The advisors you see when someone signs on each fortnight - what grade
are they?

I'm also interested in the qualifications you need for this grade?

Cheers

Bazza

On 7 Aug, 17:44, Barry Sheene  wrote:
> The advisors you see when someone signs on each fortnight - what grade
> are they?
>
> I'm also interested in the qualifications you need for this grade?
>
> Cheers
>
> Bazza

Why? Thinking of joining them?

Martin  <><

On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
wrote:

> Why? Thinking of joining them?
>

Yes... well, maybe.

Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...

Barry Sheene writes:
> The advisors you see when someone signs on each fortnight - what grade
> are they?
> 
> I'm also interested in the qualifications you need for this grade?

JFGI.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/working/centre_staff.asp
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/working/vacancies.asp

On Aug 7, 11:22 pm, Sam <a...@ng.invalid> wrote:

>
> http://www.dwp.gov.uk/working/centre_staff.asphttp://www.dwp.gov.uk/working/vacancies.asp

Cheers...

On 7 Aug, 20:06, Barry Sheene  wrote:
> On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
> wrote:
>
> > Why? Thinking of joining them?
>
> Yes... well, maybe.
>
> Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...

Not so sure about the good working conditions. Pay awards tend to be
below national average, government being keen to keep its own staff
pay rises low regardless of inflation.
Good redundancy payments if they decide to cut staff.

Martin  <><

mart2306@hotmail.com wrote:
> On 7 Aug, 20:06, Barry Sheene  wrote:
>> On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Why? Thinking of joining them?
>> Yes... well, maybe.
>>
>> Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...
> 
> Not so sure about the good working conditions. Pay awards tend to be
> below national average, government being keen to keep its own staff
> pay rises low regardless of inflation.
> Good redundancy payments if they decide to cut staff.
> 
> Martin  <><

Very very unlikely it would result in redundancies in a typical JC.  The 
staff, especially at the lower grades are usually easily absorbed into 
nearby civil service sites as the staff turnover at lower grades is high.

Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at 
the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  My office has a 
turnover of nearer 25% and we are on our 4t or 5th round of recruitment 
this year, I know two more are in the pipeline and I'd be suprised if 
there wasn't a third.

Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!) seem to only 
happen when a large processing/call centre closes.  Even then most staff 
get other DWP/civil service jobs as large sites tend to be near large 
cities with lots of other civil service jobs available.

Mike

On 9 Aug, 09:05, Mike 
wrote:
> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > On 7 Aug, 20:06, Barry Sheene  wrote:
> >> On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
> >> wrote:
>
> >>> Why? Thinking of joining them?
> >> Yes... well, maybe.
>
> >> Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...
>
> > Not so sure about the good working conditions. Pay awards tend to be
> > below national average, government being keen to keep its own staff
> > pay rises low regardless of inflation.
> > Good redundancy payments if they decide to cut staff.
>
> > Martin  <><
>
> Very very unlikely it would result in redundancies in a typical JC.  The
> staff, especially at the lower grades are usually easily absorbed into
> nearby civil service sites as the staff turnover at lower grades is high.
>
> Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
> the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  My office has a
> turnover of nearer 25% and we are on our 4t or 5th round of recruitment
> this year, I know two more are in the pipeline and I'd be suprised if
> there wasn't a third.
>
> Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!) seem to only
> happen when a large processing/call centre closes.  Even then most staff
> get other DWP/civil service jobs as large sites tend to be near large
> cities with lots of other civil service jobs available.
>
> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Depends on the area and where staff can be moved to.
If I had been at my old office in St Annes on Sea when it was shut,
the place they moved to (and all the large sites in the area) would
have been outside reasonable travelling time. Distance moved was only
about 3 miles to Blackpool but that equated to 3 buses to get there.

Martin  <><

Martin  <><

mart2306@hotmail.com wrote:
> On 9 Aug, 09:05, Mike 
> wrote:
>> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>> On 7 Aug, 20:06, Barry Sheene  wrote:
>>>> On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> Why? Thinking of joining them?
>>>> Yes... well, maybe.
>>>> Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...
>>> Not so sure about the good working conditions. Pay awards tend to be
>>> below national average, government being keen to keep its own staff
>>> pay rises low regardless of inflation.
>>> Good redundancy payments if they decide to cut staff.
>>> Martin  <><
>> Very very unlikely it would result in redundancies in a typical JC.  The
>> staff, especially at the lower grades are usually easily absorbed into
>> nearby civil service sites as the staff turnover at lower grades is high.
>>
>> Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
>> the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  My office has a
>> turnover of nearer 25% and we are on our 4t or 5th round of recruitment
>> this year, I know two more are in the pipeline and I'd be suprised if
>> there wasn't a third.
>>
>> Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!) seem to only
>> happen when a large processing/call centre closes.  Even then most staff
>> get other DWP/civil service jobs as large sites tend to be near large
>> cities with lots of other civil service jobs available.
>>
>> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
> 
> Depends on the area and where staff can be moved to.
> If I had been at my old office in St Annes on Sea when it was shut,
> the place they moved to (and all the large sites in the area) would
> have been outside reasonable travelling time. Distance moved was only
> about 3 miles to Blackpool but that equated to 3 buses to get there.
> 
> Martin  <><
> 
> Martin  <><

IIRC for AOs they are expected to travel for upto an hour on compulsory
transfer.  There are sites at Moorland Road and Peel Park much closer 
than Blackpool.

The pension centre in blackpool closed this year however it's closure 
had been announced 2/3 years before and all staff who wanted jobs got 
them and a few took voluntary redundancy on very good terms.  I think by 
the time closed there were less than 100 staff working there and only a 
handful got redundancy.

Mike

On 9 Aug, 19:39, Mike 
wrote:
> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > On 9 Aug, 09:05, Mike 
> > wrote:
> >> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
> >>> On 7 Aug, 20:06, Barry Sheene  wrote:
> >>>> On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>> Why? Thinking of joining them?
> >>>> Yes... well, maybe.
> >>>> Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...
> >>> Not so sure about the good working conditions. Pay awards tend to be
> >>> below national average, government being keen to keep its own staff
> >>> pay rises low regardless of inflation.
> >>> Good redundancy payments if they decide to cut staff.
> >>> Martin  <><
> >> Very very unlikely it would result in redundancies in a typical JC.  The
> >> staff, especially at the lower grades are usually easily absorbed into
> >> nearby civil service sites as the staff turnover at lower grades is high.
>
> >> Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
> >> the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  My office has a
> >> turnover of nearer 25% and we are on our 4t or 5th round of recruitment
> >> this year, I know two more are in the pipeline and I'd be suprised if
> >> there wasn't a third.
>
> >> Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!) seem to only
> >> happen when a large processing/call centre closes.  Even then most staff
> >> get other DWP/civil service jobs as large sites tend to be near large
> >> cities with lots of other civil service jobs available.
>
> >> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> > Depends on the area and where staff can be moved to.
> > If I had been at my old office in St Annes on Sea when it was shut,
> > the place they moved to (and all the large sites in the area) would
> > have been outside reasonable travelling time. Distance moved was only
> > about 3 miles to Blackpool but that equated to 3 buses to get there.
>
> > Martin  <><
>
> > Martin  <><
>
> IIRC for AOs they are expected to travel for upto an hour on compulsory
> transfer.  There are sites at Moorland Road and Peel Park much closer
> than Blackpool.
>
> The pension centre in blackpool closed this year however it's closure
> had been announced 2/3 years before and all staff who wanted jobs got
> them and a few took voluntary redundancy on very good terms.  I think by
> the time closed there were less than 100 staff working there and only a
> handful got redundancy.
>
> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


Moorland road, a lot of offices were being shut. Something about
developing the site?

Peel Park was in Blackpool when I last went there.

Martin  <><

mart2306@hotmail.com wrote:
> On 9 Aug, 19:39, Mike 
> wrote:
>> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>> On 9 Aug, 09:05, Mike 
>>> wrote:
>>>> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>>>> On 7 Aug, 20:06, Barry Sheene  wrote:
>>>>>> On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> Why? Thinking of joining them?
>>>>>> Yes... well, maybe.
>>>>>> Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...
>>>>> Not so sure about the good working conditions. Pay awards tend to be
>>>>> below national average, government being keen to keep its own staff
>>>>> pay rises low regardless of inflation.
>>>>> Good redundancy payments if they decide to cut staff.
>>>>> Martin  <><
>>>> Very very unlikely it would result in redundancies in a typical JC.  The
>>>> staff, especially at the lower grades are usually easily absorbed into
>>>> nearby civil service sites as the staff turnover at lower grades is high.
>>>> Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
>>>> the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  My office has a
>>>> turnover of nearer 25% and we are on our 4t or 5th round of recruitment
>>>> this year, I know two more are in the pipeline and I'd be suprised if
>>>> there wasn't a third.
>>>> Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!) seem to only
>>>> happen when a large processing/call centre closes.  Even then most staff
>>>> get other DWP/civil service jobs as large sites tend to be near large
>>>> cities with lots of other civil service jobs available.
>>>> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>>>> - Show quoted text -
>>> Depends on the area and where staff can be moved to.
>>> If I had been at my old office in St Annes on Sea when it was shut,
>>> the place they moved to (and all the large sites in the area) would
>>> have been outside reasonable travelling time. Distance moved was only
>>> about 3 miles to Blackpool but that equated to 3 buses to get there.
>>> Martin  <><
>>> Martin  <><
>> IIRC for AOs they are expected to travel for upto an hour on compulsory
>> transfer.  There are sites at Moorland Road and Peel Park much closer
>> than Blackpool.
>>
>> The pension centre in blackpool closed this year however it's closure
>> had been announced 2/3 years before and all staff who wanted jobs got
>> them and a few took voluntary redundancy on very good terms.  I think by
>> the time closed there were less than 100 staff working there and only a
>> handful got redundancy.
>>
>> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
> 
> 
> Moorland road, a lot of offices were being shut. Something about
> developing the site?

It is being developed - but I'm not sure quite what that means ...

> Peel Park was in Blackpool when I last went there.

Isn't it 'the rigt side' of blackpool.

> Martin  <><

Surprised they ever had a JC in St.Annes - average age is 80+.  The 
local safeway (or was it tesco) had a whole isle of denture stain 
removal products and some very large nappies ;-)

Mike

On 10 Aug, 09:31, Mike 
wrote:
> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > On 9 Aug, 19:39, Mike 
> > wrote:
> >> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
> >>> On 9 Aug, 09:05, Mike 
> >>> wrote:
> >>>> mart2...@hotmail.com wrote:
> >>>>> On 7 Aug, 20:06, Barry Sheene  wrote:
> >>>>>> On Aug 7, 7:05 pm, "mart2...@hotmail.com" 
> >>>>>> wrote:
> >>>>>>> Why? Thinking of joining them?
> >>>>>> Yes... well, maybe.
> >>>>>> Seems a good job.  Good working conditions, good pay...
> >>>>> Not so sure about the good working conditions. Pay awards tend to be
> >>>>> below national average, government being keen to keep its own staff
> >>>>> pay rises low regardless of inflation.
> >>>>> Good redundancy payments if they decide to cut staff.
> >>>>> Martin  <><
> >>>> Very very unlikely it would result in redundancies in a typical JC.  The
> >>>> staff, especially at the lower grades are usually easily absorbed into
> >>>> nearby civil service sites as the staff turnover at lower grades is high.
> >>>> Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
> >>>> the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  My office has a
> >>>> turnover of nearer 25% and we are on our 4t or 5th round of recruitment
> >>>> this year, I know two more are in the pipeline and I'd be suprised if
> >>>> there wasn't a third.
> >>>> Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!) seem to only
> >>>> happen when a large processing/call centre closes.  Even then most staff
> >>>> get other DWP/civil service jobs as large sites tend to be near large
> >>>> cities with lots of other civil service jobs available.
> >>>> Mike- Hide quoted text -
> >>>> - Show quoted text -
> >>> Depends on the area and where staff can be moved to.
> >>> If I had been at my old office in St Annes on Sea when it was shut,
> >>> the place they moved to (and all the large sites in the area) would
> >>> have been outside reasonable travelling time. Distance moved was only
> >>> about 3 miles to Blackpool but that equated to 3 buses to get there.
> >>> Martin  <><
> >>> Martin  <><
> >> IIRC for AOs they are expected to travel for upto an hour on compulsory
> >> transfer.  There are sites at Moorland Road and Peel Park much closer
> >> than Blackpool.
>
> >> The pension centre in blackpool closed this year however it's closure
> >> had been announced 2/3 years before and all staff who wanted jobs got
> >> them and a few took voluntary redundancy on very good terms.  I think by
> >> the time closed there were less than 100 staff working there and only a
> >> handful got redundancy.
>
> >> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> > Moorland road, a lot of offices were being shut. Something about
> > developing the site?
>
> It is being developed - but I'm not sure quite what that means ...
>
> > Peel Park was in Blackpool when I last went there.
>
> Isn't it 'the rigt side' of blackpool.

Depends if you have to catch a bus to town centre in order to catch a
bus back out.
Great for cars - you can get between the two sites in minutes.

>
> > Martin  <><
>
> Surprised they ever had a JC in St.Annes - average age is 80.  

Not quite that high. Local high school (one of 5 schools in catchment
area but the only state one) often had in excess of 1800 kids.
Used to be that people had to go to Blackpool for unemployment stuff
but pretty sure at one point we ended up with a JC by the Square.


The
> local safeway (or was it tesco) had a whole isle of denture stain
> removal products and some very large nappies ;-)

Large nappies are very useful for even the under 65s. Denture products
were OK, not the best range but far better than some areas I've
shopped in.
Got my first denture container from Safeways there.


Martin  <><

>
> Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

On Aug 9, 9:05 am, Mike 
wrote:


> Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
> the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  

Why the turnover?

Pay isn't that bad, better than some places in the private sector.

On Aug 9, 9:05 am, Mike 
wrote:

>
> Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!)

Nah I can't see that happening either -  a transfer to the private
sector is more likely.  That would be worse case scenario.

Barry Sheene wrote:
> On Aug 9, 9:05 am, Mike 
> wrote:
> 
>> Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!)
> 
> Nah I can't see that happening either -  a transfer to the private
> sector is more likely.  That would be worse case scenario.

Compulsory redundancies at the lower grades are rarely necessary.  There 
have been hundreds of voluntary redundancies though.

Mike

Barry Sheene wrote:
> On Aug 9, 9:05 am, Mike 
> wrote:
> 
> 
>> Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
>> the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  
> 
> Why the turnover?
> 
> Pay isn't that bad, better than some places in the private sector.

Better than some - worse than others.  Conditions are getting worse so 
staff leave.

Mike

On 10 Aug, 18:04, Barry Sheene  wrote:
> On Aug 9, 9:05 am, Mike 
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Redundancies (and god knows many staff want redundancy!)
>
> Nah I can't see that happening either -  a transfer to the private
> sector is more likely.  That would be worse case scenario.

Yes, its somewhat likely, with public service contracts being pushed
for others to provide services.
But redunancy does happen at times. At least one part of the DWP had
redundancy recently.

Martin  <><

On 10 Aug, 18:01, Barry Sheene  wrote:
> On Aug 9, 9:05 am, Mike 
> wrote:
>
> > Varies around the country/depts but the DWP turnover is around 20% pa at
> > the mo and most of that is in the lowest grades.  
>
> Why the turnover?
>
> Pay isn't that bad, better than some places in the private sector.

Government plans means that departments have to cut their budgets year
on year. Staffing being one of the easier areas to cut.
Means that remaining staff have to do the same or more work between
them, with less staff to do it with.

Or in the case of the charity commission, the organisation gets given
additional responsibilities while not being given extra money.

Pay awards tend to be low, promotion prospects not brilliant and at
least in some offices, if your face doesn't fit then you've no chance
of promotion.
Oh, and some really, really crap managers knocking about.

Martin  <><