HER MAJESTY'S REVENUE AND CUSTOMS CHANGE PROGRAMME

That this House believes that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) staff provide a vital public service which depends upon maintaining a high profile public presence, local accessibility for members of the public, and sufficient levels of staffing at ports and airports for its credibility and the support of taxpayers; further believes that operational requirements must include a network of local offices that might not be appropriate outside the public services and therefore challenges the assumption of the HMRC Acting Chairman that retaining only a minimum face-to-face service in many towns and cities like Salisbury is appropriate; and further believes that deeper cuts in surveillance and intervention by HMRC in UK coastal approaches, airfields and landing strips, following the abandonment of surveillance of most of the UK coast and small ports outside the canalised ports such as Portsmouth, Southampton and Poole, will further reduce the already inadequate protection of citizens of the UK and the unacceptably low manning of port arrivals and departures, and will render HMRC unfit for purpose.