Government: There Has Always Been Full Consultation With ITLD
The Government says that it considers that there is “no dispute with ITLD or their members.”
A statement, in response to the GGCA’s announcement of a walk-out, continued:
“The three points raised by the GGCA have been resolved and were agreed at a meeting on the 22nd November 2022 between the workforce, HMGOG and the GGCA.
“At that meeting a new and further request was raised relating to the composition of the Policy Committee.
“The statement that ITLD is not represented on Policy Committees is untrue. Government believes the Department is best represented by the Head of the Department, the Director of ITLD who has all the experts available to him in his Department to give advice to him on all areas under discussion. Whether or not to expand the Policy Committee is an issue of policy and one on which the Government is happy to consult further and consider representations, but not in the context of industrial action.”
The Minister for Digital Services, Albert Isola, said: “It is extraordinary that the GGCA refer to Tax Services as a failure especially as HMGOG has had to extend the deadline as a result of ITLD technical issues. Despite this, over 18,000 Tax Returns have been filed online using the new services. This is obviously a success and one to be proud of. Government nonetheless continues to have difficulty in providing services to the general public as a result of ITLD’s continued industrial action. It is frankly irresponsible of the GGCA and ITLD to take industrial action in these circumstances, where there is no genuine dispute and the service to the general public is being disrupted unnecessarily. The Government’s doors remain open to discussion, especially as our last meeting was positive and forward looking and had led to all the then outstanding issues being resolved. I genuinely believe that we are able to move forward with goodwill and that the public will be disappointed by the latest announcement from the GGCA.”
