Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to improve the call answer rates for HMRC helplines.

HMRC is working to improve call answer rates, primarily through supporting customers who can use digital services to do so in the first instance. This will reduce call numbers and allow HMRC to focus their telephone support on those with more complex circumstances, or who are unable to engage digitally.

HMRC are also deploying additional temporary resource to answer customer correspondence from April to September 2023. Answering correspondence more quickly reduces the number of progress-chasing calls, and therefore can further improve call answer rates.