PCS DWP Group have supplied the following informtion:
It has been announced this morning that The Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission is no longer to be a Non Departmental Public Body and will transfer back into the Department for Work and Pensions.
What about the staff?
Staff were advised of the transfer at 9:30am this morning (Thursday, 14 October 2010) and will transfer with the work. As a result staff will retain their civil service status which was up for review in 2011. There will be no immediate job losses as a result of the transfer. PCS members will rightly welcome this. However, the announcement comes as part of the government’s cuts strategy and therefore PCS is reacting cautiously to it.
PCS view
PCS members had long argued since the Henshaw Review of CSA that the agency should remain within DWP and had called at both the 2009 and 2010 PCS annual conferences that CMEC should be transferred back into the DWP.
What about the future?
PCS believes that CMEC staff have provided an excellent service to children and families, meeting all its targets. We will do everything we can to ensure that staffing levels and resources remain intact so that they can continue to provide excellent customer service.
PCS were informed of the transfer prior to the public announcement. PCS will be meeting with management at both commission and DWP level to negotiate the mechanics of the transfer.
PCS will be seeking members meetings to update members as further information becomes available. At the time of this transfer, the Comprehensive Spending Review and the government’s cuts agenda, never has it been more important that we stand together.
Together we can win.
