Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average call waiting time was for (a) the standard HMRC helpline and (b) the Public Department 1 specialist helpline in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson
HMRC measures call waiting times using the Average Speed of Answer (ASA). ASA is the average time spent waiting in the queue for an adviser. This is from the time that the customer finished listening to HMRC’s automated messages and completed their selection from HMRC’s automated menu to the time when they get to speak to an adviser. HMRC telephony ASA data is routinely published on GOV.UK. This information can be found at:
HMRC performance updates - GOV.UK
Public Department 1 (PD1) manages the affairs of taxpayers whose records require a higher level of security protection due to their identity or role. As a result, these individuals have limited access to HMRC’s digital services and main helplines when handling their affairs. This restriction often increases their need to contact HMRC directly to resolve tax queries, supported by a dedicated helpline operated by a small specialist team within PD1.
Average Speed of Answer Public Department 1 (PD1)
Financial Year | (minutes: seconds) |
2021–22 | Data not held |
2022–23 | 10:23 |
2023–24 | 05:29 |
2024–25 | 03:44 |
2025–26 (Year to date to February) | 06:13 |
2021-22 PD1 performance data is not held in a comparable format.
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