Seminar
The public sector crisis and its consequences for job reform and employee well-being: The case of HMRC
Management
| Speaker: | Prof Andy Danford, Professor of Employment Studies at the University of the West of England |
|---|---|
| Date: | Thursday 1 December 2011 |
| Time: | 14.00 |
| Location: | Xfi Conference Rooms 1 and 2 |
Further details
Abstract
In 2010 a Treasury Select Committee report expressed concern at the results of a survey of staff employed at Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. This ranked HMRC last against 10 other government departments. The cross-party report found that staff morale was ‘dire’ and ‘deeply troubling’ whilst government plans to tackle tax avoidance were under threat.
How did this situation come about? The paper will evaluate recent trends in the development of New Public Management in the civil service and its current manifestation in the imposition of lean management techniques across many government departments. The consequences for staff, their skills, quality of working life and morale are analysed as are the connections between the HMRC experience and broader developments in the organisation of work and labour process in the contemporary information office.