Corporate report

Accounting Officer Assessment Summary: Payments Programme

Published 9 February 2023

It is normal practice for Accounting Officers to scrutinise significant policy proposals or plans to start or vary major projects and assess whether they measure up to the standards set out in HM Treasury’s (HMT) Managing Public Money guidelines. From April 2017, the government has committed to make a summary of the key points from these assessments available to Parliament when an Accounting Officer has agreed an assessment of a project within the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

Background and context

The Payments Programme was announced by the Chancellor at Spring Budget 21 – under the title Supporting Customers and Making it Easier to Pay.

HMRC currently has inconsistent payment processes and does not always use the payment mechanisms our customers now expect. Customers also frequently make mistakes when paying us and as a result risk being pursued for ‘debts’ they do not owe, causing unnecessary disruption for them and inefficiency for HMRC. In addition, the UK’s banking industry is approaching the biggest changes in infrastructure and processes it has had for generations. As a result, HMRC must be able to respond to these changes in order to continue to receive and make payments.

Through a series of policy, system, technological, and operational changes over the next five years, the Payments Programme will make it easier for customers to understand how much they owe HMRC and pay the right taxes and will improve the customer journey.

Regularity

HMRC meets its regularity and legal requirements in respect of the Payments Programme. The Programme falls within HMRC’s statutory tax collection and management functions (section 5 Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 and, for any relevant taxes legislated since, the various specific other collection and management powers legislated for those taxes). The expenditure on the Programme is legal and regular. The Programme continues to comply with Parliamentary requirements for the control of expenditure, with funds being applied only to the extent and for the purposes authorised. The Programme adheres to the relevant HMT approval procedures.

Propriety

The Payments Programme adheres to the HMT’s Managing Public Money guidance and the HMRC Change Lifecycle Governance. It undertakes the appropriate assessments and reporting. Clear governance processes have been established for effective programme management. A Programme Board chaired by the SRO is established as the main decision-making authority and relevant key internal and external stakeholders are represented.

The Programme joined the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) in Quarter 4 reporting for 2021 to 2022. As part of GMPP the Programme will report quarterly to the IPA on progress. An assessment of the Programme’s progress has been published within the IPA’s Annual Report and the HMRC Annual GMPP Transparency Publication on 20 July 2022.

A Treasury Approval Point (TAP) has been completed and agreed with HMT for spend in financial year 2021 to 2022, with further review scheduled for September 2022 to cover the 2022 to 2023 period.

The Payments Programme was publicly announced as part of Spring Budget 21, with a ministerial commitment to deliver the Payments Programme.

Value for money

The Payments Programme follows HMT’s Green Book methodology. The programme developed a longlist of options and conducted an appraisal to draw up a shortlist of options before completing a full economic appraisal of the shortlisted options. Value for money is recognised as a key factor in the commercial strategy within the Programme business case.

To secure value for money, the Payments Programme will use a number of suppliers and partners to advise on and deliver specific areas of scope. It will use a mix of existing contracts, select suppliers from Crown Commercial Services (CCS) frameworks, or run procurements in line with public contract regulations.

Delivery of the Programme will contribute to achieving HMRC’s vision to be a trusted, modern tax authority. Investment in HMRC’s payment mechanisms is required to bring them into line with latest industry standards, reduce debt to be handled by HMRC’s Debt Management Service, ensure as much tax as possible is paid on time, and provide the service our customers expect.

Feasibility

The Programme has been successfully delivering functionality since its inception, building on a mix of existing capability and design work and a significant amount of preparation that had gone into developing the original proposition announced as part of Spring Budget 21.

The Programme has already successfully delivered improvements to the way that payments are made and treated by HMRC including: the world’s first government department Open Banking solution to enable pay-by-bank transfer functionality with pre-populated data to reduce errors; and the creation of a payment database to ensure a single starting point and record of all details in one place. This demonstrates that HMRC has the capability to deliver the Payments Programme effectively.

In January 2022 the Programme completed a Gateway 0 IPA review with an Amber confidence level given, and all the recommendations from that review have now been implemented.

Conclusions

As the Accounting Officer for HMRC I have considered my assessment of the Payments Programme, and on balance, the proposal is value for money and deliverable. I have therefore approved it as of 7 September 2022. I have prepared this summary to set out the key points which informed my decision. If any of these factors change materially during the lifeline of this Programme, I undertake to prepare a revised summary, setting out my assessment of them. This summary will be published on the government’s website. Copies will be deposited in the Library of the House of Commons and sent to the Comptroller and Auditor General and Treasury Officer of Accounts.

Accounting Officer’s name: Jim Harra, Chief Executive HMRC.

Signature:

Date of signing: 7 September 2022