Tax credits contract brought back in-house
The PCS civil service union has welcomed the decision to bring the controversial Concentrix tax credits contract back in-house, with immediate effect.
The move will involve Belfast staff being transferred to HMRC revenue and customs. They will be allowed to remain in Belfast. PCS has called for these workers to be employed on the same terms as their HMRC colleagues.
In September, the US owned company was accused by Frank Field, chair of the House of Commons Work and Pensions committee of presiding over a “reign of terror” over tax credit claimants. It had incorrectly prevented people from claiming tax credits and made a number of false accusations.
Concentrix was also accused of sending “threatening” letters to around a million people in just 22 months and asking them for proof of their circumstances. Field said the company was “desperately” out of its depth.
PCS said its call for this work to be done by HMRC staff went “hand in hand with the wider union demand for the department to be properly staffed and resourced, and for all current plans for office closures and job cuts to be halted”.
General secretary Mark Serwotka said the “fiasco” was “further evidence it is a false economy to hive off important public services”.