Revenue chief hits out at The Times over staff strike article

Inland Revenue chief Nick Montague has written a letter of complaint to Peter Stothard, Editor of The Times, in response to an article it published saying that chaos was looming within the Department because workers' pay demands had not been met.

The article printed in The Times said: 'Up to 50,000 Inland Revenue employees are threatening to strike unless their pay demands are met, worsening widespread disruption and mounting backlogs that are building up in tax offices nationwide.

'Revenue workers are already operating an overtime ban in pursuit of their claim. Accountants report that unprocessed tax returns are piling up in tax offices and show no sign of being completed. Taxpayers may not be told until the last minute how much they owe, say accountants, putting them at risk of missing the payment deadline of January 31, 2002.'

Mr Montague's letter of complaint stated: 'Your article, "Chaos looms as tax staff threaten strike" (5th November) is unnecessarily alarmist. The pay offer adds 4.3 per cent to the wages bill with individuals getting pay awards between 2.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent.

'Our processing of tax returns is on target and, in fact, is slightly ahead of last year. Everyone who sent in their tax returns by the 30th September will, as normal, know how much they need to pay well before the 31st January payment date. We are committed to maintaining high standards of customer service during the current dispute.'

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) which represents Revenue staff wants a pay rise of around three per cent and claims most would receive only 2.5 per cent, of which only two per cent would be consolidated in pay packets for future years.

A union spokesman said: "We hope the government will see sense. Tax staff have introduced huge changes and expect to be rewarded."