Committee publication · Correspondence · 19 November 2024

Letter from the Chair to Jim Harra, HMRC, relating to HMRC Board Minutes, dated 11 November 2024

From: Treasury Committee

Inquiry: Work of HM Revenue and Customs

Summary

The Treasury Committee Chair writes to the HMRC Permanent Secretary requesting explanation for why HMRC Board minutes have not been published since November 2023, despite HMRC's October 2023 commitment to publish them routinely. The Chair demands all minutes be published by 15 November 2024 ahead of oral evidence.

Key findings

  • HMRC committed in October 2023 to publish Board summary minutes online but acknowledged it had not been complying with its own publication scheme
  • No HMRC Board minutes have been published since November 2023 despite this commitment
  • The Treasury Committee requires Board minutes to be published by 15 November 2024 to allow time for review before HMRC's scheduled oral evidence session
  • HMRC Permanent Secretary Jim Harra previously apologised for allowing publication to 'fall into abeyance' and stated the matter was 'actively' being addressed

Tone

Procedural

Topics

public-transparencygovernment-accountabilityparliament-oversight

Key actors

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Sir Jim Harra, HM Revenue and Customs, Treasury Committee

Notable line

… we have discovered that we have not been complying with our own scheme of publication.

Key Quotes

We are looking at that. We do actually have a scheme of publication on gov.uk that says that we will publish summary minutes, but we have discovered that we have not been complying with our own scheme of publication.
Sir Jim Harra · responding to Treasury Committee question in October 2023 about why HMRC Board minutes were not routinely published online
Can you explain why no HMRC Board minutes have been published since November 2023?
Dame Meg Hillier MP · Chair's follow-up inquiry to HMRC Permanent Secretary one year after initial commitment
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Source · parliament.uk record ↗