Melanie Dawes, Director General, Business Tax, HM Revenue and Customs

Melanie Dawes is nominated for very active, visible leadership commitment as HMRC's Champion for Disability, which has ensured these issues are given the highest profile at board level. She has personally endorsed and driven projects that have delivered real service improvements to HMRC's disabled customers. Her actions have also raised awareness of the challenges faced by disabled people at work and developed practical solutions for overcoming these challenges.

Melanie has played an active part in consultations with external organisations such as the Low Income Tax Reform Group and the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, and chairs meetings of the Disabled Customers’ Consultation Group. She is a Champion who listens, responds to feedback and is held in the highest regard by HMRC's disabled staff.

Melanie is extremely visible, attending network events, hosting dial-in sessions and participating in online forums to communicate directly with disabled staff. She also makes a point of meeting with network members at every opportunity when visiting HMRC offices around the country. She sponsored an Intranet campaign to raise awareness of disability issues that took place during Disability History Month.

Feedback and available statistics showed that around 71 per cent of grievances recorded related to disability issues. This was clearly an area of great concern for disabled staff and for managers and Melanie took prompt action to appoint a project manager to lead a review of HMRC processes and policies. As a result of the review, we are in the process of establishing a new Reasonable Adjustment Support Team dedicated to providing expert advice on appropriate adjustments and co-ordinating provision of software, equipment, appropriate training etc.

As well as tackling issues around management of disabled people within HMRC, Melanie has worked actively with service delivery areas in the department and led the development of HMRC’s Disability Road Map. This sets out six key objectives designed to ensure that service delivery to disabled customers is accessible, that our people receive appropriate training on etiquette for interacting with disabled people and that policy, product and service decisions take account of the accessibility agenda.