website and clarified that, if normal hours change, or do not work out as anticipated, or customers stop work, they must tell HMRC within one month of becoming aware of that change. HMRC said that it is not possible to give guidance on every possible scenario where there is no pattern of normal hours - eg, agency and shift workers, but confirmed that staff would take a practical, pragmatic approach and would not expect customers to report weekly hours for each week since the start of tax credits and to work out the average.
9. Any other business
Intermediary authorisations - HMRC said there will be internal discussions soon to address the issues arising and they will report back to representatives at a future meeting.
Migrant and Immigration Working Group - HMRC said that the first meeting of the group had taken place to scope the areas they wanted to cover. The next meeting will take place shortly.
Call recording - HMRC said that there were plans for Child Benefit calls to be recorded in the near future.
Court action to recover debts - A representative asked whether debt recovery through the courts had been suspended. HMRC thought that the query raised by one representative in July was probably connected to the administration issue they had written to representatives about, at around the same time - court action had been temporarily suspended whilst HMRC identified which cases were affected.
Local liaison arrangements - Representatives asked about the availability of local liaison. HMRC said that agencies could, of course, liaise with HMRC staff in the local Enquiry Centres on local issues but Helpline, the intermediaries line, and the Tax Credit Office would be more familiar with tax credits issues.
Ministerial statement about tax credits administrative error - Representatives asked about the implications of this administrative error. HMRC confirmed it was purely a procedural issue - they need to take action to ensure that the decisions made on certain older awards are put on a correct legal basis. HMRC reported that they had written to affected customers and reassured them that this review will not lead to their tax credits awards being reduced, or them being asked for any more payments for these earlier years. What had happened was that some awards for those early years had been re-opened - for example, when a customer reported a late change of circumstances - without following the proper procedure. HMRC confirmed that guidance is now in place for working future cases where customers report a change, which might affect an older award, after the year has been finalised. Guidance should be in place by mid-October for dealing with those customers who have had a letter telling them they are affected.
Working groups - Representatives asked for a list of the current working groups and asked that an update from the groups be included on the agenda for each meeting.
Manual payments - Representatives asked whether customers can be on manual payments for more than just a short period. HMRC confirmed that this can, exceptionally, be the case but it was an area that was kept under close review and had seen a number of improvements.
Next meeting - HMRC said that the next meeting will be on 14 November at 100 Parliament Street.
