ARC NEWS 76 April-May 2015

“We didn’t need to colonise the Netherlands to import ‘yacht’ and ‘booze’” .

Editorial—2

“Where an employer refuses to recognise the worth of its people, then those who can leave for greater recognition elsewhere will do so.”

“I work seven days a week to make ends meet, as I am only paid the minimum wage.”

HMRC

cleaner—22

Tony Wallace—8

ISSUE 76 | APR/MAY 2015

where next on pay?

Tony Wallace p7

arc-forum.org

FIRST

EDITORIAL

WILL RICHARDSON

We

are in Purdah, it’s official. In a recent editorial I welcomed the addition of a comment facility at the end of news articles on the departmental Intranet, while wondering whether senior management had thought it through. I therefore had divided feelings on seeing the comments at the end of the news article emphasising that, although none of the rules have changed, civil servants need to be especially careful during the pre-election period. One poster challenged the right of the state to circumscribe freedom of speech in any way for anyone. I assume he abhors the criminal offences of incitement and the various provisions preventing people from expressing their weird, but doubtless strongly-held, views about gays/the religious (too many to list)/women/old people/ ethnic minorities (and majorities)/the young/ transsexuals and other threats to society, in the workplace. Another posted a copy of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, without apparently appreciating that the second paragraph – which lists legitimate restrictions on freedom of expression, and which I accept we could all debate endlessly – seems clearly to allow signatory states to restrict the public political expression of civil servants.

There were some interesting linguistic postings (OK, I admit this always peaks my interest). One poster objected to the term ‘Purdah’ as a relic of empire, although others quite rightly pointed out that English has been importing words from other languages for centuries. Indeed, we didn’t need to colonise India to import words from the various sub-continental languages. We didn’t need to colonise the Netherlands (it was, arguably, the other way round) to import ‘yacht’, ‘booze’ and a few more.

So what does the departmental advice (which is only passing on general advice to all civil servants) actually mean? Nothing in our letters of appointment says that we can’t have political views. Senior members of any government department will be better placed than most to come to an opinion about the policies of the various parties, especially in the areas they work in.

And nothing in the advice says that you can’t use that knowledge in casting your vote. I would be astonished if an ARC member were to be so foolish as to express a party view to a taxpayer or claimant, or to support a party in a public forum.

There has, however, been one recent change which might affect any of us.

The government has introduced a new sentence into the Civil Service Code requiring us to obtain ministerial approval before speaking to the press. So what happens if you are vox-popped on the High Street and the journalist, after ascertaining your (perhaps strongly-held) view, asks you what you do for a living? The new code seems to say that you either withhold the information (which may not save you if you are recognised as a civil servant), or explain that your comments are not to be used until you have received ministerial approval. I suppose an absolute prohibition might possibly have saved David Kelly’s life, although I doubt that this is the reason for the change.

There is a link on the FDA website to the petition objecting to the new restriction; please consider signing it.

Will Richardson Editor

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arcnews

APR/MAY 2015: ISSUE 76

FIRST

CAPTION COMPETITION THIS ISSUE

is published by the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC) 8 Leake Street, London SE1 7NN

The picture, from the 2014 Annual Dinner, shows (left to right) Fran Hunter, Graham Flew, Ruth McDonough, Mark George, Debbie Stamper and, in the background, Tamsin Wallbank. Uncle Tom Cobley sent his apologies. But what are they saying or thinking? Is it the same thing? Entries to arcnewseditor@gmail.com by the end of May please (and feel free to enter the held over competition from issue 74 at the same time).

www.twitter.com/arc_union Tony Wallace, President: 020 7401 5559 President’s Secretary: 020 7401 5573 Fax: 020 7401 5552 Membership: 020 7401 5590 membership@fda.org.uk Editor: Will Richardson arcnewseditor@gmail.com Mobile: 07973 895887 Deputy Editors: Julie Blayney Steve McFarlane Design & Production: www.lexographic.co.uk Advertising and classifieds: Simon Briant SDB Marketing 01273 594455 simon@sdbmarketing.co.uk Printing: Warners Midlands PLC The Maltings Manor Lane Bourne Lincolnshire PE10 9PH

The views expressed in arcnews are not necessarily the views of the editor or the union. arcnews is printed on environmentally-friendly paper produced from sustainable forests and wrapped in biodegradable polywrap.

ARCNEWS 74

There is no result because there were no entries. Either you all assumed that Miles Nelson had it sewn up or, like the people in the picture (Graham Flew and Mick Lett), you were bored with pictures of the terrible two.

Please recycle after you have finished reading this magazine.

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APR/MAY 2015: ISSUE 76

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FIRST LETTERS

Letters Letters on all topics are welcome. We may edit letters for sense and syntax; please email them to arcnewseditor@gmail.com and mark them clearly for publication or write to ARC, 8 Leake Street, London SE1 7NN.

In or out?

T

o be or not to be in ARC, that is the question which in recent years I have often contemplated.

I have tended to take the view that it is better to remain within ARC; in these difficult times you never know what is round the corner.

For me, that unexpected issue occurred nearly two years ago when I suffered traumas affecting my personal life, which inevitably affected work.

Needless to say, due to the personal trauma I was also faced with possible internal governance action, which due to the sensitivity of my personal trauma I thought I could manage without ARC assistance; in hindsight was not the right decision.

Early on I received support from my then front line manager; unfortunately, after a couple of months my manager moved on, after which support was virtually

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non-existent. Without going into the finer points of my ongoing personal circumstances, Internal Governance closed their file but referred the matter back to local senior management within my directorate. Alas, from this point onwards, work became another traumatic environment which I was struggling to manage. Senior management delayed matters and did not follow HMRC guidance in determining if there were any conduct issues. Around this time, interim validation meetings were being held and, contrary to the written documentary evidence, I was given an interim Must Improve marking. By this time I was becoming very distressed and finally, in desperation, I contacted a friend who happened to be an ARC Committee member for help. I explained my circumstances and what was happening at work and ARC responded rapidly by appointing an ARC caseworker to assist me.

At the same time, senior management were seeking to push matters, but without recourse to

HMRC guidance and not keeping the ARC caseworker in the loop.

Finally, I submitted a formal grievance on the basis that I believed I was being bullied. One would have thought that senior management would have followed HMRC guidance on formal grievance but this was not the case, as nearly a month elapsed before I received any proper response to my grievance. After a couple of months; my formal grievance was accepted as such and a fact finder was appointed. However, even then there were substantial delays and failures to adhere to the formal grievance process.

With my caseworker’s assistance, any Internal Governance issue was finally closed, whilst the interim Must Improve marking was overturned, although it did not recognise the damage that had been done to me during the months after that negative marking.

Even though I had moved to a different team with proper management support, I finally broke down at work as senior management were still not adhering to HMRC

guidance. It has taken nearly 15 months to resolve the formal grievance, which has been resolved to my satisfaction.

During all of this, my caseworker has been superb. He has provided advice and supported me when things became difficult for me; I was able to contact him when I felt vulnerable or unsure.

Words cannot express how grateful I am for his support and I am not sure how I would have coped without his assistance. I am still coming to terms with what has happened to me over the last couple of years and all I can say is thanks for being there and supporting me.

I hope that my story may make you think twice about the benefits of being in a union; in particular, how would you cope without support when you are faced with serious work issues?

Name and address supplied

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APR/MAY 2015: ISSUE 76

FIRST

Should I stay or should I go now?

T

his letter is in response to Jeff Brice’s request for colleagues deciding to take early retirement to set down their reasons for ARC, to help build their evidence base of members’ views.

I have just decided to retire early, on 1 June 2015, a few days before my 59th birthday, and just short of 35 years service.

My reasons are threefold: ie a mixture of personal, work-related and economic.

The personal reasons are that my father died last year, and my mother is suffering from poor health, both physically and mentally. Both my partner (Penny, who

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also has long service in HMRC) and I have had a number of health issues of late. All this has led me to re-evaluate my priorities for the rest of my life, and work no longer comes close to top.

The work-related issues are that although I have a very stimulating and intellectually challenging role, working with some amazingly talented and dedicated colleagues, I am simply not enjoying it any more. Worse, I’m becoming increasingly prone to stress over matters I would have shrugged off until recently. Moreover, for the first time ever in my career I was evaluated as a “low” achiever last year.

Regardless of the merits of that decision, the SCS performance process is so devoid of transparency that I can scarcely believe anyone can bring themselves to defend it.

The negative impact on my personal motivation from all this is no basis on which to continue in a role someone younger could fill with drive and distinction.

Finally, turning to the economics, no member of ARC needs others to

state the obvious. The combined impact of a pay freeze since 2009 and the incremental increases in pension contributions is such that the gap between net salary income and estimated net pension income has become increasingly narrow, especially when you also take NIC and commuting costs into account. For me, with almost 35 years service, and near-completion of my Added Years contract, I am close enough to achieving my long-term financial goals from my pension. I’m also very fortunate to be in a position where I can take any of the options open for early retirement (accept the Actuarial Reduction, buy it out, or defer pension till 60 and live off savings for a year). The arithmetic is simple; in broad terms only one day in a working week of five is now contributing to a marginal net increase in relative income. There is only one economically rational choice on that analysis.

I realise not everyone has the same freedom of choice, and the only advice I can give to others

considering their future is to: take your time, do your sums, talk to your friends and family, decide what’s really important, and then don’t second guess yourself. And don’t obsess over taking the maximum pension entitlement; the question is can you live on what you’ve accrued so far. No amount of money can buy you added years of life.

But a financial sacrifice towards the end of your career can help buy you an earlier start to your post-work life.

When I leave the office for the last time, I’m going to take suitably modest pride in my achievements, since they wouldn’t have happened without the support over the last 35 years of all those amazingly talented and dedicated colleagues I mentioned, some of them sadly no longer still with us. And when I’ve done that, I’ll look forwards not back.

Ray Casanove

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FIRST OBITUARY

FUNDRAISING

Arthur Fox ISO A

rthur passed away in hospital on 21 January 2015 aged 82 after suffering his second heart attack earlier in the month.

Arthur retired in 1992 after a long career in the Inland Revenue serving in a number of offices in London and Kent finishing up as District Inspector in Margate He was a keen member of ARC (then AIT), encouraging all to join, and was Canterbury Centre President for many years up to his retirement. After he retired, he continued to be interested in ARC affairs and attended a number of Centre meetings. Arthur was awarded the Imperial Service Order (ISO) for his long service and the

presentation ceremony was one of his proudest moments as a civil servant.

Up to his final months, Arthur continued to be active pursuing his many interests including his love of music and sport, participating in cricket matches into his 70s. His funeral was at the Thanet Crematorium on Friday 13 February and the ceremony was attended by a large number of Arthur’s former work colleagues and friends. He is survived by wife Pauline and a large family including children Janet, Philip and David.

Arthur made an impression on everyone he met and was always someone you could rely on for advice and support. He is sadly missed by all who knew him.

Steve McFarlane

Help raise money for your cause A

RC Manchester are doing an amazing job taking part in the Great Manchester Run for Macmillan – I’ll definitely be sponsoring them (see page 25) and probably buying them a pint at AGM a few days later!

They aren’t the only fundraising ARC members though. I ran the Great North Run a couple of years ago for RNIB, as did Paula Houghton last year for the RAF Association.

Mark Bingham has done a huge amount for the Alzheimer’s Society, including climbing Kilimanjaro. However, I only know about these because I’ve been on committee with these people when they took on their challenges.

I’m sure that there are

hundreds more of you with all manner of challenges in mind to raise funds for your favoured charity. If you’d like us to feature them in arcnews please let me know (julie.blayney@hmrc.gsi. gov.uk) and we’ll include your plea for sponsorship! At worst you’ll raise awareness for your charity, but most likely some of your colleagues will dig deep and help you reach your target.

Julie Blayney

ARC FORUM

Join the debate Visit arc-forum.org and join the debate. It’s a members-only site and you will need to register the first time you visit.

Registration is simple, but if you are new to forums, you can email the forum administrator at graham@fda.org.uk and Graham

6

Flew will provide a “help card” to explain how the forum works.

The forum is a useful place to read about things happening in the union, and also to pass on your views. And you will be able to catch up on the latest by reading Tony’s President’s Blog.

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APR/MAY 2015: ISSUE 76

LEAD STORY

Tony Wallace aSKS ‘WHAT’s NEXT?’

FIRST

Where NEXT ON PAY?

I

believe in progressive trade unionism. I believe that an organisation that works to the principles which ARC has traditionally held delivers for our members and delivers for our employer. A couple of weeks back I was invited to address a group of managers in Nottingham to lead a conversation arcnews

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on how our union can work with leaders for the benefit of all. It was an excellent and refreshing opportunity to explain some of the core principles of the work that we do and a thoroughly enjoyable morning for all.

It is a common myth that the key characteristic in the employer/trade union relationship is one of constant industrial

strife. That is an attractive story for those who operate on the edge of reason with a vested interest in not engaging with true worker representation. But that caricature is a long way from the reality that employers and union reps work together to resolve the issues and tensions that sometimes arise in the relationship.

In preparation for the meeting I pulled, from the Intranet, a copy of HMRC’s >> 7

FIRST

<<

8

employee relations agreement which we; ARC, PCS and our employer, all signed up to. It is getting a little old now but reading it through provided a refreshing reminder of how consultation and negotiation arrangements are supposed to work. We all signed up to “foster a climate of trust and cooperation in order to facilitate good employee relations to the benefit of both the Department and staff”.

Over the past eight months I have been delighted by the way that we and our employers have worked together. We have made real progress in moving back to a place where we can achieve those objectives which benefit us all. We have refocused, we have redrawn our relationship with HMRC, and our employer has once again recognised the need for, and the benefit of, meaningful dialogue with ARC. There will continue to be areas of difficulty along the way; Guided Distribution is still there and no one will pretend that all is rosy in the garden but we are talking, we are being listened to, we are being invited to help shape the future of the organisation and we are working together to resolve difficulties where they arise.

But (and isn’t there always a “but”) for progressive employee relations to work, it takes commitment from all of the parties with an interest in that good and harmonious rapport. We still live in a world of delegated pay arrangements but for as long as Treasury and Cabinet Office hold the purse strings their influence cannot be ignored and the work that we are doing in HMRC is in serious danger of being unbalanced by a frankly backward-looking approach to pay and reward, imposed by them both.

We are about to go into the fourth year of pay restraint. Restraint born

out of the two ongoing fictions that the recession was the fault of the public sector and that suppressing the incomes of those who work there is good for the wider economy.

Growth is slow precisely because people like you and me still have less in our pockets than we had six years ago. And for me personally, that is despite an intervening promotion to G6. What is happening with our pay system?

In fact even the word “system” is inappropriate where we have pay arrangements which are almost wholly unsystematic. Despite our protestations we still have no mechanism for progressing through the scales and there is no mechanism to recognise the value of experience gained and put into practice. At the same time we, as an organisation, have on every measure delivered spectacularly for the state. We are doing more with less, and for less, whilst the benefit of that increasing effort garners precious little for us.

Not only that but we all know very well the true monetary value of what we do by looking at the government’s own research. That cannot go on for ever.

An end to boom and bust was hubris on a grand scale. The economic wheel continues to turn and, just as we suffered recession, the country has now started moving into recovery. Everyone is telling us that; the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, the Bank of England and even Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.

Furthermore, they all recognise that inequality is a barrier to progress and bad for the state. There is a clear consensus that employees need to share in the fruits of that recovery. That is, everybody except for employees in the public sector. The same employees who worked so hard to help bring that recovery about;

the Civil Servants who nursed the banking sector through its crisis and the Civil Servants who have more than delivered on all that was asked of them to tackle the tax practices of some of those who took us into the mess in the first place. ARC members have delivered in spades.

So against that background, what would be the progressive thing to do? Surely it would be to recognise our contribution to the success story and allow us to share in it. The maxim has long been that the best way to build an organisation is to get employees to buy into it and to share in the proceeds of their hard work; the principle is a sound one.

The minimum expectation must be to recognise the true value of our contribution and to reward us accordingly. But the pernicious proponents of restraint refuse to do so, and that ostrich-like approach to changing market conditions has inevitable consequences.

Where an employer refuses to recognise the worth of its people then those who can leave for greater recognition elsewhere will do so. The employer loses its ablest, its brightest, its most economically viable assets, and its business and productivity suffers. When you combine that with a continuing drive to make your organisation smaller you reach a point where you put the very delivery of your business itself at risk.

You might not even see it coming! If we should have learned anything in the past five years then it is surely that stable systems become chaotic remarkably quickly. I firmly believe that we are approaching that tipping point and a return to the desperate situation in the eighties where one in ten of us were leaving the moment that we were trained. Don’t believe me? I heard a new phrase from some trainees the other day. arcnews

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LEAD STORY

“But every time we do that we are faced with the same stonewall stock answer. ‘Until they see a problem the Treasury will do nothing!’ What is progressive in that?”

They referred to “getting on the escalator”; get trained, leave, move on and earn the bucks.

HMRC knows that there is an approaching crisis of skills, they know that the pay gap will bite us; in fact they know that it is biting already. There are currently a number of areas of HMRC’s business where we simply cannot offer competitive salaries and where we recognise the true impact of the market on recruitment and retention of quality staff. Those parts of the business recognise the value of specialist skills, experience and education; and they are prepared to pay for it. But only where that experience and skill was earned outside of our organisation! In those areas the best can move through our pay scale without ever having spent a single day working for HMRC. They can, if they are capable, on day one start on arcnews

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a salary some £7,000 above those of colleagues who have spent years delivering at the same grade and going backward financially. And how do those colleagues catch up? The answer is that they don’t. That is the inevitable consequence of a pay unsystem! That is not progressive, it is not proper and it is not fair. We already have one tranche of equal pay cases; does HMRC really want to create another?

Do not misunderstand me. If the market rate is thousands of pounds more for external recruitment of quality staff then pay those people that, but let’s not pretend that it is a different market than that which applies to the rest of us. ARC has started to talk about this stuff, we have pointed out the difficulties that this will create; we have invited progressive discussions to fix our utterly failing and dysfunctional pay system

FIRST

for the benefit of HMRC and for our members. But every time we do that we are faced with the same stone-wall stock answer. “Until they see a problem the Treasury will do nothing”!

What is progressive in that? It is in fact regressive. It means that the only way that the problem will be recognised, let alone addressed, will be either when HMRC stops delivering or the problem manifests itself in some other way. That to me sounds very much like the outmoded and out-of-touch approach to employee relations of the seventies and it is certainly not what I understand by the phrase “progressive trade unionism”.

I have invited HMRC to take the progressive path and to help us make your case. I hope that they will do so because, frankly, I don’t fancy the alternative 9

MIDDLE MIDDLE

ARC Annual Dinner We’re back to the Connaught Rooms on 13 May for the yearly bash. Graham Flew fills in the details.

I

ncredibly, it’s time to think about the ARC Annual Dinner already, to be held on 13 May 2015 after the AGM. This year we are going back to the Grand Connaught Rooms (61-65 Great Queen Street London, WC2B 5DA).

The Dinner is a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones, and the event is open to any ARC members and their guests. And it is free for members who are official delegates for their centre to ARC AGM, so there’s an incentive to put yourself forward. Why not get a group of colleagues from your office or your training group together on a table for a great night out? Equally don’t be put off to come in ones or twos as we can easily accommodate smaller groups together too.

The Drawing Room will be open for drinks from 6.30pm and we aim to sit for dinner at 7.15pm.

ARC’s official tasters have selected what we hope will be a splendid meal (please see menu inset).

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Your ticket includes half a bottle of wine or orange juice as an alternative. We will have invited guests and after dinner speakers including your President, Tony Wallace. Back by popular demand we will have a DJ and a dance floor for later in the evening, and I promise this year not to drag reluctant dancers on to the floor, so don’t be scared. The bar will be open until the end of the evening at 1am.

Anyone wishing to attend, even if you are a paidfor delegate, must be included in a booking form to be returned to us with menu choices and any seating preferences by 30 April 2015. And please note – places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so don’t delay.

The venue is fully accessible for wheelchair users, but anyone with further special requirements, dietary needs or questions should contact me at graham@fda.org.uk and I will make the necessary arrangements for you.

Any questions? Contact graham@fda.org.uk. arcnews

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ANNUAL DINNER FIRST MIDDLE MIDDLE

Menu Starter

Main Course

Mosaïque of three birds topped with duck parfait, apple chutney & raisin toast (M)

Gateau shoulder of lamb, tomato & feta with lamb Noisette, coated in herbs, fondant potato, vine cherry tomato & red peppers (M)

or

Dessert Palette of bitter chocolate triangle with pear sorbet or

or Roasted Mediterranean vegetable tartlet with goat cheese and herbs salad.

(V)

Cheese board Globe artichoke filled with wild mushrooms & spinach, fondant potato with sweet butternut squash boulangère & saffron sauce. (V)

Booking form for the ARC Annual Dinner on 13 May 2015 Please return this form, to Graham Flew, ARC 4th Floor, New Prospect House, 8 Leake Street, LONDON SE1 7NN, by Thursday, April 30 or email the details to address below. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Name and centre or office (if applicable)

(D)elegate (M)eat or (D)essert or (Guest) (V)eg or (C)heese

TOTAL    

I I I I

Cost: £50 per head

£

enclose a cheque/cheques totalling £_________ made payable to ARC. have a full table of 10 diners. do not have a full table but enclose a list of people who would like to be seated together. understand that the dinner organisers will try to meet my requests but accept that it may not be possible to do so.

Name: Phone number: External email address: If you have booked a place and are unable to attend then please email graham@fda.org.uk immediately if in advance or text or phone 07745 911590 on the day

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MIDDLE MIDDLE

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2015 March marked International Women’s Day and ARC members celebrated across the UK.

LONDON

Elly Crockford

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nternational Women’s Day is a celebration of inspirational women that takes place worldwide each year, HMRC celebrated with 13 events across the UK on 5 March under the themes of ‘Challenge’ and ‘Make it Happen’. Each event was different but common themes were senior role models sharing their career challenges, how they have overcome them and what they have learned along the way. There were also discussion workshops, market stalls, speed mentoring and presentations from non-HMRC speakers. The events were coordinated

by HMRC’s Senior Women’s Group, with support from the Gender Network and Union diversity and learning representatives.

Feedback from the events has been overwhelmingly positive with attendees commenting 12

on how inspirational and enlightening they found the events, its theme and speakers who really struck a chord. Attendees were positive about the opportunity to attend such events and their value.

‘I found yesterday’s event to be both informative and inspiring. I felt it was the right mix of facts and figures along with personal experiences.

Although all the women were much further ahead in their careers than me, I was inspired by their hard work and determination which led them to their current positions.’

In London we had a number of speakers talking about the challenges they have faced and the techniques they use to keep balance in their lives. Judith Knott opened, playing Brahms and explaining how she uses playing the piano as a way of calming her tendency towards excessive working hours. In contrast, Alex Galloway spoke about how running helps her to maintain resilience in the face of a challenging work

life and young family. Our keynote speaker, Jennie Granger, reflected on her upbringing in Australia, facing the PAC, and creating opportunities for others around you.

We also had non-HMRC presenters with Gabriella Oakey from Inspiring the Future talking about opportunities for HMRC people to volunteer in schools and Dr Jenny Gage from the Millennium Maths Project at Cambridge University talking about equipping teachers in South Africa to teach maths effectively and the opportunities this has brought to girls post-Apartheid.

The day was well-received and a great opportunity for delegates to focus on their career aspirations, goals and challenging themselves in the future and I certainly ended the day inspired for the future and feeling I can take on the world. We received a lot of interest in the SWG and Gender Network and would encourage everyone to look out for and get involved with further events in the months to come. arcnews

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2015 FIRST MIDDLE MIDDLE

BELFAST

Sarah McEwan

A

n extended lunchtime event was held in Belfast, only the second time such an event has been organised in Northern Ireland to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event was exceptionally well attended with more than 160 people coming along to participate and listen to the two keynote speakers.

In keeping with the ‘Challenge’ theme, Tina Gallagher from HMRC and Jo Gordon from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) talked about what challenge meant to them. Jo Gordon is a Deputy Director for NIO Business Delivery Group. She spoke about ‘Challenges – achieving a balance’. Jo gave us an entertaining insight into how she dealt with challenge to develop her varied and excitarcnews

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ing career. We also learned something of her fascinating family history and role models – she is great-grandniece of the renowned ‘Flying Duchess’, Mary, Duchess of Bedford.

Tina Gallagher is a Deputy Director in PT Change. She shared her personal reflections and constructive advice on the challenges she had faced, which resonated firmly with many in the audience and made for another well received presentation.

In addition to hearing our keynote speakers, attendees browsed the 17 market stalls we had set up. These covered organisations such as the NSPCC, Aware Defeat Depression and the Voluntary Services Bureau.

Some added extras were on offer including ‘Body Composition Health Checks’ by Cancer Focus, Indian head massages and a Personal Safety Demonstration by Chang Do Kwan, with hints and tips on how to protect yourself in the event of a physical attack. ARC was of course represent-

ed (and well supported) at a market stall and, interestingly, RIS had requested a stand specifically to recruit women due to a resourcing gap in their current structure.

I organised the event with help from fellow trainees, colleagues from four other business directorates, and the Belfast Campus Leadership Group.

For that reason the event was truly cross-directorate and our successful outcome is testament to the collaborative efforts of a group of very energetic, committed and creative individuals.

The immediate feedback we received on the day was of the ‘buzz’ of the whole event. It gave women (and men) from across all the offices in Northern Ireland the opportunity to network and catch-up, and to really think about what ‘Challenge’ meant to their own personal circumstances.

There would be no truth in the rumours that handing out goody bags at the front door contributed at all to the feel good factor.

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MIDDLE MIDDLE

BIRMINGHAM

Vicky Johnson

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n Birmingham we have tried to celebrate IWD every year, with one notable exception in 2013 when we focused on HMRC running the Whitehall-wide event (scary day).

Last year we spoke about how HMRC has changed over the last thirty years. We had a selection of speakers with a range of experiences in the department and included a new TPDP Trainee, and a very good friend of mine who has over 30 years’ experience in the Department.

This year the central theme was ‘Make it Happen’ and HMRC set the theme of challenge. I puzzled for a while about how to fit in with these two. I love hearing from people who have been successful and about the challenges they have faced but sometimes we need to be challenged to succeed so I decided to run an event that challenged those attending.

My next problem was what to challenge them with and as I was thinking about this I was invited to the BoF2 presentation skills course.

The answer lay in that invitation. If I was presenting about locations, I wanted to know how those locations would be fully diverse – what facilities would be needed? How would HMRC ensure they did not inadvertently put potential staff members off applying to work there?

So I worked with two of our trainees to build a challenge around Regional Centres and making them ‘diversity proof ’. They produced diversity statistics for all to consider and a task description that challenged us to think about what a fully diverse regional centre would look like.

I spilt the event into three teams, 14

fish, chips and peas with each group led by an SCS volunteer. At the end of the three separate sessions we came back together as a group to feedback our ideas and amalgamate them into one. This one output has been shared with the BoF2 team, with Judy Greevy’s team and with ESS in Nottingham.

And what was that output? Well the ‘chips’ team produced a mind map which ‘fish’ and ‘peas’ added to and then converted to a PowerPoint slide (available to view if you’re interested) of suggestions, ideas, thoughts and issues. The discussions had common themes because actually, the basic needs of all, whatever group they may fall into, are the same. If we can deal with those common areas, we reduce the enormity of the challenge and we free up time for consideration of the specific requirements of specific groups.

‘Fish’ focused on disability and carers, one suggestion developed from the suggestion we had onsite nurseries (ironic, given we are closing those we have, but may need revisiting if any centres are out of town) was an adult version to allow the sandwich generation to have elderly

relatives cared for occasionally.

I don’t know how it would work, but I can see the merits of it.

Other, less radical suggestions, included: `` Chairs and carpets in contrasting colours – simple, but it prevents people with sight problems being unable to distinguish between the two. `` Canteen facilities that did not inadvertently discriminate – I was told a story about Waitrose and their decree that anyone wanting to claim their free coffee having to do so from the machine. The machine only served milk products and so in one go they removed the ability to claim from anyone who was lactose intolerant.

It is these kind of issues we need to think through, we must consider the impact of any decisions on all of our staff. We must also educate our workforce about the challenges that face some on a daily basis, either because of their race or because of their disability, whether or not that disability is visible.

That was the lesson I took from our event, and that is how I plan to act in the future. arcnews

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2015 FIRST MIDDLE MIDDLE

NEWCASTLE

Adelle Cartwright

A

fter speaking at last year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) event, I was keen to get involved with the event this year and make the celebrations here at Benton Park View, Newcastle better than they had previously ever been.

The celebrations began with a bake sale on Monday 2 March, raising money for Women’s Aid, a domestic abuse charity in Newcastle. This fantastic charity provides outreach, refuge and training services for women by women. They also have a freedom programme based around empowering women, something which we believe reflected some of the key aims and encouragement IWD seeks to provide.

The fundraising throughout the week raised over £326 for Women’s Aid, Sunderland Carer’s and the Waterview Park Annual Appeal.

Events then continued on Thursday 5 March where over 170 spaces were filled at a variety of sessions on site. These included popular keynote speeches from Melissa Tatton, Director of Local Compliance and locally based Deputy Director of Large Business NE, Jeff Brice. Each spoke about their time in the Department and their careers; Melissa focussing on personal resilience and Jeff on those who he has looked up to as role models.

We received extremely positive feedback from these sessions, in particular one person said they “thoroughly enjoyed listening to Melissa and Jeff. It was interesting to hear about their careers and what motivates them. I found Melissa’s talk especially touching and arcnews

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good to hear her talk about working part time and still being able to juggle a career and family life.”

The session which I was personally involved in was ‘A Global Perspective’. This took us back to where IWD all began up until the present day, highlighting the improvements we have made but pausing to reflect how other countries around the globe aren’t as up to date with women’s rights as they should be.

We saw that in some countries, women cannot go anywhere without a chaperone or their husbands

permission, are not allowed to drive, or (quite laughably) buy a Barbie doll without breaking the law.

We also took a flash back to the 1950’s to consider the way in which women were portrayed and often sexualised in adverts. One person commented that they “enjoyed the session, it was interesting to see the old adverts from the 50s. It’s amazing what they got away with!!’

In addition, a session reflecting on the progress of equality issues was particularly well received with comments that it was an “excellent session – heightens awareness, well put together, interactive and thought provoking. It was clear that a great deal of thought and preparation

had gone into the content.”

There was also a mini version of the recent, and highly successful ‘speed sifting’ event on site, sessions on overcoming unconscious bias, HMRC’s diversity networks and a Q&A panel session. Market stalls from local organisations and charities were also situated across site and food bank donations were collected for two local food banks who provide essential food to people in crisis.

For the first time 2015 saw the events at Newcastle expand to Waterview Park which also produced excellent results. The agenda included a repeat of Melissa’s session from BPV, and a Q&A Panel with women in various roles. A packed room heard about, and celebrated, the victories made over women’s suffrage over the last century and shared their own stories and hints with each other in relation to how they have faced and overcome a multitude of challenges in their own lives.

Attendees were asked to write a single word on a post-it note before they left to say how they felt or what they thought about the event. The most popular responses were ‘inspired’ ‘enlightened’ and ‘empowered’ but all feedback was positive.

In remembering the success of the day, it is fantastic to know we reached out to and inspired many women and men across the two sites. The celebrations could not however have been a success without the hard work and determination of all those involved, who arrange these events with no budget and on top of existing jobs.

We are hoping 2016 will bring an even more successful IWD celebration and if anyone in the North East is interesting in being part of the event’s planning or in joining HMRC’s gender networks, please feel free to contact Becky Conroy.

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Back to (Policy) Skool

MIDDLE MIDDLE

Period Week One

His tor y

Ec on om

ics

BREAK

Po litics

LUNCH

Psy ch

o lo

gy

Own study

Spencer Munn goes back to school.

History

Some of you may have seen the back of my head in a recent Intranet article, published on 10 February, describing the successful Tax Policy School, held in London (where else?), at the start of February. The Tax Policy School is a concept that has been run previously by the Cabinet Office, but this was the first ‘School’ involving HMRC in partnership with the Treasury.

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I had little idea of what would be involved, as no details had been released prior to the start of the week. In fact, it was only by chance that I even heard about the Policy School to start with – policy jobs in the North East are few and far between. I had initially assumed that the School was aimed at people in London only. As it turned out, this assumption was not entirely accurate. arcnews

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TAX POLICY SCHOOL MIDDLE MIDDLE

My interest in policy work started back in 2012 when I was still an eager Newcastle-based TPDP trainee. I should have been studying for an upcoming exam, but instead I decided I would go along to a workshop explaining the role of policy within HMRC. Run by Barbara Conroy, the head of the Policy Professional Team, it provided a brief insight into policy-making within HMRC. I was then able to secure a placement with Tax Administration Policy, working with a small team on a discreet measure for Budget 2013.

Four months later, I was sat in the ‘Box’ in a Committee room in Parliament, listening to David Gauke and his fellow MPs discuss the Budget Measure I had helped form. I was hooked.

Fast forward a couple of years, and here I was again listening to David Gauke, now Financial Secretary to the Treasury, explain what he, as an MP, likes to see in policy submissions.

One of the most pleasing aspects of Policy School was that it included HMRC staff from all over the country, and in all sorts of jobs. This is something we have been calling for in the North East with almost metronomic regularity, so it was refreshing to see this opportunity extended more widely than London offices.

Granted, there were several ‘pupils’ who worked in policy roles, but there were many others in operational and compliance roles. Policy jobs have traditionally been London-centric, so to see the variety of views and experiences broadened through a greater inclusion of those staff outside Parliament Street was interesting. I wonder what will happen if the extensive repairs recently reported as being required on the Houses of Parliament force Government to move elsewhere?

There were 24 attendees, of whom 16 were from HMRC and eight from Treasury. We were split into five teams for the project, but were not initially advised what this would involve.

(Macro)Economics

The week was a series of talks and presentations from an impressive line-up of individuals involved in the creation of policy. One of the most fascinating was from Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies. He managed to explain, using a series of graphs, why a relatively modest cut in central government spending leads to the swingeing cuts across government arcnews

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departments that we have all experienced (and will likely continue to experience).

Between the financial years 2010/11 and 2018/19, total spending cuts are planned of about 3.8% (or £28.3bn). However, after taking account of an increase in debt interest of 46.9% (£22.5bn), non-debt-interest spending must reduce by 7.4% (£50.8bn) in order to meet the target. Within this latter figure, though, social security payments are increasing by 8.5% (£17.0bn, £11.7bn of which is related to pensioner benefits). Therefore the cuts to public services must compensate for this, meaning a reduction of 13.8% (£67.8bn). Even within public services, not all spending is equal, and the increase in non-departmental public spending of 16.8% (£14.6bn) means that spending in public sector departments must decrease by 20.4% (£82.3bn). Further, once certain budgets – the NHS, schools, aid – are protected, the impact on other, unprotected, budgets is starker, at 36.6% (£90.8bn). So a relatively modest cut in total spending of 3.8% translates into the decimation of departmental budgets, requiring more than a third of their funding to be slashed. It is easy to see how a relatively innocuous-sounding statement can potentially have far-reaching consequences.

The challenge of this was put in context

by Sir Dave Ramsden, the Chief Economic Advisor to HM Treasury. His focus was on the macroeconomic state of the UK economy, about which there was a lot of positivity, but also some challenges. Unemployment has gone down, which indicates that the economy is improving and getting stronger. However, tax receipts as a proportion of GDP have stayed largely static, with the only change being a 0.5% increase in PAYE and NICs as a result of positive fiscal drag – meaning that as productivity and real earnings start to grow, more incomes will be pulled into higher tax brackets. Where receipts are not increasing, the only option (if one wishes to reduce the deficit, as all parties currently aim to do, in varying degrees), is to continue making cuts.

In an HMRC Policy context, this highlights the importance of either developing additional revenue-generating ideas, or of strengthening our ability to collect those taxes that are currently due, but remain unpaid. It is why ARC remains committed to making the case

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MIDDLE MIDDLE for more investment in HMRC, to enable it to strengthen its fight against tax evasion and avoidance.

Politics

The three key components of policy development are politics, evidence and delivery. These need to be considered at every stage of the process to ensure they are acceptable, accurate, and practical.

These elements often do not work in harmony; a lack of time may hinder the gathering and analysis of data, delivery mechanisms may not be sufficiently established to ensure smooth transitions, and probably the less said about politics the better.

Policy making in HMRC is a collaborative and iterative process with colleagues from the Treasury.

Both departments have different but essential roles to play, which complement each other well.

Treasury, for example, is closer to the elected MPs and Ministers, and so takes the lead in setting policy objectives, identifying potential options, and then determining the best option to take forward. There is no guarantee, of course, that Ministers will agree, as politics comes into play to a large degree.

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Good policy design should take this into account, however, to ensure ministers are made fully aware of the consequences of following, or not following, a particular course of action, based on the evidence gathered prior to making the policy proposal.

Once a specific policy option has been chosen, HMRC starts to take the lead in its design, through drafting the required legislation, implementing any required changes, and evaluating how successful these changes have been. This then feeds into the process of setting objectives and identifying options for future policy development. If the method of delivery has not been considered until this stage, there may be difficulties when it emerges that, for example, resource assumptions are incorrect, or data-sharing gateways do not exist. HMRC has a huge amount of operational experience, and so is better placed than the Treasury to determine the practical implementation side of a specific policy. Clearly, throughout this process, there needs to be constant consultation, both between departments, and between the wide variety of teams involved.

Psychology

Another very interesting presentation we had was from HMRC’s Behaviour Change Team. The traditional method of persuading (making) a person to comply with a particular rule was to use a ‘carrot or stick’ method: we will charge you money if you don’t do something, or give you a discount or relief if you do.

Behavioural insights can tell us how (and sometimes why), people behave or make decisions in particular contexts. Done well, there ceases to be a need to drive people towards making a specific choice (such as filing an SA return on time), as it will merely become the easiest and most natural course to take.

DMB have started to use some of these “nudge” techniques in the letters they send taxpayers.

As is often the case, there is a mnemonic – EAST: Easy; Attractive; Social; Timely – to summarise the key components of behavioural insights. To persuade someone to do something, it is important to make it Easy for them to do the right thing. People tend to follow defaults, as changing them is more hassle, and where messages are simple, people are better at

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TAX POLICY SCHOOL MIDDLE MIDDLE

“What started as a quiet, speculative word with the presenter after their presentation 18 months ago, led to one of the most interesting and challenging weeks I have experienced in my career with HMRC so far.” responding to them. Pre-populated forms, or short easy steps, are more likely achieve their goal than blank, complicated questions.

Making something Attractive is not necessarily about making it palatable, but about drawing a person’s attention to it. Images, colour and personalisation are all ways of doing this. Where drivers have persistently failed to pay their car tax, the DVLA has, apparently, started putting photos of the untaxed cars on letters, in order to attract the attention of the recipient.

People are Social creatures, so showing that most people perform a desired behaviour creates a strong incentive for others to conform to this. Also, when people make a commitment to others that they are going to do something, it is more likely to succeed; where that commitment is made just to yourself, it is very easy to ignore, and break.

Care needs to be taken, however,

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as this could merely reinforce undesirable behaviours. If most of your friends smoke, this might act as an incentive to continue, or even start, smoking, irrespective of wider trends in society.

Lastly, we respond differently to prompts depending on their timing.

Reminding someone in August that they need to complete their Self Assessment return will have less of an effect than the same message delivered in the middle of January.

Own study: Project Work

There was a more practical, handson element to the week that helped bring all this theory alive in a (almost) real-life scenario. This is why we were split into teams at the start of the week, which remained the same throughout. Running throughout the week and on each day was work on a hypothetical policy challenge, building on the

practical advice given within each of the presentations. I won’t go into the details of what this actually was; it was kept a secret from us until cryptic references were made during some of the presentations, and details were finally given at the end of the first day.

Although the policy challenge was hypothetical, it was not so outlandish that it would never happen (we were not considering the abandonment of civil service pay restraint, for example). As with a real scenario, we were given a very brief and very vague request from ‘the Chancellor’ to come up with options, covering implementation and presentation, for submission to ‘the Chancellor’s advisors’ in four days’ time. Edward Troup had opened proceedings by talking about what, for him, made good tax policy officials. He then came back at the close to act, with gusto, as one of ‘the Chancellor’s advisors’, and hear each team pitch their proposals. All the presentations were, I thought, excellent (though my team’s was clearly the best!), but remarkably different, given that we all had exactly the same starting brief, and the same presentations.

This goes to show the importance of speaking to as many different people as possible – everyone has different but valid ideas that can be used to develop strong, evidencebased deliverable policies.

What started as a quiet, speculative word with the presenter after their presentation 18 months ago, led to one of the most interesting and challenging weeks I have experienced in my career with HMRC so far. I would highly recommend the Tax Policy School, whether you want to get more involved in Policy work, or are just interested in finding out how legislation is developed

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MIDDLE MIDDLE

What if we can’t avoid long hours?

Julie Blayney digs into recents surveys on the culture of long hours.

L

ong hours culture is something that has been acknowledged as a problem for quite some time, but it is often difficult to pin down why. One of the main problems is that, even within HMRC, there is always someone worse off than you, so people feel bad about complaining. Some people will tell you “just don’t work more than your hours” or “well, take all your TOIL”.

However, things are a bit more complicated than that.

Not all parts of HMRC allow TOIL. Maybe you have taken on extra work voluntarily as a “development opportunity”. Several people on your team may have retired or moved jobs recently. There are many reasons why you may have to work long hours.

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LONG HOURS MIDDLE MIDDLE

“Out of those who work long hours, those who felt their workplace culture was “supportive’ were less vulnerable to some of the most dangerous negative effects of overwork.”

ARC has been working hard to push flexible working arrangements, and challenge those teams who don’t offer TOIL. However, these are not universally offered at the moment, so we have to consider how best we can support those in difficult positions.

I think it is important that we all take a stance to try and get work life balance right, not only for ourselves, but as senior leaders in our department. This issue affects all of us, but can be a particularly thorny one for equality reps. Why? Because there are particularly negative effects from working long hours for: women, part time staff, trainees, parents, carers, those with disabilities…I suspect if we actually looked at each individual everyone would be negatively affected in some way.

Long hours culture has been in the news a lot recently, between Sheryl Sandberg (CEO of Facebook) writing a book of advice on women about getting ahead without working excess hours and the French banning work emails after 6pm. However, one publication you may have missed is the 2014 announcement by the Harvard Business Review of some research on this area. The level of damage to an individual (the research was only into women, but it is likely the effects are universal) is about more than just the number of hours that they do. Research showed that of women who work long hours, those who felt their workplace culture was “supportive” were less vulnerable to some of the most dangerous negative effects of overwork. This is not to say that overwork is fine, the study still showed the women were likely to show the expected negative effects if working long hours.

The interesting, and hopeful, fact identified though is that a supportive culture makes a big difference.

Women working 60 hours a week in the most supportive environments fared significantly better than arcnews

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those working 45 hours a week in less supportive environments. The research also shows that when a culture is inclusive, there is increased satisfaction for the whole team.

So, what is a supportive culture? There were four key factors identified by the study.

The most helpful cultures: `` are those in which there is recognition and appreciation of the nonwork aspects of life `` maintain equal access to resources and opportunities `` have a widespread willingness to address subtle and overt genderbiases by, for example, addressing (rather than dismissing) women’s concerns about inequality and challenging unacceptable behaviour such as talking over women in meetings `` have managers who are actively engaged in supporting women’s careers.

In the best cultures, there is a shared acknowledgement of frequent obstacles to women’s career success (e.g. lack of mentors, leadership opportunities and flexibility). In the least supportive cultures, these obstacles are accepted as the status quo.

HMRC has made great strides in improving equality for staff, however we all know that lack of resources is often used to deny opportunities.

How often is that challenged rather than simply accepted as “how it is”?

The striking thing with this report, is that a supportive culture is not just driven from the top down.

Forbes defines a business’ culture as “group norms of behaviour and the underlying shared values that help keep those norms in place”.

We can ALL do things to improve the HMRC culture and make is one which is more supportive. Not only for ourselves, but for our colleagues.

There are simple steps that we can

take to make our working environment better for all. For example, when organising meetings or training, think about your attendees, ask if the travel will be difficult for them. If you’re offering up opportunities, try and make it open to all. Speak up when you see examples of inequality –this doesn’t need to be a big thing – if CPD is always in a location which requires an early start, ask why. If someone has a personal reason that means they miss opportunities, talk to them about how they can make sure the next time something comes up, they can benefit. Try to remember that not all disabilities are visible, not all caring responsibilities revolve around children and that you may not know what it is that is holding someone back. It’s irrelevant, we all have a personal life that should be respected at work. All of us know these are things we should be doing, and I’d like to think most of us do them anyway. What this study has shown is the importance of why we should be doing them.

There are also many, many studies which show the damaging effect of long hours. A Health and Safety Executive report from 2003 outlines that “most available evidence tentatively supports a link between longer working hours and lowered performance” – something to be considered at PMR time! As I mentioned at the start, it is not always so easy as simply not working more than your contracted hours, and that is why I haven’t focussed on the effects of long hours, but how we can help our colleagues and ourselves when we do have to work them.

The Harvard Business School defines leadership as “… about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”

We are often told we are Leaders in HMRC, and what better way for us to demonstrate how true that is?

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MIDDLE MIDDLE

Sometimes our concerns extend beyond our members to those who work for us without being employed by HMRC. Former President Terry Cook reports on ARC’s efforts on behalf of the people who clean your office.

The Living Wage in HMRC: the campaigning goes on

T

he Living Wage Campaign calls for every worker in the country to earn enough to provide them and their family with the essentials of life. The Living Wage is calculated independently according to cost of living. Outside of London the 2015 rate is £7.85 per hour, in London it is £9.15 (compared with the National Minimum Wage of £6.50). You can find out more at http://www.livingwage.org.uk/.

Launched by Citizens UK (http://www.citizensuk. org/) in 2001, the campaign has won more than £210 million of additional wages, lifting over 40,000 families out of working poverty, with getting on for 600 Living Wage Employers now accredited. You may have read recently about the work that’s being done to persuade leading football clubs to sign up, with Chelsea FC leading the way. You’ll certainly be hearing more about it during the general election campaign, with living standards as a battleground issue.

ARC’s involvement with the Living Wage began in 2012 as a result of the interest and activity of 22

a member, Berni Smith, who asked me what the union could do to help get a fair deal for people who clean HMRC offices in London. We thought we had got somewhere when, the following year, Simon Bowles said in a Hotseat answer that HMRC would be discussing this issue with their suppliers and would “where possible, encourage the payment of the living wage when agreeing future contracts”.

On the back of that the 2013 AGM passed a motion asking Committee to engage with HMRC to ensure the speedy delivery of the commitment. The subject was also featured in a lunchtime session at the FDA ADC the following day, and in September the FDA itself became an accredited Living Wage employer, with every member of staff at the FDA – including the staff who clean the FDA’s head office – earning not just the minimum wage but the Living Wage.

Helen Baird-Parker from Committee has done her best to hold HMRC to account on this but it’s been bounced between Finance and HR with no one appearing to take any responsibility. It finally emerged last year that the Department actually saw no role for itself in the matter – its position being summed up as ‘yes, we support the Government’s position, which is to encourage contractors to commit to paying a Living Wage, but when it arcnews

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LIVING WAGE MIDDLE MIDDLE comes to keeping our own house in order, “we will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for taxpayers.”’ And as a result of that, HMRC found itself being named and shamed as bottom of a Civil Service league table for what its cleaners were paid – the then minimum wage of £6.31 an hour.

So that’s why on 21 July last year anyone going into 100PS found a noisy group of people standing outside handing out leaflets and asking them to back the cause – cleaners who work in Euston Tower, Custom House and various Whitehall buildings, ARC members, civil servants, students, people from London campaigning groups, a rabbi and two priests – and a special mention for Berni’s new baby Clara, getting a very early taste of the struggle! The aim was to do the rounds of several Departments to deliver a letter from cleaners employed there asking the minister to meet them to talk about their working conditions.

Many thanks to ARC President Tony Wallace for the letter of support he sent us. And thanks too to the people from 100 PS who came out and stood with us. But depressingly, of all the buildings we visited that morning,100 PS was the only place where we found much in the way of official obstacles to getting the letter accepted – no it’s not possible to leave at the desk, no it’s not possible to get someone to come and receive it, no it’s not possible to make an appointment to see anyone, and by the way would you move away from the steps please – funnily enough, other departments didn’t see any problem at all in what we were doing.

And, of course, the lie to HMRC’s timid hiding behind value for money is that many organisations in the public sector have committed to paying the Living Wage – in June 2014, for example, the Commons and the Lords pledged to ensure that the London Living Wage was paid not just to staff employed by Parliament, but also to staff of contractors providing services to Parliament. The Rt Hon John Bercow MP, the Speaker of the House of Commons, commented: “I am thrilled to receive this accreditation arcnews

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“I work seven days a week to make ends meet as I am only paid minimum wage. I don’t have a social life. I have so many debts I cannot take a day off. I am stressed all the time. It is making me ill.” on behalf of the House of Commons, which has already resulted in all of our staff and contractors being paid at least £8.80 per hour. It is my hope that Parliament will be an exemplar of excellent employment practice and that where the House of Commons leads others will follow.”

And Baroness D’Souza, Lords Speaker, said: “I’m delighted the House of Lords is one of the growing number who have taken the step of becoming Living Wage employers.

The Houses of Parliament are iconic institutions which have at their core the aim of improving the lives of the UK’s citizens. One way of making a direct improvement, much closer to home, is by recognising the hard work and dedication of our staff, and signing up to the Living Wage promise.”

But HMRC simply won’t see things this way. And repeated attempts by the cleaners to get a meeting with someone senior have come to nothing.

So where now? Well the first thing is – we haven’t given up! I retired last year but Berni’s now back after maternity leave, and she and her Solicitor’s Office colleague Ben Brzezicki have been working hard to keep the issue alive. They’ve recently been joined by Lucy Hayes. Lucy has moved to HMRC from DECC where she played a big part in getting the minister there engaged with the issue and willing to force through the policy

in his Department – HMRC take note! One avenue that they are looking at is using HMRC’s Sustainable Procurement policy – this starts by saying that sustainable procurement is: “a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment.”

And one of the ways they say they’ll do this is by: “engaging with our suppliers to ensure they recognise and understand their role in supporting these objectives”.

You would think that ensuring that HMRC cleaners are paid a Living Wage falls squarely within that wouldn’t you?

And finally – why does it matter, and why should ARC be involved? Well, here’s the testimony of one cleaner who works in Euston Tower: “I work seven days a week to make ends meet as I am only paid minimum wage.

I don’t have a social life. I have so many debts I cannot take a day off. I am stressed all the time. It is making me ill. I have two granddaughters that live with me and are asleep when I get home. I rarely see them, sometimes at weekend. I don’t have time for my daughters, my husband or anything else. My two daughters both have illnesses – one has IBS and the other needs an operation and could end up in a wheel chair. My only free time is to go to church.”

What would cost the Department so little would mean so much to people in situations like this. I remember former President Gareth Hills saying during the debate on the motion at the 2013 AGM that: “the work of a responsible and professional union shouldn’t end at 5pm everyday and unions should have a bigger impact in a wider social context and on wider society – on families and communities” I hope ARC members will get behind the work that Berni, Ben and Lucy are going to be continuing to persuade HMRC to deliver on this issue

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LAST

The Treasurer’s update on ARC’s finances.

More deficit talk

I Treasurer’s report

Eugene Mitchell

“There is a drive on to increase our density.

Doing so will improve our finances but that’s a by-product of the much more important aim of improving our impact with the employer.”

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’m in the process of completing my first report as Treasurer of the union. I’m very grateful to Martin Fletcher for everything that he did as the previous treasurer.

Subject to audit the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2014 show another deficit, this time of £73,000. That’s the equivalent of more than £30 per member. This deficit contributes to yet another decrease in our net assets, to £277,000. The £277,000 reflects our investments at their cost of £223,000 rather than their value which at the end of 2013 was £648,000. This difference between value and cost provides us with some headroom for absorbing deficits.

Running a deficit each year is not sustainable and therefore we have to maximise our efforts in increasing our income while reducing our costs.

Subscription income fell in 2014 reflecting a reduction in members and there is a drive on, across the section, to increase our density. Doing so will improve our finances but that’s a by-product of the much more important aim of improving our impact with the employer.

Conference and the annual dinner is a major spend for us and we are looking at options that will be more attractive to members without increasing our costs.

Committee and officers’ expenses fell by £18,000 in 2014, reflecting our planned reduction in the number of face-to-face Committee meetings. However Committee meetings are only a part of this spend and there is a lot of unavoidable travel, particularly around departmental liaison, public understanding work and Centre liaison. This is the most significant element of our expenditure and I am pleased to confirm that all Committee members do everything they can to keep this as low as possible.

Nevertheless there is probably more we can do by teleconference and, crucially, by involving the wider membership in local negotiations to

reduce this further.

Our ballot expenditure was £19,000 and this represents the charges from Popularis who administer ballots for us. This year’s amount includes £9,300 related to 2013 ballots. Going forward the more we can do for ourselves the lower this expense will be.

Depreciation expense is higher than previously at £6,900 and it reflects the writing off of the tangible assets recorded in the 2013 balance sheet. As nobody could advise what this specifically represented the prudent course was adopted and the expenditure was written off.

At £23,000 our legal fees continue to be significant and these are almost all related to our equal pay fight. There will be further significant spend on this in 2015.

There is a new expenditure category this year – campaigns. £28,000 is recorded here. About 40% of this is a contribution to the FDA’s spend with Connect, our lobbying and PR consultants.

The balance comprises materials and other expenses spent on: `` Careers not quotas `` Day of action (14 February) `` Equal pay witness statement preparation, and `` Public understanding events Although the deficit was £73,000 our cash balances have gone down by £35,000. The difference comprises an increase in creditors, the political fund subscriptions, a decrease in debtors and the write off of fixed assets.

During the year we closed the NSB Investment account and the Halifax Building Society account, transferring the balances to the main bank account. Interest rates on all three accounts are low and this was a housekeeping exercise arcnews

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ARC runs for Macmillan

Three days before this year’s AGM, you might think your president, Tony Wallace, should be busy writing his speeches, or planning for the jam-packed year ahead. Alas not. Tony will, in fact, be pounding the pavements of Manchester

arcnews

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in this year’s Great Manchester Run. Tony will be joining members from Manchester Centre who are donning their running shoes and taking on the 10km course to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

You may remember that in March last year, Jonathan Lewis, a member of Manchester Centre, lost his battle with cancer. Jonathan had devoted much of his time during the last few months of his life to working with Macmillan, striving to improve the care received by cancer patients.

In June 2014, Macmillan honoured Jonathan with a posthumous award for his outstanding contribution to the Macmillan Cancer Improvement Partnership. We in Manchester Centre want to carry on Jonathan’s legacy by dusting off (or indeed ‘buying’) our running shoes, and hitting the streets of Manchester on 10 May 2015.

Macmillan do amazing work every single day, for those living with cancer, and their carers, families and communities. 98% of Macmillan’s funds come from donations, and so every penny we can raise for them is an incredible achievement.

Please visit our sponsorship page and spur us on as we muster our collective athletic prowess. We promise pictures will follow, although we can’t promise that they will be pretty! http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ARCManchester

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Helen-Baird Parker provides an update on the thorny issue of the effect of PMR on diversity issues.

Equality and PMR, where are we now?

I PMR

Helen BairdParker “ARC predicted that unconscious bias would come to the fore when managers were forced to put people in boxes and recommended detailed training on this for managers from the start, but we weren’t listened to.”

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write this as the end of another year looms, and as I prepare my own extensive competency examples which I expect will take me at least two or three days. I don’t mind doing that, except that while I’m doing it, I’m not attending to my other work, which isn’t going away. The same goes for all of us.

For me though, I know that I’m statistically not particularly likely to fall foul of the system – I’m a woman, I’m white, at 90% I’m a significant part-time member of staff, and I’m in my 30s.

Not so for many of our members.

You’ll all be dismally aware that since PMR was initiated, there have been disparities between different groups of staff in the PMR markings. We’ve now had three sets of data: mid-year last year, end of year last year, and mid-year this year. They all showed the same thing: `` Your presence in the office matters. If you’re part time (less that 80%), and you’ve had time off sick, you’re less likely to get an “exceed” and you’re more likely to be “must improve”.

Sickness absence is the most strongly associated factor. `` Your protected characteristics are a factor.

Male, BAME, and disabled staff are more likely to receive a “must improve” and less likely to receive an “exceed”. Age also plays a significant role – the youngest and the oldest staff are generally doing less well than the average.

Interestingly though, partial retirement doesn’t account for any difference.

HMRC has yet to arrive at the reasons behind this.

Since the very first cut of data, they have analysed the data very carefully. What it shows is that while these factors themselves are not predictive of the outcome of an individual’s PMR, there are “pockets” of HMRC where certain factors seem to be more at play than in other areas. The latest statistics confirm that if you have multiple factors, for example you are

a BAME, part-time member of staff who has also been off sick, you are much more likely to be “must improve” and much less likely to be “exceed”.

There’s further analysis underway on sickness absence, following ARC’s suggestions that they look at this more carefully. Do managers mark down very ill staff, which they just shouldn’t do, or do they perceive an issue with absenteeism and associated failure to deliver? We need to know more about this. It doesn’t seem that there’s an association with disability in this context, which is a relief, but we still need to understand it better.

This analysis is all very interesting, but we really need to see more concerted effort from the employer to find solutions. Any continuing evidence of unequal treatment is incredibly frustrating for members, for Committee and to me, as your Diversity Officer.

ARC predicted that unconscious bias would come to the fore when managers were forced to put people in boxes and recommended detailed training on unconscious bias for managers from the start, but we weren’t listened to.

When the first statistics came in, demonstrating that ARC’s predictions were correct, online unconscious bias training was made mandatory for managers.

The first analysis also showed that sickness absence was a key associative factor, despite the clear Cabinet Office guidance saying that it shouldn’t be taken into account. HMRC then had to add a note to the guidance to confirm that sickness shouldn’t be taken into account.

LoBs are now each supposed to have a diversity action plan, but many don’t yet. There is little evidence of practical actions taken by HMRC yet the data suggests nothing has changed. –The mid-year stats for 2014 are almost the same as they were last year, with the same diversity impacts. We’re expecting the end of year to be the same again this year.

ARC has found it difficult to deal with this matter with HMRC. For a prolonged period, HMRC refused to discuss the diversity aspects of PMR with us at arcnews

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all, due to the PMR dispute. Although we view diversity and discrimination in the work place as separate from performance management, HMRC simply refused to have any conversation with us about it for the first year, despite our representations.

Since then, as the ARC lead for diversity, I’ve only managed to have two meetings dealing with the diversity impacts of PMR because I’ve been told that it could only be discussed in particular settings. This means I just haven’t had the level of engagement with HMRC on this important part of my work for ARC that I would like. The fact that I’m having to write in arcnews now about continuing problems rather than highlighting solutions is a measure of my frustration and disappointment.

I have heard it said that one benefit of PMR is that we can now see people’s biases. But these PMR stats are not some harmless measure of bias in the organisation. These are real people arcnews

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with real lives. People are not receiving financial bonuses where they don’t get an “exceed”, and they’re suffering negative career impacts (together with stress, depression, demotivation) where they’re receiving “must improve”. It has a real impact on the lives of our members, day-to-day, and what marking they receive this year may affect their careers for years to come. It is not acceptable for people’s working pattern and protected characteristics to play a part in how they are appraised. ARC expects HMRC to take ownership of this issue. We will, and ARC is ready willing and able to help HMRC to get it right. We would like to see practical action in each line of business. Analysis is vital – but analysis needs to lead to actions. We know there are “pockets” of disparity. Let’s tackle those pockets, locally, with staff and managers. HMRC owes it to its staff to treat them fairly and equally 27

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The SCS pay system is broken, and no amount of tinkering will fix it.

SCS Pay

T

he SCS pay system has been largely untouched since 2002 with reform precluded by pay restraint. In their evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) on SCS pay in December the government acknowledges: `` Significant pay overlaps between delegated grades and SCS1 and across SCS pay bands.

SCS

Eugene Mitchell

`` Externally appointed salaries well above those of internal appointees (not always with sufficient justification), creating a “two-tier” system.

“This would be yet another of the annual kicks in the teeth for people who continue to deliver more and more with less and less.”

`` Long salary ranges with slow movement up the pay range for many staff at a time of pay restraint, exacerbating differences between internal and external hires. `` More women occupying the lower end of the pay scales, thus impacting further on gender disparity.

For 2015/16 they propose to continue the strategy in place since April 2013. If HMRC continues with its practice since then it will mean: `` Implementing the mandatory minimum salary increase for SCS pay ranges; `` Continuing to allocate pay base awards only to Top and Achieving performers, whose pay falls below the median pay for the grade ( as shown in Table 1); and `` Continuing to address exceptional pay variances, by considering relative pay position and performance.

If that happens it will mean, yet again, that there will be individuals who will face another year without any pay increase, and higher pension contributions. The government intends

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their 1% average award for base pay increases to include “general awards that are suitably differentiated to reflect performance and business need.” What performance is being reflected in those achieving SCS who are awarded nothing? This would be yet another of the annual kicks in the teeth for people who continue to deliver more and more with less and less.

The Civil Service People Survey 2014 showed 76% of civil servants think their pay is unreasonable in comparison with other organisations. Across the SCS there is a pay gap with the private sector of 35 to 40%. The FDA’s SCS survey shows poor pay comparability is not limited to the private sector. Well over half say their remuneration is lower than other parts of the public sector. The system is broken and no amount of tinkering is going to fix it – all it will do is generate ill-will.

Despite the SCS being a cross-Whitehall resource, departments have some discretion over how they apply the SCS pay awards. And they do apply them differently.

For example in 2014/15 on base pay: `` HMRC and Cabinet Office continued to adopt the radical targeting approach they applied in 2013/14 with individual repositioning and closer links to ‘Top’ performance and position in the pay range for general awards. More than half of SCS staff in these departments did not get a pay increase. `` The majority of departments took a less radical approach, but still targeted the award. In these departments awards were differentiated by performance and/or position in the pay range and targeted at individuals whose salary needed to be re-positioned. In these departments most staff (excluding the ‘Low’ performance group) got a pay increase.

As far as bonuses (or non-consolidated arcnews

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performance related pay) are concerned Departments continue to make awards to their “top” 25% performers with caps on individualpayments by pay band. There is some variation across departments from making a single flat rate payment to all pay bands to differentiating between exceptionally high performance and high performance within the top 25%.

Although the bonus pot currently stands at 3.3% of pay bill, or around £12.4m overall, departments have been spending around 2.5% or about £9m (based on spend for 12/13 performance). Spend varies by department, from paying higher amounts to the top 25% and using up the full 3.3% to making lower awards and spending just over 1%. HMRC spent 3.1% in 13/14.

The maximum bonus paid to SCS 1s in 12/13 was £10,000, the median payment was £8,948 and HMRC paid £9,500.

While I have been writing this article the SSRB arcnews

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has released its 2015 report and the government has responded. The SSRB had recommended the pay band 1 minimum be raised from £62,000 to £64,000 and, after a false start, the Cabinet Office has confirmed the pay band minimum will be raised to £63,000 and those for pay bands 2 and 3 will increase to £86,000 and £105,000 respectively.

As well as increasing the pay band minima the Government has accepted the SSRB recommendation for departmental flexibility to target increases, within the boundaries of the average 1% limit (i.e. 0.93%) for all SCS members except the bottom 10% of performers. There is also some additional, very limited, flexibility for targeted salary repositioning.

We wait to see how HMRC implements this, but if I were achieving and above the median, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the first increase to my salary since 2009 29

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ARC’s Equality and Diversity Officer, provides the latest news on our employment Tribunal cases.

Tribunal updates

M Equal Pay

Helen BairdParker

“Really what we would like is a change to this unfair pay system.

It needs to be radically reformed for the benefit of all employees, male and female.”

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embers will be aware that ARC is in the process of taking Equal Pay claims on behalf of a group of women members. These claims are founded on indirect discrimination against women in Grades 6 and 7. ARC’s view is that this is caused by HMRC’s current pay system which has no fixed points between the minimum and the maximum. This means that it operates to the detriment of women generally, who are a minority at our grades in HMRC.

Request for new claimants where recently promoted, retiring, or leaving HMRC If you are a woman, and are changing your job, either because you are leaving or retiring, or because you have been promoted from Grade 7 to Grade 6, or Grade 6 to SCS, to protect any backdated claim in relation to your historic Grade 7 or Grade 6 pay, we would need to lodge a protective claim to the Tribunal within six months of the change. Please get in touch if you think you could be affected.

Update on current claims ARC’s equal pay cases are ongoing. ARC’s lawyers, Slater and Gordon, Ben Copper of Old Square Chambers, and your ARC team made up of Diversity Officer Helen Baird-Parker, retired member and former President Terry Cook, President Tony Wallace and FDA National Officer Wynne Parry are preparing for the hearing of an evidential point, whether there is “particular disadvantage” suffered by women in HMRC’s pay system. The hearing is at the end of April. I’ll update AGM in May about it.

To recap, our cases are about indirect discrimination against women due to the way HMRC’s pay system has operated over a number of years. It can often be difficult to understand indirect discrimination, and so we thought it would be helpful to explain the basis of our claims again. It’s important to understand

that it’s not our case that HMRC’s pay system intentionally rewards men more. Our concern is that the evidence suggests that the pay system operates in a way that places women at a disadvantage generally.

There are a number of reasons for this. At Grades 7 and 6 in HMRC, women are still very much a minority. As at September 2014 we are approaching 42% of G7, and around 38% of G6.

This is an improvement – the figures for March 2013 were 41% and 35%, and for March 2011, 39% and 34% respectively. These improvements are caused by new women entering the grades, predominantly at the bottom of the pay scales. Members will be aware that at the time when mainly men were employed in Grades 6 and 7 in the 1980s and 1990s, there was incremental progression through the pay scale, meaning that many men (and far fewer women) reached the maximum point of their pay scale long ago. There was an influx of greater numbers of women into Grades 6 and 7 in the early 2000s, and the time when many of those women were becoming fully proficient in their roles coincided with changes to HMRC’s pay system meaning that they have been unable to catch up.

A very strange pay scale There are no fixed points in HMRC’s pay scale, and no way to move from bottom to top, except through the annual pay award. As the pay range is 15% and around £8,000 long, at current rates, many people will never reach the max before they retire. The way the pay system operates always surprises people – even people who have worked in HMRC for a number of years tend to hold the mistaken belief that there is some system to move through the range from bottom to top. Actually – there isn’t. This means that people lurch through the pay scale unevenly, from year to year, and there’s no firm connection between length of service and rate of pay.

There is a link to length of service in that people arcnews

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who have been around for longer tend to earn more. But your length of service and your point in the pay scale are only very loosely linked in HMRC, because the increase people receive each year is totally different. People who started in different years have moved through the pay scale very differently, at very different rates. Our expert witness commented that it was one of the strangest pay systems she had ever seen. One side of this strange pay system is that women, on average, are doing worse out of it than men.

The pay system has operated this way since before the creation of HMRC in 2005, although it is fair to say that the annual pay awards used to be far more generous, and weighted towards people at the lower end of the pay range to ensure that they could move through it. There was a time when people could expect to receive a 5%+ increase every year up to the maximum. Since the pay freeze and cap, there’s essentially been no movement at all, and we all stayed where we were when the music stopped. This completely severed any link between level of reward and experience in grade, although length of service is still the only determinant of pay. We all get more experienced, but our pay does not reflect our experience or proficiency. Our rate of pay only shows which annual pay rounds we happen to have benefited from. Statistically you are more likely to have benefited from more, more generous pay rounds, if you’re a man.

If you’re at the bottom, there’s no way to catch up. You’re more likely to be at the bottom if you’re a woman. For example, a woman who started in Grade 7 or 6 in 2006 will still only be at about 30% of the way up the pay scale (with the minimum being 0% and the maximum being 100%). And so a woman with nine years’ experience in grade, at which point ARC says she is certainly fully competent in her job, is paid nothing like the maximum. There is no difference between the work they and their higher paid colleagues carry out, or their levels of competence.

And so really, there does not seem to be any objective reason why one arcnews

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would be earning around £5,000 each year more than the other.

A problem that just got worse But let’s be clear – equal pay was an existing problem in HMRC – the pay freeze just exacerbated it. A very long pay range and no systematic way to move through it, together with women being a minority who tend to have less length of service in grade than the men making up the majority, is something of a perfect storm in equal pay terms. And this is where we are.

Men and women, statistically, cluster at either end of the pay scales.

Because there are no fixed points in the pay scale, and haven’t been over a number of years, HMRC’s pay system has the effect of protecting (mainly) men’s pay, whilst ensuring (mainly) women can never catch up with them. We know all too well that there are men at the bottom of the pay ranges in the same position too – but generally, the picture is that women are disproportionately affected. Women lag behind men generally. This is what we are tackling in our equal pay cases. The disparity is getting markedly worse year on year at Grade 6, because women are generally still at the bottom of

Grade 7 when they are promoted, and so they enter Grade 6 at a lower point than they otherwise would. In this way, inequality chases women through the pay system.

They never catch up, grade to grade.

Really what we would like is a change to this unfair pay system. It needs to be radically reformed for the benefit of all employees, male and female. If you have a pay range of this length and no way to move through it, it’s always going to lead to unfairness – for women and for men. We would like to get back to the negotiating table and deal sensibly with your pay with HMRC. That’s what we’d prefer, rather than needing to go to the Employment Tribunal to enforce the right to equal pay. We know that we’re in a time of pay restraint. But this is about the legal right to equality. It’s not a novel point – this law has been in place for decades, and it’s not optional. It’s not a good excuse that it will cost more money to pay people equally. That wasn’t a good argument at Ford in Dagenham in 1968 and it’s not a good argument in the Civil Service in 2015.

Fair pay is a separate issue (one ARC is fighting for too), but equality should be guaranteed 31

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There has been much discussion around what can be done to help people at the mid-year point, and at the year end, to help members make PMR work for them and get the performance rating they deserve. However, often this all hinges on the PMA (Performance Management Agreement). The PMA should be a solid building block for you to be accurately assessed against.

Think all PMA’s are the same? Think again…

U

p to now it has been common for PMA’s to be created in haste, signed off and then put away until mid-year and end of year reviews. We want to breathe some life into this living document.

How did you create your PMA in the past? Cut and paste from the previous year was popular, getting a colleague with ‘similar’ duties to email you a copy of theirs – don’t forget to change just the name and PID – or bloating up to eight pages with generic content directed from templates helped sort things out quickly. Pinging this across to the line manager 20 minutes before the PMA discussion definitely assisted in getting it agreed – however, did either party actually read it? .

For the operation of PMR in 2015/16 we want ARC members to build the best PMA you have ever had – objective, personal and SMART. We want to see a change from the past. It’s too late for 2014/15 but now is the right time to make your PMA for 2015/16 a true contract based on mutual understanding of what is wanted and how to deliver it. Reading 32

the HMRC Guidance is always a good start – HR71002 and onwards – rather than trying to be too creative, following the guidance does in fact help! And accepting the mandatory requirement for G6/ G7 to have a leadership part in the PMA helps get the ball rolling.

Don’t fall into just making a list of things you do, get it to have context and relevance to what you personally take responsibility for – including what you do for others – and show the pace and frequency of what goes on. Get it to have a clear line of sight to your Directorate business plans. What is it your region/ line of business has signed up to?

Are there some local objectives which your line manager has agreed to? Have they issued job templates?

If you don’t know then it’s up to you to find out. Your PMA, Your Input.

Ever experienced change in HMRC? It happens. However the new manager or new team members, new legislation, additional project work, departure of team members, or changed specialist duties, never seems to impact on the PMA signed off before any of these things were

dreamed up. We want you to take action on your 2015/16 PMA to get the changes reflected as they go along. Make the PMA work for you to get credit and reward for changes which took place.

If you need to know what SMART looks like then open up HR71015.

This offers up some good advice on shaping your PMA, sharpening up the work areas and reflecting items for personal development. Use the principle of ‘less is more’ so you end up with four to six objectives not 46 and keep the achievable element realistic (not just easy to achieve).

Make it all link back to HMRC business objectives and revise if not.

As the PMA document is to be agreed by your line management then make sure the content is a joint responsibility. We should expect greater engagement than in the past for what is covered in a PMA. This will mean more work for managers however a good PMA is the platform for good performance, so what’s not to like? We see this as an area for ARC members to sharpen up their act, take some personal action and get into PMA more than in the past. arcnews

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All PMA’s are NOT the same Follow these tips to get your PMA working for you What is the PMA? It’s important to understand what the PMA is – it’s the formal embodiment of (some) of the relationship between individuals and the employer. And there is a responsibility for both parties to play their part. After all, “No better people” than in HMRC, Lin Homer tells PAC. So we need to exploit the PMA to properly reflect that.

And that includes taking notice of the psychological contract. What is that? It’s “...a dynamic and reciprocal deal... New expectations are added over time as perceptions about the employer’s commitment evolve... concerned with the social and emotional aspects of the exchange...” (PR Sparrow, 1999). This is often taken for granted; but as resources are cut the willingness or capacity of people to apply discretionary effort may fade – and then it will be more important than ever that we have this formal contract done properly. ARC has seen plenty of personal cases where much of the disagreement/misunderstanding is about unspoken agreements. We need clarity partly “...because psychological contracts represent how people interpret promises and commitments, both parties in the same employment relationship can have different views...”

(DM Rousseau and KA Wade-Benzoni, 1994). So let’s make sure we are all working to the same thing.

So how do we get to the PMA? This is the main framework for the process. And we come back to this framework once we get to individual objectives. It’s about ‘Know your customer’ – what you do may be good and interesting, but is it what the

DEFINE VALIDATION GROUPS BUSINESS PLANS

share with other groups

GROUP DISCUSS AND SET PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS AGREE EVIDENCE REQUIREMENTS

assure objectives

EXPLAIN TO MANAGERS EXPLAIN TO JOBHOLDERS

INDIVIDUAL AGREES OBJECTIVES ‘customer’ wants? Jobholders need to have the context from the business plans and the validation groups to be able to set out meaningful individual objectives.

And the jobholder must insist that they are fully aware of the expectations AND the evidence required. Setting arcnews

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the PMR correctly at the start of the year is vital to being able to use the system to the jobholder’s advantage. HR71018 and HR71004 give further information.

So how do we achieve all these things?

We start by aligning jobholder objectives with Departmental aims.

Departmental Strategic Aims Corporate Objectives Regional/Team/ Local Business Plan Line Manager Objectives Jobholder SMART Objectives Make sure that each part is clear to you so that you can link back your objectives.

Departmental what are the targets, aspirations, priorities?

Region

what has your region/line of business signed up to?

Line manager have they introduced any ‘local’ objectives? Do they line up?

Does your PMA align with other objectives through a clear line of sight?

Objective setting The personal part. The PMA needs to articulate your performance expectations. It is a joint responsibility for manager and jobholder. Do you know what exceed, achieved, needs improvement look like? Don’t forget that if you don’t engage a PMA will simply be imposed. You must also review and change throughout the year. The ideal is 4-6 objectives but don’t allow that to miss responsibilities from the PMA – it’s not easy to make it simple yet comprehensive so use SMART objectives. HR71015 gives some good advice.

Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timed

what: outcomes/deliverables how: communication /service standards cost/yield etc: for ‘softer’ targets, get feedback e.g. contribution to team context of task and capability:stretching but not just ratchet up from previous year prioritise significant items to deliver departmental objectives deadlines/frequency: not just to year end target dates

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Committee’s roles The current committee’s roles and portfolios are as follows. You will note that we have some resignations from committee (Gareth, Karen, Jim and Colin’s roles have been provided at the bottom for reference) and recent officer elections whose successful candidates have not, at the time of going to press, been allocated responsibilities, so there will be an update to this once those vacancies are filled. In the meantime if you have questions relating to one of the areas they had sole responsibility for, please speak to your CLO. CONSULTATIONS, ARRANGEMENTS AND TEAMS NAME

CONSULTATION

PORTFOLIO

BUSINESS PLAN

Tony Wallace, President

Pay

Strategic oversight

Oversight

Civil Service Reform

Stakeholder Management

Terms and Conditions

Organisation and Recruitment (Oversight)

Engagement

PMR/T&Ccampaign Group (Oversight) External tax group (Oversight) Facilities Time

John Parkhouse, Deputy President

Pay

Strategic Stakeholder Management

Terms and Conditions

PMR/T&C Campaign Group

Civil Service Reform

Travel & Subsistence

Business Focus

Procedues Sub Committee Eugene Mitchell, Treasurer

PST

SCS

Oversight

Legal & Accountants

Equal Pay

Diversity and Inclusion

Lawyers network

Members Below G7

Diversity and Inclusion

Professionalism

PT

External Stakeholders

Ascend

Tax Campaign

CPO Helen Baird-Parker, Officer

Iain Campbell, Officer

External Focus

PMR/T&C Campaign Group Staff and Pulse Surveys Graham Flew, Officer

E&C

Deputy Treasurer

B&C

Casework support

Site Base Comms

AGM

Organisation

Dinner Procedures sub Committee Facilities Time JEGS Mark George, Officer

Enforcement & Compliance

Casework Lead

Members Priorities

Business Plan Oversight

Business Focus

Counter Avoidance Professionalism Members below G7 Loz Hutton

Large Business Sector E&C Mid-Size

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CONSULTATIONS, ARRANGEMENTS AND TEAMS NAME

CONSULTATION

PORTFOLIO

BUSINESS PLAN

Julie Blayney

CI

Members below G7

Business Focus

SI

arcnews Diversity and Inclusion

Jim Rogers

SME

Members Priorities

RIS Counter Avoidance David Cooper

SME

SRM

Members Priorities

CPD

Diversity & Inclusion

RIS Mid-Size Eva Braniff

Mid-Size PT

Jeremy Burrows

KAI

External Focus

DMB I&PB Amy Carr

PT & Fast Stream

James Ewington

Tax Academy

Diverstity and Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion

Recruitment & Organising Members below G7

External Focus

Public Understanding Paula Houghton

BT

Organisation and Recruitment

Organisation

T&S Presidents Office Steve McFarlane

Business Workforce Management

arcnews

Business Focus

Spencer Munn

Tax Academy

Mmebers below G7

Member engagement

Will Richardson

Cen Pol

Public Understanding

Frances Hunter

arcnews

Members Priorities

Environmental issues

Members Priorities

Gareth Hills, Officer

Large Business/BT lead

Organisation & Recruitment

Member Engagement

Karen Austwick, Officer

CFO

Careers Not Quotas Campaign Manager

Members priorities

Diversity and Inclusion

Member engagement

H&S

External Focus

CDIO Corporate comms ESS James Mullen

Legal & Accountants Lawyers Network

Colin McHardy

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