HMRC have been throwing out a lot of figures lately surrounding the amount of money that contractors cost the Exchequer; as part of our submission on the T&S consultation I tried to find statistics that would either prove or disprove those figures. As I found diddly squat I decided to put in a FOI request:
"Historically, the number of contractors who work in the UK has been unknown with
the ONS only being able to provide information under the wider heading of
Temporary Workers.
Now that the agency reporting requirements have come into force could you please
confirm numbers of workers who are engaged through recruitment agencies and
operating through 1. umbrella companies 2. single person Limited Companies
(PSC's)."
I received this response this morning:
I understand your request to be for information submitted to HM Revenue and Customs
(HMRC) using its Employment Intermediaries Return system.
I can confirm that HMRC holds information that falls within the description specified in your
request. However, we estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed
the appropriate limit of £600. The appropriate limit is specified in regulations and for central
government is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3½
working days determining if the department holds the information. This includes locating,
retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12(1) of the FOIA the department is
not obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing it further.
HMRC would normally explore with you how you might be able to narrow down your request
so that it did not exceed the fees limit. However, in this case, I could not see any scope for
doing this.
The reason is that the computer capability to analyse the data in this way is still being
developed as part of a project. HMRC’s project falls into two parts:
- A capability to identify those who have not filed returns and to identify employment
intermediaries who have not operated PAYE. This part of the project is the main
purpose and priority.
- A wider capacity to analyse and compare the data with other HMRC systems. This
second part of the project would enable the number of these companies to be
extracted.
To accelerate the project to provide the data requested would exceed the FOIA costs limits.
We are likely however to be able to provide this data in the future once the project is
complete.
If you are not happy with this reply you may request a review by writing to HMRC FOI Team,
Room 1C/23, 100 Parliament Street London SWIA 2BQ or email
[email protected]. You must request a review within 2 months of the date of this
letter. It would assist our review if you set out which aspects of the reply concern you and
why you are dissatisfied.
If you are not content with the outcome of an internal review, you may apply directly to the
Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner will not usually
consider a case unless you have exhausted the internal review procedure provided by
HMRC. He can be contacted at The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
<sigh>
"Historically, the number of contractors who work in the UK has been unknown with
the ONS only being able to provide information under the wider heading of
Temporary Workers.
Now that the agency reporting requirements have come into force could you please
confirm numbers of workers who are engaged through recruitment agencies and
operating through 1. umbrella companies 2. single person Limited Companies
(PSC's)."
I received this response this morning:
I understand your request to be for information submitted to HM Revenue and Customs
(HMRC) using its Employment Intermediaries Return system.
I can confirm that HMRC holds information that falls within the description specified in your
request. However, we estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed
the appropriate limit of £600. The appropriate limit is specified in regulations and for central
government is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3½
working days determining if the department holds the information. This includes locating,
retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12(1) of the FOIA the department is
not obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing it further.
HMRC would normally explore with you how you might be able to narrow down your request
so that it did not exceed the fees limit. However, in this case, I could not see any scope for
doing this.
The reason is that the computer capability to analyse the data in this way is still being
developed as part of a project. HMRC’s project falls into two parts:
- A capability to identify those who have not filed returns and to identify employment
intermediaries who have not operated PAYE. This part of the project is the main
purpose and priority.
- A wider capacity to analyse and compare the data with other HMRC systems. This
second part of the project would enable the number of these companies to be
extracted.
To accelerate the project to provide the data requested would exceed the FOIA costs limits.
We are likely however to be able to provide this data in the future once the project is
complete.
If you are not happy with this reply you may request a review by writing to HMRC FOI Team,
Room 1C/23, 100 Parliament Street London SWIA 2BQ or email
[email protected]. You must request a review within 2 months of the date of this
letter. It would assist our review if you set out which aspects of the reply concern you and
why you are dissatisfied.
If you are not content with the outcome of an internal review, you may apply directly to the
Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner will not usually
consider a case unless you have exhausted the internal review procedure provided by
HMRC. He can be contacted at The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
<sigh>
Comment