Central England Group Work Services Meeting

PCS met with Central England Group (CEG) management on 18 June 2015 to discuss various issues. Here are some highlights.

We raised the issue of a member who had been badly treated as a result of voicing criticism on a telekit. CEG management were clear that they welcome frank and open discussion, raising of issues and questioning policies. This will be stated in future calls.

We were concerned about consultation at all levels as it can be patchy. We would try and improve at CEG level and district managers would be reminded of their duty to consult at district level.

We discussed changes to job roles that we had not been consulted about.

We discussed the Employer Adviser role as we were concerned that this job role was being phased out. CEG management assured us that this was not the case.

We discussed workforce planning. 924 people are leaving CEG WSD on VES mostly at band B. CEG is also overspending on staffing costs. There will also be significant reductions in the Flexible Support Fund. PCS will shortly be discussing plans at district level to address the probable imbalance of grades and incorrect numbers of staff in the wrong location. The temporary solution will be TDA and, when the full situation is clearer, a business case will be submitted for permanent promotion. PCS asked for as fair and open a process as possible for the TDA and CEG management said this would mostly be by expressions of interest and a competency based selection.

We discussed flexible ways of working. CEG management said that the Work Coach Delivery Model made some changes but we would need to manage the delivery of the business with the staff that we had.  This may involve more group sessions and flexible ways of working but should not involve large numbers of staff working 10 miles down the road or being asked to work 15 hour days. CEG management agreed to circulate a Health and Safety note to district managers to remind them to keep within the maximum capacity of the office.

Annual leave will be granted following national policy and there are no more restrictive policies in place.

We were concerned that IS claimants were being inappropriately sanctioned.

We will be getting a full list of sites co-located or where discussions are starting.

We were concerned that a certain office was referring claimants direct to a private partner organisation rather than going through the normal benefit process. This will not be happening.

We discussed HEO development centres again. Any HEOs given a PIP as a result of the day will have this removed. Feedback to PCS suggests that HEOs thought that the award of golden tickets to higher scorers was divisive and inflammatory.

Pay Meetings

Here are the meetings we have sorted. I'll try and update the list to fill in the gaps as soon as I know.



All meetings are 30 minutes. You can attend one.



Charles St Jobcentre - Friday 03/07/15 at 11:00 & 14:00



Coalville Jobcentre - Monday 29/06/15 at 10:00 & 11:00



Hinckley Jobcentre - Tuesday 30/06/15 at 14:00



Loughborough Jobcentre - Monday 29/06/15 at 12:30 & 13:30



Market Harborough Jobcentre - 25/06/15



Melton Mowbray Jobcentre - Tuesday 30/06/15 in morning. Time to be confirmed



New Walk Jobcentre - Thursday 02/07/15 at 09:30, 12:30, 13:30 & 16:00



Wellington Street (CMG, Jobcentre & strays) -  Thursday 25/06/15 at 10:30, 11:30, 13:30 & 14:30

March Against Austerity

It's rammed outside the Bank of England but we're nearly ready to set off.





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Work Services Employee Relations Informal Meeting 4 June 2015

PCS reps from our branch met with the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire District Manager with our colleagues from the PCS Northamptonshire Branch.

1.    District Performance – Performance very high even with all the changes being implemented.

TU asked why, if performance was so high, the percentage of staff getting a Final Box Marking of 1 was not higher. The District Manager replied that maybe this was due to raising expectations across the department.

2.    Risk Assessments for Work Experience – The District Manager gave assurances that the correct Keeping Safe training was being given for all Work Experience starts in the district. TU said they knew of offices where this had simply not been the case until incidents had happened which had forced the hands of the management and that this was not the way that Risk Assessments should be implemented.

 

3.    Part Time Hours For Staff Approaching 60 – The District Manager gave assurance that every case where a member of staff had requested part time hours and/or semi-retirement was taken on its own merit and that there is no blanket ban on changing working patterns.

 

4.    Management to provide TU with figures on extent of TDA across the district and whether or not this TDA is being properly advertised and vacancies properly filled in a fair and open manner.