Lesley Strathie

Dame Lesley Ann Strathie, DCB (née Cooke; 24 September 1955 – 14 January 2012) was a British senior civil servant. Quotes “HMRC and I personally regret any anxiety that customers have suffered, and I will come to each of the points that you have made in terms of how many people have the right code and paid the right amount of tax in the totality of the system.” Evidence before the UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, 2009-2010. October 12, 2010 “The key big building blocks for this include the reconciliation exercise that we are going through at the moment, which was well covered in the media, where we have many more people getting refunds of tax overpaid than we have, demonstrating a commitment to fairness alongside enforcement.” Parliamentary evidence on reform efforts to improve accuracy and fairness in tax collection. October 12, 2010 "We serve everybody. We don't have a choice about who we serve." Dame Lesley Strathie cautioned against drawing direct comparisons between HMRC and top businesses, arguing that it would be an unfair benchmark. “I think HMRC is quite disadvantaged because we don’t have a choice about who we serve. We have to serve 30 million taxpayers and that’s what makes us different from private businesses.” Interview and parliamentary hearing reported by The Telegraph. January 17, 2012 “Be glad for what you have, not sad for what you have not.” Dame Lesley Strathie’s personal mantra, cited in her obituary published by Civil Service World. January 25. 2012 “We feel deeply, deeply sorry for the distress that we have caused to many customers in bringing personal tax records up to date, and particularly vulnerable customers. I think one of the big groups in each of those years has been pensioners. We have been working through each of these years with ministers and seeking counsel on how we can ameliorate the impact of all of that.” “Our staff are our greatest asset, and we need to be open and honest and really listen to their views on how we can succeed. Staff management is the most challenging task facing the civil service at present.” Obituary: Dame Lesley Strathie, former head of HM Revenue & Customs January 20, 2012 External Links Category:2012 deaths Category:1955 births Category:British chief operating officers Category:British chief executives Category:Chief executives of HM Revenue and Customs Category:Civil servants in the Scottish Office Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:British women chief executives