Director of Revenue Service to 'drive' improvement

The Revenue Service has faced criticism after a backlog of tax repayments built up

A customer service expert has been appointed as the director of operations of Guernsey's Revenue Service with responsibility for driving improvements, officials say.

Jean Mehers will join the Revenue Service - which collects Guernsey, Alderney and Herm's income tax and deals with social security - in November from Barclays UK, where she is a customer services director.

Thousands were waiting for tax repayments this year after the system moved to a new system.

The previous role of director of the Revenue Service was split this year to allow capacity to focus on policy development, and Mrs Mehers' work would concentrate on improving customer service, the government said.

Her previous experience includes being head of operations for Sainsbury's Bank, where her job included customer services, first-time contact resolution, according to the States of Guernsey.

She has also worked for Legal & General, O2 and Tesco Mobile, and said: "I'm passionate about creating values-led cultures where people thrive — and firmly believe that sustainable business performance is built on treating colleagues and customers with respect and authenticity."

States Treasurer Bethan Haines said: "Despite the best efforts of teams within the Revenue Service, the level of service we've provided to our community has not been where we would like it to be."

She said she hoped the role would help "deliver lasting improvements".