Article by Helen Jones and Sam Jones, National Assembly for Wales Research Service
On 12 November 2015 HMRC announced that under its modernisation programme it will be closing local offices and creating 13 new regional centres. In Wales, HMRC propose that the regional centre will be located in Cardiff. HMRC state that they plan to open their first regional centre in 2016-17 and the other centres over the next five years. Are there any statistics available on the number of people employed in each HMRC office in Wales? Data from the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (93.5 Kb Excel) shows that in March 2015 there were 10 HMRC offices in Wales employing a total of 2,870 people on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis. The map below shows the total number of FTE employees at each office location and not the headcount. The ONS explain: Full-time equivalents are based on converting part-time employees’ hours into full-time employees’ equivalent. This provides a better indicator of total labour input than a headcount. 
Source: ONS, Annual Civil Service Employment Survey, March 2015 How recent is this data? The data was published in March 2015 and covers the 12 month period to 31 March 2015. Each government department and agency completes a survey return giving 100% coverage of the Civil Service population. Announcements in the press detail changes to the HMRC estate and employment that could have taken place since March 2015:
- November 2013 – Carmarthen, Colwyn Bay and Pembroke Dock offices could close in 2015
- November 2015 – Merthyr Tydfil office due to shut in 2016
