Corporate report

HMRC's actions in response to the Government Digital Strategy

Updated 16 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Action 1: Departmental and transactional agency boards will include an active digital leader

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

To support delivery of its digital strategy, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will develop new organisational digital capabilities. It has begun to reshape its organisation and governance of digital strategy and delivery with the formation of the HMRC Digital Service (HDS) and the establishment of the head of this unit as the department’s digital leader.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has appointed a chief digital and information officer as digital leader.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue to provide senior digital leadership within the department.

Progress during 2014

HMRC published its revised digital strategy in September.

Planned activities in 2015

Digital service managers will be empowered to implement what works best on a continual basis. HMRC will build active relationships with customers through digital tax accounts and assisted digital services. Customer feedback and service data will be used to continually develop services.

Action 2: Services handling over 100,000 transactions each year will be redesigned, operated and improved by a suitably skilled, experienced and empowered service manager

Service managers will be in place for new and redesigned transactions from April 2013.

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC will put in place digital service managers for all HMRC transactional digital services by March 2015. The digital service manager will be an experienced leader, with an in-depth understanding of the department’s service and equipped to represent users’ needs at all levels within HMRC.

Progress during 2013

HMRC now has service managers in place for the exemplar services.

Planned activities in 2014

As part of HMRC’s target operating model the department will look to incorporate the digital services manager function across its tax regimes.

Progress during 2014

All HMRC’s digital transaction services have digital service managers.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will appoint a suitably skilled and empowered service manager to lead each future digital service design or redesign project.

Action 3: All departments will ensure that they have appropriate digital capability in-house, including specialist skills

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC will create a team with experience and deep digital skills (in design, development, analytics and strategy) which champions digital channels and advises product and process owners, policy teams and customer and strategy units. This team will ensure that new and redesigned services meet the government’s Digital by Default Service Standard.

Progress during 2013

HMRC’s annual skills review highlighted the department’s plan to invest in digital skills in line with the capability build required for delivery of new digital services. The HMRC digital development team has grown to 4 sprint teams in the last year.

The department has been working with the Government Digital Service (GDS) to select a partner organisation that can design and document the new agile processes and implement the tools, training and key performance indicators (KPIs) to make them effective across the teams.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue working with GDS and the selected partner organisation to help build its capability and design new agile processes.

In order to scale up its development capacity the department will work closely with its partners, small and medium-sized enterprises, academia and HMRC apprenticeships and graduate schemes.

To carry the department’s digital roadmap through to 2016 to 2017, HMRC expects to increase its development capability to around 20 sprint teams.

HMRC will make a front-end investment (2014 to 2015) at ‘expert’ and ‘practitioner’ levels with new digital services. The Civil Service Learning digital awareness product (being developed) will cover the majority of the departmental gap at ‘awareness’ level.

Progress during 2014

HMRC increased its development capability by opening 2 digital delivery centres. There are 13 sprint teams in the London centre and 14 in Newcastle. The Newcastle centre ran 3 successful recruitment initiatives and, along with the London centre, increased its internal developer capability through agency, internal and apprentice appointments.

HMRC improved digital capability at practitioner level among staff directly involved in digital transformation, using agile training and closer working with exemplar service leads and service managers. HMRC significantly increased digital awareness and capability, with 95% of HMRC meeting level 7 of the digital inclusion scale. This was achieved through a programme of Building our Future events, where plans for digital transformation were shared with all staff through digital awareness training.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will continue to build in-house expertise by creating an additional 6 sprint teams in the Newcastle centre.

The department will develop digital capability at ‘working’ level for all staff. HMRC will use continuing “Building our Future” conversations and awareness training to target the remaining 5% of staff yet to achieve level 7 of the digital inclusion scale.

Action 4: Cabinet Office will support improved digital capability across departments

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Not applicable but will form part of the work to support Government Digital Strategy action 3.

Progress during 2013

All HMRC service managers have received training through programmes run by GDS.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue to support Cabinet Office in developing digital capability across departments.

Progress in 2014

HMRC continued to support Cabinet Office in developing digital capability across departments.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will continue to support Cabinet Office in developing digital capability across departments.

Action 5: For transactional departments, 3 exemplar services will be selected

Redesign starting April 2013, implemented by March 2015 (to be included in relevant business plans). Following this, departments will redesign all services handling over 100,000 transactions each year.

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC will agree 4 significant exemplar service transformations with Cabinet Office:

• PAYE online
• Paperless Self Assessment
• Tax for my business
• Agent online self-serve

HMRC will start to redesign these services by April 2013 and implement them by March 2015. It will also undertake a review of all other transactional services and those handling over 100,000 transactions a year will be redesigned in the next spending review period.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has agreed 4 digital exemplar services with Cabinet Office and are on track to meet its spending review 2013 and autumn statement 2013 objectives. The department has started by delivering the underlying digital infrastructure, the multi-channel digital tax platform. HMRC’s focus has been on delivering its 4 exemplars. These are the basis for transforming HMRC into a truly digital by default public service organisation.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue to work closely with GDS to redesign its services in line with the spending review 2013 transformation.

The department will deliver the multi-channel digital tax platform by April 2014. Once built, HMRC will start work on redesigning all its services with over 100,000 transactions.

Progress during 2014

Three of HMRC’s digital exemplar services entered public beta and were available for public use:

• Digital Self Assessment
• PAYE for employees (focusing on company car benefits)
• Your tax account

Planned activities in 2015

Agent online self-serve will enter public beta.

HMRC will conduct annual strategy reviews and incorporate policy and legislative issues early in the lifecycle of digital services.

Action 6: From April 2014, all new or redesigned transactional services will meet the Digital by Default Service Standard

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

From April 2014, all new or redesigned HMRC transactional services will meet the government’s Digital by Default Service Standard.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has supported the development of the Digital by Default Service Standard.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will ensure that all new or redesigned transactional services will meet the Digital by Default Service Standard after April 2014.

Progress during 2014

The service standard was aligned with the HMRC Change Framework, to check projects meet the department’s internal standards at each stage of progress.

A new head of design was appointed to improve the consistency of content for users.

Planned activities in 2015

The department will develop the role of product lead, a position which strengthens links between service development, related content and products. HMRC will continue to develop the role of service managers and the structure of teams within the department.

Action 7: Corporate publishing activities of all 24 central government departments will move onto GOV.UK by March 2013, with agency and arm’s length bodies’ online publishing to follow by July 2014

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Between November 2012 and March 2013, the corporate publishing activities of HMRC will move on to GOV.UK. By March 2014, the information publishing activities on its website will move onto GOV.UK. HMRC will work with GDS to help ensure the material for the new website meets priority customer needs and its emerging digital by default channel strategy.

Progress during 2013

Since the launch of GOV.UK in October 2013, the site has provided content and tools for over 300 priority user needs. HMRC has been working with GDS to identify and create web content for the remaining priority needs, as well as ensuring that these needs are in place for the launch of its exemplar services.

HMRC has also been working on the transition of content and guidance aimed at more specialist audiences and needs, which included the remainder of the pre-existing HMRC website. The corporate publishing moved to GOV.UK in February 2013.

HMRC and GDS have been working to ensure priority user needs are met on GOV.UK by March 2014. In the interim, HMRC and GDS have put in place operational processes for development and improvement, and creation of content to meet new and existing mainstream customer needs. The department already has staff in place publishing direct to the GOV.UK website for both corporate and specialist material.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC and GDS will work to ensure priority user needs are met on GOV.UK in 2014.

There will be a widespread roll-out of the latest publisher training to the digital team to allow for full-scale web publishing in 2014.

Progress during 2014

All corporate content from agency and arm’s length body (ALB) websites was moved to GOV.UK.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will finish decommissioning any websites no longer needed following transition to GOV.UK.

Action 8: Departments will raise awareness of their digital services so that more people know about them and use them

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC wants its customers to seek out its digital offerings because these have a reputation for being quicker, easier and more convenient to use. Its refreshed channel strategy will also show a mix of mandated and nudge techniques to drive take-up. HMRC will set out plans to encourage channel shift to digital in the departmental business plan for 2013 to 2014.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has been revising its digital strategy to include plans to encourage a channel shift to digital.

The refreshed digital strategy will be completed by February 2014. The savings for digital will be included in departmental business plans from 2014 to 2015 onwards.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC provide an implementation plan and migration profile which outlines how it will achieve in the spending review 2013 commitments.

The department will continue its work on identifying how it will transition customers to digital through its research and modelling activities and align this with the digital road map.

Progress during 2014

In September HMRC updated their channel shift strategy. The 2-year digital roadmap outlined how they will encourage customers to use new and improved digital services. Take-up plans and projections are in place and being monitored using new monitoring tools such as SPLUNK (a query tool) and Google Analytics. All services have a customer exit survey and users can make queries and give feedback.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC is working to meet take-up targets to move customers to digital. This will cover new services such as Tax Free Childcare and Tax Allowance for Married Couples projects.

Action 9: We will take a cross-government approach to assisted digital

This means that people who have rarely or never been online will be able to access services offline, and we will provide additional ways for them to use the digital services.

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The HMRC assisted digital strategy will detail how it will help, support and encourage those who could and should be using digital services and how it will provide dedicated assistance for those who really can’t get online. In providing help in moving customers to a position where they can engage digitally, HMRC will work with GDS and with other government stakeholders to establish its assisted digital support services.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has developed an assisted digital strategy which outlines how the department will support customers who need additional help to access online services. This has undergone extensive internal stakeholder engagement and has sought approval from the departments’ digital portfolio stakeholders.

The department has also worked closely with GDS to ensure its exemplars have clear plans for assisted digital. It has been active in supporting the procurement exercise currently underway within GDS.

Digital inclusion has been identified as an important area that the department is keen to develop. It has been working with GDS, developing its internal principles with stakeholders, to ensure that this customer group does not get left behind.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue working with GDS to procure services as required to support both assisted digital and digitally excluded customers groups.

The department will work with GDS and internal stakeholders to ensure that digital inclusion is an integral part of its processes, ensuring that this customer group does not get left out. To do this HMRC will produce a set of inclusion principles which align with GDS. It will also undertake research where necessary, with emphasis in areas where there is little or no information about the customer group.

Progress during 2014

All HMRC exemplar services put assisted digital plans in place. An assisted digital pilot ran to support the new Digital iForms service. This will be used to improve the service design for those who cannot access government services online.

HMRC produced a set of inclusion principles and undertook research of customer groups where they held little or no information.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will implement the assisted digital model across the department’s digital services as new services are developed.

Action 10: Cabinet Office will offer leaner and more lightweight tendering processes, as close to the best practice in industry as our regulatory requirements allow

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC will work with Cabinet Office to build on existing procurement reform to develop new commissioning arrangements for digital projects and to encourage a wider range of bidders, including smaller and medium sized enterprises. This will be accompanied by training and awareness raising for departmental procurement leads on the requirements for the new approach and HMRC will take full advantage of this.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has been actively working to use services outside its current supplier model and has procured services for development, security testing, and agile delivery specialists, through the G-Cloud framework. It has also grown internal developer capability through agency, internal, and apprentice appointments.

HMRC is using GDS supplier management frameworks to provide all digital services. This approach is part of Cabinet Office spending controls process. The department’s procurement team has been working closely with Government Procurement Service colleagues and has been trained in new procurement arrangements.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue to work with Cabinet Office and GDS to encourage pre-market engagement and take advantage of the training GDS will offer. This will be incorporated within its capability strategy and transformation plan.

Progress during 2014

HMRC procured services for development, security testing and agile delivery through G-Cloud.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will continue to work with Cabinet Office and GDS to encourage pre-market engagement and take advantage of the training GDS will offer. This will be incorporated within its capability strategy and transformation plan.

Action 11: Cabinet Office will lead in the definition and delivery of a new suite of common technology platforms which will underpin the new generation of digital by default services

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC’s IT Strategy moves the department from an environment where bespoke, line of business-specific solutions are the norm, to one in which a series of strategic platforms are central to delivering its IT capability. HMRC will work with Cabinet Office to develop common technology platforms and will use these for new and redesigned services, unless a specific case for exemption is agreed.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has started this work with its commitment to deliver its digital services for customers using a single multi-channel digital tax platform. It has been building this strategic web application platform which will drive all functionality using a common set of interfaces to its legacy systems. The platform will support core functions for customers using the services, while also offering the department a common way to implement digital services.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will complete delivery and further develop the multi-channel digital tax platform in line with its agreed prioritisation and pipeline.

Progress during 2014

HMRC built a multi-channel digital platform which supports 3 exemplar services (PAYE for employees, Your tax account and Digital Self Assessment). It also hosted the Tax Credit renewals public beta which ran from April to July 2014.

HMRC is working across government departments on cybercrime. It used GOV.UK Verify as part of its PAYE for employees (focusing on company car benefits) when this moved into public beta in October 2014.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will monitor transactions to assess performance of new and redesigned digital services delivered through the multi-channel digital tax platform and the existing portal.

Action 12: Cabinet Office will continue to work with departments to remove legislative barriers which unnecessarily prevent the development of straightforward and convenient digital services

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Legislation enacted before the digital age can constrain the development of simple, convenient digital by default services. HMRC delivery teams will review current restrictive interpretations of laws passed before digital channels existed and will consider whether legislation needs to be changed.

Progress during 2013

As part of the development of the exemplars HMRC has been working with policy and legal teams to ensure that the legal and policy barriers for digital are removed. This work continues but the department has been looking to develop an overarching package of policy and legislative measures which will ensure it can deliver on its spending review 2013 commitments.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will continue work with policy experts with a view to developing a package of policy and legislative measures to ensure it can deliver on its spending review 2013 commitments.

Progress during 2014

HMRC undertook extensive policy analysis on its Digital Self Assessment exemplar to ensure it aligned with policy and legislation.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will undertake further work to understand the impact of digital across the tax administration framework.

Action 13: Departments will supply a consistent set of management information (as defined by the Cabinet Office) for their transactional services

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC will begin reporting against defined data sets provided by Cabinet Office from April 2013. Its new digital by default services will include automated collection of management information. These measures and indicators of performance excellence will enable continuous improvement and drive high quality service delivery to its customers.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has been developing KPIs and measures for the multi-channel digital tax platform; these are being expanded as part of the exemplars programme of development.

It has also been in the process of developing a further set of metrics which will enable the department to measure progress on moving away from paper, phone and post. This will include the ability to view the ways in which customers interact with its online services and enable the department to iterate and improve services, leading to additional benefits for customers and for HMRC.

Planned activities in 2014

HMRC will complete the delivery of KPIs and metrics for exemplars. It will also develop a set of metrics for the department to measure the progress and move away from paper, phone and post.

Progress during 2014

HMRC completed the performance indicators and metrics for exemplars. It also developed metrics to measure progress and help inform ways to move away from paper, phone and post.

Planned activities in 2015

New services will include the automated collection of management information made available via the Performance Platform.

Action 14: Policy teams will use digital tools and techniques to engage with and consult the public

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

HMRC will train policymakers to understand and use a wider range of digital channels. They will use these to engage and consult with the public on a daily basis around areas of policy development, up to and including formal consultations. HMRC will include in its business plans for 2013 to 2014 ways to listen to and understand conversations in social media and use the insight to inform the policymaking process.

Progress during 2013

HMRC has outlined how it will electronically communicate with customer groups, using collaborative tools as well as secure messaging, which it will test as part of its exemplar services. The department has held workshops with HMT colleagues to discuss digital implications in policymaking.

Planned activities in 2014

As part of HMRC’s capability development plan it will implement the relevant training and development for policymakers.

Progress during 2014

HMRC helped shape training products for senior civil servants and policy specialists. A social media pilot planned for summer 2014 didn’t happen due to supplier availability and funding constraints. Instead there was a Twitter pilot in November 2014.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will use the new training products for policy specialists, when they become available, to increase capability.

Action 15: Collaborate with partners across public, private and voluntary sectors to help people go online

Action 15 was added to the Digital Strategy in December 2013, so reporting on departments’ actions will begin with 2014.

Progress during 2014

HMRC provided funding to help the digital inclusion team at GDS undertake cross-departmental research to further understand demographics, needs and characteristics across the UK. In the summer the department published its digital inclusion model which is aligned to GDS’s approach.

HMRC started a small scale pilot, iCharities, to test digital services for organisations who want to be recognised as a charity for tax purposes.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will use feedback to improve the iCharities service before making it available to all new charities.

HMRC will further develop its digital inclusion plan, building on the inclusion activities already underway such as Code Club, Get Online campaigns and Girls in IT. It will continue working with policymakers to ensure digital inclusion is incorporated into policymaking.

Action 16: Help third party organisations create new services and better information access for their own users by opening up government data and transactions

Action 16 was added to the Digital Strategy in December 2013, so reporting on departments’ actions will begin with 2014.

Progress during 2014

HMRC shared performance metrics data with software developers and had regular meetings with interested third party suppliers to keep them informed on work to update and expand performance metrics. The department appointed a digital service manager at senior civil servant level to lead on performance metric work.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will expand sharing performance metrics data to third parties, starting with its new registration service.