Why the Valuation Office Agency isn't value for money

Spectator

01-08-2025

Another day, another dispiriting quangocracy revelation. This time the spotlight is on the Valuation Office Agency, whose performance has been rapidly declining year on year – while complaints about the organisation have skyrocketed. Freedom of Information data received by the TaxPayers' Alliance shows that call wait times have more than doubled over the last three years, targets have been increasingly missed and complaints about the organisation have shot up by 200 per cent. Dear oh dear…
In the 2024/25 financial year, average call wait times for the VOA – which works to provide property valuations and advice to support the administration of taxes and benefits – were almost 10 minutes on average, compared with just over 4 minutes in 2021/22. In 2023/24, two-thirds of calls were answered by an advisor within the organisation's target time, with this figure slumping to 59 per cent the following year. Meanwhile the organisation's performance review admits that it was 'below target' when it came to dealing with council tax and business rates reports in 2022/23. It continued to underperform in following years, steadily getting worse.
As readers will expect, complaints rose accordingly in this time. In 2021/22, 762 complaints were made – and of the 771 that were resolved, 40 per cent were at least partially upheld. Instead of learning from this, the VOA appeared to fall further into decline. Complaints rose by 40 per cent the following year, which the organisation attributes to the then-government's energy rebate announcement (which, it says, led to increased demand and therefore more delays). The next year, however, complaints shot up again by almost a third and in the most recent financial year they surged by 70 per cent – with the VOA receiving 2,300 reports of dissatisfaction in 2024/25. Crikey!
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden announced there would be a review of 'arm's length bodies across government', issuing a warning that if departments cannot justify the existence of quangos, they'll be merged or closed. Mr S isn't at all surprised that the VOA has been deemed inefficient, with the organisation set to become part of HMRC under these changes. But, as the TPA's investigations campaign manager Joanna Marchong notes, this 'must be more than a box-ticking exercise'. She added about the rather, er, unflattering figures:
Taxpayers were being left on hold while performance at the Valuation Office Agency continued to worsen. Waiting times were climbing year after year, and fewer calls are not being answered on time: it's simply not good enough.
Ministers need to ensure this absorption delivers real improvements – not just another layer of Whitehall bureaucracy that is further removed from the taxpayers footing the bill.
Quite!