AGM 2013

AGM 2013 – Guest Speaker

The 2013 Branch AGM details are as follows:

• Date: Thursday, 28th February 2013
• Venue: The Lecture Theatre, Thornton
• Time: 1.15 pm

Please note that the AGM Guest Speaker 2013 is Steve Cawkwell.

Steve is the PCS DWP Group Secretary, and part of that role he has been to be the lead Full Time Official opposing the DWP Norcross majority of the site closure.

Steve will cover many topics at the AGM from Pay to Pensions, Jobs to Conditions of Service however members at DWP Norcross may want to make a specific note of the date and details of the meeting.

Warnings over cuts

“It is obvious to everyone that real people are suffering and the poorest in our society are being scapegoated and punished for the failings of out of touch government ministers.”

The government is rapidly running out of supporters for its programme of mass cuts. Spending cuts and tax increases have consistently been promoted by the International Monetary Fund as the cure for government’s in financial distress but now even its officials are acknowledging austerity can do a lot more damage than previously thought.

The IMF’s chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, told the Guardian last month the time had come for the chancellor to act on the fund’s warnings he should moderate his plans. With a triple-dip recession looming, as signposted in the latest GDP figures which confirmed again a lack of economic growth – the Office of National Statistics estimated GDP had fallen by 0.3% over the final three months of 2012.

It is obvious to everyone that real people are suffering and the poorest in our society are being scapegoated and punished for the failings of out of touch government ministers.

PCS warned more than two years ago in the pamphlet ‘There is an alternative: The case against cuts in public spending’ that austerity couldn’t and wouldn’t work and we have been proved right.

Ministers must now admit that there is an alternative to austerity, and abandon their ideological obsession with cuts, target the wealthy tax dodgers and invest to grow our economy and protect our vital public services

This information was provided by PCS HQ.

Campaigning for tax justice

PCS members are playing a leading role in the fight for tax justice. Starbucks was the latest in a growing list of companies whose tax avoidance has been highlighted by campaigners.

The UK tax gap is currently estimated to stand at £120 billion. This is seriously undermining public services and the development of a more equal society – this has an impact not just in the UK but also globally in respect of international development.

This is due in no small part to swingeing cuts in HM Revenue and Customs. Since 2005 HMRC has shed half its staff and is set to lose over 10,000 more workers over the next three years. Tax justice campaigning has been in the headlines repeatedly in the last 12 months, most recently in November 2012 as public pressure forced multinational coffee chain Starbucks to pay £20 million in corporation tax over the next two years. But while this is a step in the right direction, PCS and other campaigners including UK Uncut believe it is not enough and other global concerns such as Google continue to not only avoid paying tax but proudly claim finding a way round it is all part of big business.

PCS’s message is clear – a properly resourced, fair tax system will support quality public services and go a long way to eradicating poverty.

Starbucks is one of a number of companies exposed as exploiting the UK tax system, robbing our economy of much needed-revenue for vital public services. The company has paid only £8.5m in corporation tax since it launched in the UK in 1998 despite £3bn profits.

The cash Starbucks may end up paying “voluntarily” is £5m less than that paid by its nearest competitor Costa Coffee.

Starbucks continues only to be willing to pay royalty fees to a subsidiary in the Netherlands where the company has a low-rate tax deal, and buys coffee beans through the well-known tax haven of Switzerland.

Changing the debate
PCS backed the protests by anti-cuts group UK Uncut against Starbucks in December 2012 which highlighted the fact that if large companies like Starbucks paid their fair share it would change the debate about public spending overnight. The union encouraged members to join one of more than 40 UK protests at the chain’s branches.

MPs have condemned a number of companies for avoiding paying tax. Although not illegal, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, chair of the Commons public accounts committee, accused the firms of being “immoral”.

Amazon, Google and Starbucks were some of the most high-profile companies questioned by the public accounts committee but there are many more.

Research shows Amazon, the biggest online retailer, generated sales of £3.3bn in the UK last year alone, and paid no corporation tax by channelling its transactions through Luxembourg.

Google uses an offshore network to reduce its tax bill, so it paid only £6m in tax last year on a turnover of £2.6bn.

Other figures revealed to MPs showed Facebook paid £238,000 in UK tax despite making £175m.

Although tax avoidance isn’t a crime, it is causing misery as we see our jobs and essential services cut because not enough tax is paid.

You can help by:

• Emailing your MP calling on them to close tax loopholes that allow large companies to avoid paying tax and to employ enough HMRC staff to combat avoidance
• Supporting local UK Uncut activity on your high street aimed at putting pressure on corporations who avoid tax – ukuncut.org.uk

Keeping informed
Our website campaign page has the latest information but we also recommend you keep an eye on Richard Murphy’s blog at taxresearch.org.uk Get involved in supporting the Robin Hood Tax campaign that calls for a financial transaction tax that would raise billions to help the poor – robinhoodtax.org.uk/get-involved Find out more at: pcs.org.uk/taxjustice

This information was provided by PCS HQ. 

Message to PCS Members from Janice Godrich, PCS President

A certain tabloid newspaper columnist, who generally enjoys being as racist, sexist and downright unpleasant as possible, is fond of saying ‘you couldn’t make it up’.

Ironic then that you really couldn’t have made up the latest offering from the Taxpayers’ Alliance – the sort of organisation I imagine the Richard Littlejohns of this world really love.

In response to the news that we’re heading for a triple dip recession because of the government’s failed austerity policies, this wholly misnamed outfit – set up and bankrolled by big business interests, but strangely reluctant to reveal its backers or sources of funding – called for “bold steps to cut spending to stimulate the economy”.

“Bold steps” to cut spending are, of course, already responsible for our communities being ripped apart and lives being shattered, with people who rely on benefits being scapegoated and punished in the most sickening way.

These steps are the ones that cut the jobs of tens of thousands of our colleagues, froze our pay and raided our pensions. Now ministers are coming for our basic working conditions as well because, with the rest of society on its knees, it’s apparently not fair that some people are still managing to crawl.

This is why our ballot for a new round of strikes and industrial action is so important, it is our response to the government’s “bold” vision that has done nothing but plunge us into the longest recession in living memory.

People have asked me, ‘shouldn’t we be round the negotiating table?’, and I say yes, we should. But for that to happen there needs to be a table to sit round – the government has refused to talk to us.

And consider all this alongside the plans to cut our facility time. Faced with increased workloads, more stress, the threat of redundancy and new draconian performance management systems designed to make it easier to sack staff, members are having the lifeline reps like us provide pulled away.

We have said it before, but it bears repeating, it’s a cynical political project to fundamentally change the face of our public services and our economy. And on the evidence to date, the more it fails, and the worse our economic situation gets, the more their cheerleaders will call for them to go further, and cut even deeper.

You really couldn’t make it up.

Sadly, they have, and it’s up to us to fight it.

Janice Godrich,
National President

Half the office workforce skips their lunch break

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

More than half of office employees regularly work through their lunch breaks, a poll for BBC Breakfast has found. Commenting on the poll, which found 54 per cent of office staff routinely take no lunch break, TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: 'These figures shine a spotlight on Britain's long hours culture. Far too many employees are failing to take lunch because they have too much work to do. It is essential that employers recognise the damage this can do to their staff and to the productivity of their workforce. Workers who skip lunch and don't take time away from their desks in the middle of the day are likely to become less productive as the day wears on and are also taking risks with their health.' She added: 'We need to change the culture - prevalent in far too many workplaces -that it is acceptable to eat lunch at your desk, and not leave your workspace.' Last year, the TUC found that employees across the UK worked nearly two billion unpaid hours, worth over £29bn to the economy. On 1 March it will be the ninth Work Your Proper Hours Day, when employees across the UK will be encouraged to work their proper hours, including taking a decent lunch break.

First Class and Flexible in Helpline isn’t Flexi

Members potentially being, or considering redeployment to Helpline at Warbreck may find the following useful.

There have been instances where the employer has indicated that First Class and Flexible contracts (sometimes erroneously called First Class and Flexi) are Flexi Working Hours contracts, or Flexi.

They aren’t and never have been.

The employer confirmed this on 23rd January 2013 as follows:

“Our First Class and Flexible staff are on a DWP standard contract but this is neither Flexi nor a non standard contract and as such the revised Benefits Directorate agreement does not affect them.”

Therefore although there have been some other areas of the employer who have tried, wrongly, to argue that First Class and Flexible is Flexi, it isn’t.

Surplus or Surplus Situation

Some more questions have been coming to the office about the compensation that may be payable under the Workforce Management Redeployment Package, if you agree to travel to Peel Park outside of your conditions of service travelling time (see Mobility Rules).

There have been concerns raised that an area (or areas) of the employer, or their Personnel section (s) had indicated that “you cannot apply for WMRP unless you are declared surplus”.

We have explained in the members’ meetings that a) this is not what happened when the DWP Moorland Road site closed and people transferred to Peel Park, as the employer at that stage realised the benefits in trying to introduce a smooth transfer, and b) that is not what the DWP’s conditions of service say.

The relevant part of the DWP’s Conditions of Service is as follows; “You may be eligible for a WMRP if you are in Band A/AA to Band G/Grade 6 and equivalent and where:

• you are surplus, or are facing a surplus situation,"

We have highlighted, “or are facing a surplus situation”.

The following link should take you to the page, the point that I quoted is at point 5. LINK

Reading all not just part of the Conditions of Service Despite this there have still been statements that “you have to be declared surplus”. The attached details talk about a “surplus situation”. It appears that “a surplus situation” (point 3) means that “you are surplus or facing a surplus situation” (point 5).

Personal Independence Payment - Update

The following details have been supplied by PCS DWP Group

Background

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people aged 16 to 64. It forms a major part of the government’s attack on welfare provision. The government expects the introduction of PIP will save 20% of the current expenditure on DLA.

Roll-out schedule

PIP go live will have various stages:

It will start with a controlled go live for new claims from a restricted number of postcodes including Cheshire, Cumbria, Merseyside, North East England and North West England. These new claims will be handled by Bootle Benefits Centre from April 2013. In June 2013 the other regional benefit centres will go live to take new claims to PIP for the remaining parts of Great Britain. From then there will be no new claims to DLA for people aged 16 to 64. Telford and Marton Mere contact centres will handle new claims calls from go- live, with Bangor contact centre supporting new claims from Welsh speakers. Natural Reassessment of DLA claims will commence in October 2013. This is reassessment to PIP for fixed period DLA awards coming up for renewal, young people turning 16 or where DLA claimants report a change in their condition. The final stage is managed reassessment. DWP will begin selecting existing DLA claimants and tell them what they need to do to claim PIP. In order that the lessons from the introduction of PIP are fully learned before starting the large scale reassessment of the DLA case load, the start of the managed reassessment of the DLA caseload has now been put back. It will not now begin until October 2015.

Staffing 2013

Initial staffing projections for PIP indicate fluctuating requirements during the first year as DLA new claims run down faster than new PIP claims ramp up. Release 2 of the PIP IT system in October 2013 is also expected to impact on staffing levels. However, there are a number of unknown factors particularly the functionality of the IT in live running, document scanning and the telephony arrangements.

Longer term staffing

In the longer term management do not anticipate any large scale reductions in the AO and EO grades. AA grades are anticipated to be affected by the increased introduction of electronic document scanning and distribution. The other main area of potential concern is the future of the staff at Warbreck House after the reassessment of DLA claims is completed. However this will not be completed until the end of 2017 and it is very difficult to anticipate what DWP’s staffing requirements will be at that stage.

Job design

Jobs in PIP will be broadly the same as in DLA. There will be operational posts at AA, AO and EO grades. The PIP programme has confirmed that the key decision making grade will remain as an EO function. The job roles have been subject to the appropriate grading guidance.

Assessment Providers

The PIP medical assessment contracts have been contracted to two companies – Atos Healthcare and Capita Business Services on a geographical split. PCS has registered our deep concern that Atos Healthcare has again been awarded a major health assessment contract despite the company’s exceptionally poor performance in assessing Incapacity Benefit/ESA claims. Atos and Capita are not being asked to provide an identical service. Atos will conduct the assessments primarily through local hospitals and GP surgeries while Capita will offer more assessments at the claimant’s home. Management say that they have learned the lessons from the problems with IB/ESA reassessment though inevitable the performance of both companies will be under very close public scrutiny.

Media

The introduction of PIP has created considerable media interest particularly as a result of lobbying from disabled groups. The 20% cut will mean that many current DLA recipients will lose their entitlement completely or have it reduced. It is difficult to see how this savage cut can be justified or applied equitably to some of the most disadvantaged sections of society.

Conclusion

Although consultation between the trade unions and the programme have been good it cannot disguise the reality that PIP is a coalition government cut designed to reduce benefit costs rather than improve welfare provision. PCS has campaigned hard with other interested parties against the cuts associated with PIP. It also remains to be seen if the PIP IT and other operational changes, such as scanning, actually work or deliver the efficiencies expected by the department.

Unions berate government on 'safety costs' lie

The following has been supplied by the TUC:
Unions have reacted angrily to a 'ridiculous' government claim that safety regulation is a waste of 'time and money' for businesses that should be 'focusing on growth'. They were commenting after on the publication of two reports outlining how the Health and Safety Executive has responded to government demands to reduce official safety oversight and regulation, based on recommendations from government commissioned reviews by former Tory cabinet minister Lord Young and Professor Ragnar Lofstedt. Minister for employment Mark Hoban said: 'For too long businesses have been confused by health and safety regulations which cost them money and take up time when they should be focusing on growth.' He added: 'Health and safety is important, but its focus should be where risks are high. These reports show just how much progress we have made in restoring clarity to the system, and over the coming months I'll be making sure common sense prevails.' UNISON national safety officer Robert Baughan responded: 'The argument against these regulations is ridiculous. If health and safety is supposed to be a burden and a barrier to jobs and growth why then is the economy still in recession? The real burden is the 20,000 people a year who die through their work.' He added: 'The coalition has slashed health and safety regulations in the same reckless, irresponsible manner they have slashed public services. Health and safety legislation is not there to cause a headache to employers - it is there to keep people safe at work. This government has seen yet another opportunity to chip away at the hard-won rights of workers, and is putting the safety - and lives - of workers at risk as a result.' A TUC spokesperson said: 'If the government spent half the time and effort that they have wasted over the past two and a half years trying to reduce non-existent burdens and sort imagined problems with health and safety into trying to improve the system, then they would have helped reduce the real burden felt by the 1.8 million workers and former workers currently suffering from an injury or illness caused by their work.'

Closure of the majority of the DWP Norcross site

We are aware that there may have been some rumours going around regards “semi colons” in the mobility clauses for mobile grades (please note that they are mobile grades not “fully mobile grades as the employer has made up).

The following is the actual wording:

“Employees are classed as having mobile status if they are:

• A fixed term appointee whose appointment letter includes a mobility clause
• A permanent appointment in Bands C to G (EO – G6) and their equivalents

Employees with mobile status can be compulsorily permanently transferred to any Civil Service post in the UK, and can be asked to travel to a post within reasonable daily travelling distance of their home. Reasonable travelling time is defined as 1 ½ hours from home to office by public transport.”

There isn't a semi colon in the paragraph, there is a comma and "and".

This means take a pause and plus.

Sources of Help and Information

Dear Colleagues

The Fylde Central Benefits and Services Branch priority over the forthcoming period will be to ensure that the collective campaigning work continues (job cuts, site closures, pensions, pay etc).

With the developments in electronic media there are often web sites and other sources of information that are available to members. I will briefly outline some of them as follows:

National PCS
The National PCS website is http://www.pcs.org.uk
The telephone number is: 020 7924 2727

PCS personal case and legal advice
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/resources/legal_toolkit/index.cfm

DWP Group
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/index.cfm
Their telephone number is: 0113 200 5300

To e-mail the DWP Group Office the e-mail address is: leeds@pcs.org.uk

They have a useful page about Personnel Policy and other guidance at: 
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/hr-guidance/index.cfm

They also have a frequently asked questions section here:
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/frequently_asked_questions.cfm

North West Regional Office
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/pcs_in_the_north_west
Their telephone number is: 0151 298 3900

To e-mail the North West Regional Office the e-mail address is: nwrc@pcs.org.uk

The Branch
The Branch Website is: http://pcs-fylde.blogspot.co.uk (you probably know that as this information is hosted on it). If you scroll down the right hand side of the web you will notice many areas that link you to sites and contacts that may be of help and assistance, including the ones above. These are broken into topics and then a section of links to other websites that may be helpful. The Branch Website is regularly updated.

I hope that the above is useful. It may be beneficial to keep a link to this information for reference in the future. This information is available as a .pdf here.

Yours Sincerely

Duncan Griffiths
Branch Secretary

Make sure you check that check-list for the One to Ones

Make sure you check the check-list compiled for your One to One meeting – This covers the majority of the DWP Norcross site closure second One to One meetings.

We are aware, unfortunately, that there may have been instances, once again where the actual details supplied to the line manager have been boiled down to a yes or no answer for some form of overall capture sheet; that the member hasn’t seen, for the purpose of aggregating the answers (and undoubtedly ensuring that the overall answer is the one that the employer wants to hear).

This surrounds the group of members who may have said that Peel Park is outside of their mobility conditions of service travelling time (potentially mobile and non mobile categories), It appears that in some instances the aggregates capture sheets have been pickled down to “Yes” or “No” answers for is the person prepared to move to Peel Park (or potentially Warbreck), when some people will fall into a “Yes” or “No” category but really many, many people will fall into the “Yes, but only if” category (i.e. that they will only be prepared to breach their real conditions of service, as set out on the employer’s intranet, provided that compensation is paid under the Workforce Management Redeployment Package (which could relate to travelling time or family care expenses etc) and that if/ when this is accepted that you would consider moving or to be redeployed to an office within your mobility and/ or to be considered for an exit package.

What you should now do
We would ask that all members now ask (unless this has already been done) to see the details that have been recorded about them on the aggregate sheet and ask that they are put in the correct category, rather than erroneously placed in the “Yes” box.

North West Region Winter/Spring 2013 Campaign

Pete Middleman (PCS North West Regional Secretary) has sent this leaflet detailing other aspects of the current campaign/dispute that people may not be aware of to assist in helping people focus on how important voting yes is.

Reply from the Employment Minister regarding the closure of the majority of the DWP Norcross Site

The Branch remains in correspondence with the local MPs regarding the closure of the majority of the DWP Norcross Site. We have also met one of the local MPs and one of the local Council Leaders in the last few weeks.

Members may have heard misinformation that the reason why DWP Shared Service are remaining at DWP Norcross beyond September 2013 is because they are moving to the Cabinet Office (when only one member of staff may be doing so from April 2013, and it is not clear which parts of DWP Shared Services may or may not be moving to the Cabinet Office in the long terms and which ones may be remaining in the DWP) and not because everyone couldn’t fit into Peel Park or Warbreck.

This is not the case, the actual reason is contained in the following is an extract from a letter from the Employment Minister Mark Hoban MP dated 13th January 2013;

“The recent change to the strategy is that c200 Shared Services staff from DWP will not relocate to Peel Park but will move into Tomlinson House with SPVA staff, based on the Norcross site. This change was in response to an increase in contractor staff working on Welfare Reform projects at Peel Park. It is recognised that delivery of the major Welfare Reform projects is a high priority and the strategy was amended to reflect that.”

If any members want to see the full details of the correspondence then please contact the Branch Office.

Teen death exposes government contempt

The following has been supplied by the TUC:
A teenage apprentice was killed in a horrific workplace incident just a week after David Cameron had claimed safety protection of young workers was 'very, very bad news'. On 10 January, Cameron Minshull was trapped in an industrial metal lathe at Zaffar Engineering UK in Bury, and suffered serious head injuries. Paramedics rushed to the factory and the 16-year-old was airlifted to hospital where doctors desperately tried to save his life, but was pronounced dead a short time later. Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have launched an investigation into the tragedy. Grieving mother Joanne Hill said: 'We have lost a very precious part of our lives and there are no words to describe how we are feeling.' A week earlier, in a 3 January speech at the Media Factory 'enterprise hub' at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, prime minister David Cameron had said health and safety regulations were one of the reasons behind a lower number of companies offering work experience placements, and told the audience this was 'very, very bad news'. A spokesperson for bereaved relatives group Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) commented: 'We suggest that before the prime minister mistakenly labels health and safety rules too burdensome, he looks at the facts: Over the last decade, at least five under 19s have been killed each year and up to 5,000 seriously injured at work. This is not due to too much, but too little health and safety.' She added: 'We must stop the government rolling back the laws and enforcement that prevents our children being killed at work. No-one should die simply for going to work to earn a living, and especially not a 16-year-old with his whole life ahead of him.'

PCS Policy - Norcross Closure

Some members have asked what PCS policy is in regard to the DWP Norcross partial closure and compulsory posting members.

PCS policy was set out in Emergency Motion 2 (EM2) and EM3 at the 2012 Group Conference. 

EM2 - Norcross Closure
Supported by the PCS DWP Group Executive Committee (GEC) and carried unanimously states at point 4 (GEC instructed to)… 4. Seek to ensure that no members are subject to compulsory transfers to sites outwith their mobility conditions of employment… 

EM3 - Group Action Plan
Moved by GEC and carried overwhelmingly reads Conference agrees there is now an urgent need to implement the Group Campaign Plan….. The Group campaign plan should be focussed on the following core demands….. No Office closures without Agreement. No Compulsory transfers or relocations.

Results of the DWP industrial action ballot.

The results of the DWP industrial action ballot are below:

PCS are in continuing discussions with the employer to seek a resolution to the dispute.

Question: Are you prepared to take part in strike action?

Number of ballot papers returned: 18,498
Number of papers found to be invalid: 527

Thus, total number of valid papers to be counted: 17,971

Number voting YES: 11,699 (65.1%)
Number voting NO: 6,272 (34.9%)

Question: Are you prepared to take part in industrial action short of a strike?

Number of ballot papers returned: 18,498
Number of papers found to be invalid: 1,891

Thus, total number of valid papers to be counted: 16,607

Number voting YES: 13,810 (83.2%)
Number voting NO: 2,797 (16.8%)

DWP NORCROSS CLOSURE – MEMBERS’ INFORMATION MEETINGS

Dear Colleagues

The purpose of this post is to advise members of forthcoming meetings to discuss the closure of the DWP Norcross site.

The meetings have been split into members on the teams that have been announced as going to Peel Park and members on the teams that have been announced as going to Warbreck.

The details of the meetings are as follows:

For members on the teams that have been announced as going to Peel Park:

Tuesday 15th January 2013

Norcross Canteen - 10.00am

Norcross Canteen - 2.00pm

For members on the teams that have been announced as going to Warbreck:

Wednesday 16th January 2013

Norcross Canteen - 2.00 pm

Forty five minutes facility time has been applied for, for you to attend a meeting, please make every effort to attend.

The meetings will be to update members in terms of the next round of one to one meetings, the transport solutions and to discuss other members’ issues.

If you have not yet joined PCS then there is still time to join and attend the meeting, please see the link on the right hand side of this blog.

Only members will be able to attend the meetings.

Yours sincerely

Duncan Griffiths, Branch Secretary.

DWP announce closure of two more offices

The following has been supplied by PCS DWP Group:

DWP have today announced the closure of two more large offices. One is the Lawnswood site in Leeds, the other is Newgate House in Rochdale.

Lawnswood is primarily a Disability Living Allowance site, with some Fraud staff. Newgate House is primarily a Fraud site but also has small teams working on a variety of different DWP areas of work. Management have also announced the start of a public consultation process for the move of the Medical Examination centre from Lawnswood to Quarry House.

248 staff work at Lawnswood and 119 work at Newgate House.

No Consultation

PCS were not consulted about these specific announcements in advance.

Management have told us that they are looking at rationalising the DWP estate in order to save money. But in this case they have proceeded to make an announcement prior to consulting with PCS about the rationale for closing these two sites. This is clearly unacceptable and PCS has already made this clear to senior management. In both cases management say that there is space to accommodate all the staff from these two offices.

This would mean transferring the staff from Lawnswood into Quarry House and moving the staff from Newgate House into neighbouring DWP offices. This may well be an acceptable arrangement for some of the members affected.

Members’ Concerns

However we are concerned that there will be other members for whom such a transfer would bring major difficulties and considerably longer journeys to work. It is unclear if a change in location would mean a change in duties. Some members may have specific individual circumstances that would make a transfer very difficult and for others management’s proposals will be outwith DWP mobility rules and therefore create redeployment problems. PCS is of course opposed to an office closure where such circumstances apply.

Wider threat to jobs

Members will be aware that in DWP there are members who are currently under notice of compulsory redundancy following the office closures that were announced back in 2010. Further office closures only serves to increase the risk of more redundancies and illustrates the importance of supporting PCS’ campaign against compulsory redundancies. This announcement followed one earlier this week of an offer of Voluntary Exits targeted at AA’s and HEO’s in certain locations, where restructuring and other changes has led to a likelihood of surpluses being declared in these grades. This again shows the threat to members’ jobs of management’s remorseless agenda of staff cuts and office closures. The staff and sites affected by this Voluntary Exit scheme have been informed.