The Cabinet Secretary, with the approval of the Prime Minister, has approved the appointment of Angela MacDonald as the Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The post has been vacant since Jim Harra took over as First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive in October 2019.

Angela is currently Director General for Customer Services Group at HMRC – a role she has held since 2017.

Angela’s tenure in her current role has seen significant improvements and modernisation in our customer services across the board through putting the customer’s needs at the heart of our strategy.

Cabinet Secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, said:

I am delighted that Angela has been appointed as Second Permanent Secretary at HMRC. Her blend of operational experience, gained in a variety of leadership roles both in the Civil Service and in the private sector, will be invaluable as she joins Jim Harra in leading HMRC’s 65,000 people through the next phase of the organisation’s ambitious transformation programme. I look forward to welcoming Angela to the Permanent Secretaries’ group.

Jim Harra, HMRC Chief Executive and first Permanent Secretary, said:

I’d like to congratulate Angela on her appointment – I’m thrilled to have her join me in leading this fantastic organisation at such a critical time. Angela succeeded in a tough competition for this role, and she brings a proven commitment to creativity and operational excellence with her as she moves on from her time leading our Customer Services Group.

Angela MacDonald, Director General Customer Services Group, said:

This is a fantastic opportunity for which I’m tremendously grateful. I’m so proud of what we’ve delivered over the last few months as we’ve come to the aid of businesses and individuals right across the UK. That dedication and innovation is clear to see in each and every team within HMRC and I now look forward to taking on this new challenge as we move forward together.

Angela will take up her new role on 1 August 2020, and a competition will soon commence to appoint a successor to lead HMRC’s Customer Services Group.

As the Chief Inspector of the MAIB I am very pleased to be supporting Maritime Safety Week. At the Branch we are all too accustomed to seeing the aftermath of accidents, many of which have had tragic consequences. Our investigations aim to learn the lessons from these events to try and prevent a re-occurrence. However, for the casualties of our investigations, our findings and the lessons learned will have come too late. It is therefore very refreshing to be taking a pause from the reactive nature of our work, to focus more widely on preventing future accidents.

As I highlighted in my Annual Report for 2019, the number of accident reports raised was almost unchanged from the previous year, and nearly two-thirds of MAIB investigations were into accidents that involved loss of life. That is not to say that nothing is being done, as there is lots going on to improve matters. The Fishing Industry Safety Group and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are collaborating well across a range of areas to improve safety in the commercial fishing industry, and the UK Harbour Masters Association along with Port Skills and Safety have been concentrating on improving safety around our ports and harbours. Most of these initiatives are driving safety improvements from the top down, but I hope that Maritime Safety Week also provides the opportunity for improvements to be made from the bottom up. Across the industry, whether it is reviewing work procedures, servicing equipment or practising emergency responses, making time for safety is time well spent; it will lead to safer ships, reduce the risk to the environment and save lives.

The AAIB received 826 occurrence notifications in 2019 and opened 37 field investigations, eight of which were into fatal accidents in the UK resulting in 10 deaths. A further 124 investigations were opened by correspondence.

The AAIB published two special bulletins, 29 field investigation reports and made 12 safety recommendations. In addition, 153 significant safety actions were taken by manufacturers, operators and regulators to address safety issues identified during AAIB investigations. This demonstrates the considerable range and scale of the safety action already taken or planned by the industry and regulators in response to AAIB investigations.

In 2019 all the fatal accidents that were investigated in the UK involved general aviation aircraft or gliders with the most common factor being loss of control in flight. The most common factor in commercial air transport accidents and serious incidents was system/component failure or malfunction.

In terms of its global reach, the AAIB appointed an accredited representative to 96 overseas investigations, including 45 involving UK registered aircraft. The Branch deployed to investigations in Belgium, the USA, Ethiopia, Chile, UAE, Italy, Portugal, Montserrat and Kazakhstan.

In addition to its investigation work, AAIB:

• Created a new case management system that allows better management of investigations from notification to closure and will provide a useful archive of safety data
• Introduced a ‘record only’ option for some less serious occurrences to focus AAIB expertise and investigation resources where the safety benefit is greatest
• Began publishing field investigation reports online individually as well as in the monthly Bulletin, enabling it to reduce overall timescales to publication

The Annual Safety Review also includes:

• A summary of a stakeholder review undertaken
• An article about how the Branch conducts underwater search and recovery
• Details of the Branch’s global reach
• Safety recommendations made and responses received
• Safety actions taken

Read the Annual Safety Review.

We will soon be issuing new civil contract schedules beginning on 1 September 2020.

These will replace the current second year schedules for the 2018 Standard Civil Contract which are ending on 31 August 2020. All schedules will run for 12 months.

Where to find new schedules

You will be able to view schedules, including Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) schedules, in Contracted Work and Administration (CWA) from no later than 31 August 2020.

Reporting work

Work completed in September can be reported from 1 October 2020. Matter start allocations

In most cases, matter starts will be allocated on the basis of the allocation bid for in the original tender.

Where you have self-granted an additional 50% of matter starts, you will receive this increased allocation.

This includes an allocation of additional 20 miscellaneous matter starts to advise victims of human trafficking/modern slavery on compensation claims where a provider bid for these in the original tender.

Providers will be able self-grant a further 50% of matter starts in the third year of the contract.

Removal of mandatory gateway

In May we increased the fixed allocation of debt matter starts from 4 to 10 in response to the removal of the mandatory gateway. We have retained this additional allocation for the new schedule.

Further information

LAA Online Portal – to log into Contracted Work and Administration