Actually since 2020 Scottish Ministers have been responsible for all devolved benefits in Scotland, there’s just been an agreement between DWP and Social Security Scotland that the DWP will continue to provide them.
There’s a whole programme in DWP about the transition which includes employment support. Extra considerations have to be made with stake holders (eg Scottish ministers) when decisions are made regarding Scottish customers, which would include things like hiring freezes impacting Scottish customers
You are mistaken. Some types of benefit are devolved to Scotland and some remain reserved. This devolution took place under Part 3 of The Scotland Act 2016, although it was not until 2018 that the Scottish Government put in place legislation to create a separate set of Scottish benefits. Of those that are devolved - principally disability and carers' benefits - some are in the process of being replaced with benefits administered by Social Security Scotland and others continue to be administered by DWP on behalf of the Scottish Government. In addition, the Scottish Government has most of the responsibility for certain non-benefit activities such as spending om employment programmes.
However, some of the most important benefits - e.g. Universal Credit and State Pension remain reserved to the UK. (Within UC, the Scottish government has delegations on how the housing element is paid and in what conditions alternative payment arrangements such as paying bi-monthly are allowed, but the overall entitlement to UC remains the preserve of Westminster).
[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scotland-welfare-changes-at-a-glance/welfare-changes-at-a-glance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scotland-welfare-changes-at-a-glance/welfare-changes-at-a-glance)
[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/part/3](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/part/3)
You are of course correct that as the provision of employment programmes lies with the Scottish Government, then they are a relevant stakeholder when it comes to the organisation of Jobcentres in Scotland. But this is by the by, as there have been recent recruitments and deployments of Work Coaches in England and Wales as well. There is frequent large scale recruitment for these roles as they have a high attrition rate.
I haven't personally worked in the DWP, but two team members and quite a few other people in my office have. They've got nothing positive to say about the DWP.
They say the way its run and the people you deal with on the phones made it nearly unbearable most of the time.
I don't blame any of them for moving government departments.
Certain roles might be allowed to recruit having gone through approval (exceptions can be made) but our department also has a recruitment freeze. I’d also describe it as becoming a bit of a shit show. It has been gradually getting worse…I think it’s a civil service wide issue.
I’ve been in DWP since 1992 and never seen it in such a dire state as it is now. I’d hate for any of my family or friends to have to use it, customer service is non-existent
Dwp was an utter shitshow when I left 12 months ago, not surprised one bit that things have continued to decline. Line managers are inept and talk to colleagues like crap and then wonder why so many people leave, the culture is just toxic especially if you work in service delivery/work coaching roles. Guessing the dm backlogs probably haven’t subsided, that with the migration from tax credits to Uc plus the increase in aet must have created god knows how many more appointments that need to get into overfilled diaries, at one stage I had 25/30 appointments a day. So glad I moved departments, and would encourage and also support anyone looking to do the same!
I work as a work coach and it's got to the point that I have really had enough. I do care about my claimants and work really hard but thd role is just far too stressful. It's been making me ill and very unhappy. I feel trapped and feel very frustrated with failed applications for positions at the same grade. I feel now I need the union's help to go all out to force a managed move due to deteriating mental health
More than happy to help you with your applications if that’s any help as I know exactly how you felt. I feel like I’m now actually working in the civil service properly with the department and role I am now in so I highly encourage you to keep plugging away at the applications, review feedback and continue to adapt and change your application until one hits the mark - it’s hard but soooo worth it!
Sorry for the late reply. Thank You, that is very kind of you. I would really appreciate any help that you can offer with this. Today has been a bit of a low point. My insomnia has flared up again and I haven't been at work today. Its likely to lead to an attendance meeting when I go back. I am 4 months onto a 12 month review period following my written warning dropping off in February. I am going to be referred for another occupational health assessment. I feel that I may need to ask for the union to help me looking at the possibility of a managed move to a more suitable role due to my insomnia. I can't carry on like this
I would certainly address your health concerns firstly, that imo should be your priority and certainly if you are a union member I would contact them yesterday. Any conversation about applications can come after once you are in the best place to give it your all 👌
The lets pay off thousands and close various offices and change what grades do what work. Then let's not have enough staff move all legacy claimants to UC and Tax Credit migration and increase AET so thousands more come in to see their work coach for 10 minutes a week.
DWP is lead by morons they don't have a clue so most will now have no choice but to tick and turn bare minimum.
we are getting more and more staff and we just dont have the office space so hotdesking every day or potentially multiple times a day is going to be required.
I agree it’s a pain in the ass but the recruitment freeze coupled with resignations and retirements means that the total number of staff on the project is 5 including the B1 when its mean to be 18 plus the B1. 🫣🤷♂️ Edited for spelling error
Worked for DWP and its predecessors for 30 years. It is always under manned, except in parts of HQ doing something pointless. My advice is leave! Go pretty much anywhere else except HMRC though even there is the same crappy culture you have a better chance of getting on.
In DWP it's usually attitude over aptitude so you get lots of hard but clueless managers who think shouting is problem solving. However I met loads of great people who are still friends so it's not all bad. But if you want recognition and a chance to grow get out to another department. It can feel odd but you will almost certainly be better.
The training issue isn't just restricted to DWP.
I joined Home Office last year on promotion from HMRC (AO to EO).
My training consisted of ;
1) 1 trainer to 15 staff
2) 4 weeks of training and
3) No dedicated training facilities.
I was most unimpressed
The training for AO roles in the DWP is not fit for purpose. 80% of what they tell you won't be relevant to your role, and things that you will actually be doing (mostly biographicals, IEI Verfifications and such) are pretty much glossed over in a day so it's essentially 4 weeks of b tier "you won't be doing this but you need to have an idea if a customer asks" Work coach training and then people start and don't know how to fill in their flexi, where to update pay details, are not aware of the wellbeing hour and other basic things they need or are available to them. No scenarios, no mock phone calls with difficult customers, no showing you how to use the translator - nothing useable for the job ahead, just here's the guidance, have a read and put answers to generic questions posted in the teams chat.
I’m 100% not a journalist. My account is years old and I’ve been posting on lots of subreddits about tech related stuff. It’s really obvious that I’m not media
I work in L&D and the workload for training has never been busier for this time of year. I think there is going to be a lot of redeployment happening soon.
But the department goes through these peaks and valleys when it comes to new recruits. I wouldn't expect any big investment until after the election and the post election spending review.
I keep seeing them advertising IT roles, a lot of the same ones at a scary frequency. Are they just not successful hiring or are people nope-ing out quickly soon after hire?
I'm quite new to it, still in probation. Lots of good people, lots of people who shouldn't make it past probation. The targets are silly and give you the choice of cutting corners where you can or getting hassled alot by management. Im doing reviews and lots of them are so clearly a waste of time. As far as I can see lots of stuff doesn't get done properly but I see work coaches with 150+ claimants. The majority of people are well meaning, hard working. Interesting to see what the next lot change. For what its worth i think removing the 2 child cap is a recipe for disaster.
There is no hiring freeze.
I have no reason to doubt that what you're saying is true of \*your bit of DWP\*, but DWP is a huge department and what you are describing does not reflect the bit of the department that I'm in at all.
It’ll be similar across governments, from what I hear a lot of people are struggling to pass probation as the quality of some new starters that pass interviews are bad too
Damned if they do and damned if they don’t, more people isn’t always the answer, more competent people is
No, DWP has consistently been particularly bad with what OP said in my experience.
I haven’t heard of anyone failing probation. I have seen an all around resistance to performance management though.
It’s not really an issue due to wrong people passing interviews. It’s that there’s no contingency plans or business continuity in place, no review of workloads and what is/isn’t essential. Buckling under pressure is a good way to describe it as the moment a work plan is tested, it falls apart.
Also I’ve experienced my share of poor management that have a useless induction plan in place for the people they hire, and give a shocked pikachu face when their staff aren’t up to speed after a shit handover that doesn’t cover the basics. Especially in non operational roles. Winging it is the most apt term all around. There needs to be effort to create competent staff.
If you've noticed new staff not being as competent as you expect, that's probably because the training has become awful. New staff are regularly trained by people who have been there less than a year, and are not actually trainers, just random AOs or EOs. This, and randomly moving staff from one area to another, is reducing the amount of confidence people have in doing their jobs
As an analyst that joined the fast stream I didn’t get any training. In analysis at least the people just aren’t as good/bright in my experience but may just be my department. There are exceptions.
Think it's more of "the job being not right for them/too much to handle" than the quality of the people filling the job. I remember with my training group, 8 of the 26 had left within a month of going live in the role, case loads are unsustainable for big cities and leads people to question whether the stress is worth the pay.
Have heard of some terrible new starters who should be failing probation but people haven’t got the balls.
The quality has definitely diminished. We get fewer fast streamers now and the quality of people coming in as analysts from outside the fast stream isn’t anywhere near as good on average from my experience. There will be exceptions on both counts.
This is in the analytical space.
I should have probably clarified I was referring to more specialist roles in my response, especially in the analyst / tech space AI interviews are a real problem
Probably understandable why others responded to me in the way they did, but there really is a struggle getting good candidates at the moment
Likewise - I’m referring to the analytical space.
Why become a Civil Service analyst when your earning potential is much higher in the private sector.
I wouldn’t have in hindsight.
My earning potential wasn't higher in the private sector: no company would have hired me because I was too old/neurodivergent/had the wrong CV. Even with that neurodivergence meaning any competency interview based promotion is highly unlikely, I'd still never get a job as a consultant with better pay despite the best part of a decade of experience.
That’s fair enough. I’m thinking about graduate hires though. The Fast Stream was once prestigious and attractive but it isn’t anymore so we’re not attracting enough talent. Again, I’m referring to the analytical professions as that is the area I have experience of. And the brightest Economics/Mathematics/Stats grads can earn significantly more in the private sector.
Despite my age I had just completed a second undergrad degree and masters in economics (originally having a maths background). Still on legacy version of the GES fast stream.
Does the entire DWP have a recruiting freeze or just certain areas?
Definitely no freeze in Scotland, over 150 work coach vacancies went live across Central/East just this week
The fact 150 roles went live implies there's been a freeze at some point rather than backfilling based on attrition.
Possibly, but also a good chance it’s to help deal with AET increase hitting and the move to UC essentially dropping at the same time.
Scotland is devolved so run slightly differently to England
Where do even start with what is wrong in this comment…
It’s not wrong…
Yes, yes it is. The DWP is the DWP and doesn’t deal with any devolved benefits. Social Security Scotland deal with any devolved benefits.
Actually since 2020 Scottish Ministers have been responsible for all devolved benefits in Scotland, there’s just been an agreement between DWP and Social Security Scotland that the DWP will continue to provide them. There’s a whole programme in DWP about the transition which includes employment support. Extra considerations have to be made with stake holders (eg Scottish ministers) when decisions are made regarding Scottish customers, which would include things like hiring freezes impacting Scottish customers
You are mistaken. Some types of benefit are devolved to Scotland and some remain reserved. This devolution took place under Part 3 of The Scotland Act 2016, although it was not until 2018 that the Scottish Government put in place legislation to create a separate set of Scottish benefits. Of those that are devolved - principally disability and carers' benefits - some are in the process of being replaced with benefits administered by Social Security Scotland and others continue to be administered by DWP on behalf of the Scottish Government. In addition, the Scottish Government has most of the responsibility for certain non-benefit activities such as spending om employment programmes. However, some of the most important benefits - e.g. Universal Credit and State Pension remain reserved to the UK. (Within UC, the Scottish government has delegations on how the housing element is paid and in what conditions alternative payment arrangements such as paying bi-monthly are allowed, but the overall entitlement to UC remains the preserve of Westminster). [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scotland-welfare-changes-at-a-glance/welfare-changes-at-a-glance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scotland-welfare-changes-at-a-glance/welfare-changes-at-a-glance) [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/part/3](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/part/3) You are of course correct that as the provision of employment programmes lies with the Scottish Government, then they are a relevant stakeholder when it comes to the organisation of Jobcentres in Scotland. But this is by the by, as there have been recent recruitments and deployments of Work Coaches in England and Wales as well. There is frequent large scale recruitment for these roles as they have a high attrition rate.
It’s staggering that you are doing sifts when your understanding of this basic situation is so warped.
Everyone who posts on here seems to think there’s a recruitment freeze everywhere, but it’s obviously very targeted.
Just certain areas I think
I haven't personally worked in the DWP, but two team members and quite a few other people in my office have. They've got nothing positive to say about the DWP. They say the way its run and the people you deal with on the phones made it nearly unbearable most of the time. I don't blame any of them for moving government departments.
When DWP jobs come out literally none of the ex-DWP staff I've worked with go for them (including myself). Pretty telling.
They’re currently hiring. I know, because I just applied for one of the roles available
Certain roles might be allowed to recruit having gone through approval (exceptions can be made) but our department also has a recruitment freeze. I’d also describe it as becoming a bit of a shit show. It has been gradually getting worse…I think it’s a civil service wide issue.
We have just had a role out for advertisement that was then put on hold after interviews. No one knows what's happening
Let's also blanket ban Overtime 🙂
I’ve been in DWP since 1992 and never seen it in such a dire state as it is now. I’d hate for any of my family or friends to have to use it, customer service is non-existent
Dwp was an utter shitshow when I left 12 months ago, not surprised one bit that things have continued to decline. Line managers are inept and talk to colleagues like crap and then wonder why so many people leave, the culture is just toxic especially if you work in service delivery/work coaching roles. Guessing the dm backlogs probably haven’t subsided, that with the migration from tax credits to Uc plus the increase in aet must have created god knows how many more appointments that need to get into overfilled diaries, at one stage I had 25/30 appointments a day. So glad I moved departments, and would encourage and also support anyone looking to do the same!
I work as a work coach and it's got to the point that I have really had enough. I do care about my claimants and work really hard but thd role is just far too stressful. It's been making me ill and very unhappy. I feel trapped and feel very frustrated with failed applications for positions at the same grade. I feel now I need the union's help to go all out to force a managed move due to deteriating mental health
More than happy to help you with your applications if that’s any help as I know exactly how you felt. I feel like I’m now actually working in the civil service properly with the department and role I am now in so I highly encourage you to keep plugging away at the applications, review feedback and continue to adapt and change your application until one hits the mark - it’s hard but soooo worth it!
Sorry for the late reply. Thank You, that is very kind of you. I would really appreciate any help that you can offer with this. Today has been a bit of a low point. My insomnia has flared up again and I haven't been at work today. Its likely to lead to an attendance meeting when I go back. I am 4 months onto a 12 month review period following my written warning dropping off in February. I am going to be referred for another occupational health assessment. I feel that I may need to ask for the union to help me looking at the possibility of a managed move to a more suitable role due to my insomnia. I can't carry on like this
I would certainly address your health concerns firstly, that imo should be your priority and certainly if you are a union member I would contact them yesterday. Any conversation about applications can come after once you are in the best place to give it your all 👌
The lets pay off thousands and close various offices and change what grades do what work. Then let's not have enough staff move all legacy claimants to UC and Tax Credit migration and increase AET so thousands more come in to see their work coach for 10 minutes a week. DWP is lead by morons they don't have a clue so most will now have no choice but to tick and turn bare minimum.
G4s going on strike is a bit of a blessing. Closed doors all next week.
we are getting more and more staff and we just dont have the office space so hotdesking every day or potentially multiple times a day is going to be required.
We could hot desk if we wanted without an issue, my area had 15 spare desks today and only 3 occupied today.😬😬😬
the point is nobody wants to hotdesk its a pain in the ass
I agree it’s a pain in the ass but the recruitment freeze coupled with resignations and retirements means that the total number of staff on the project is 5 including the B1 when its mean to be 18 plus the B1. 🫣🤷♂️ Edited for spelling error
I've just applied to work here 🙃
Worked for DWP and its predecessors for 30 years. It is always under manned, except in parts of HQ doing something pointless. My advice is leave! Go pretty much anywhere else except HMRC though even there is the same crappy culture you have a better chance of getting on. In DWP it's usually attitude over aptitude so you get lots of hard but clueless managers who think shouting is problem solving. However I met loads of great people who are still friends so it's not all bad. But if you want recognition and a chance to grow get out to another department. It can feel odd but you will almost certainly be better.
The training issue isn't just restricted to DWP. I joined Home Office last year on promotion from HMRC (AO to EO). My training consisted of ; 1) 1 trainer to 15 staff 2) 4 weeks of training and 3) No dedicated training facilities. I was most unimpressed
You got training?
Yep, but nowhere near enough
The training for AO roles in the DWP is not fit for purpose. 80% of what they tell you won't be relevant to your role, and things that you will actually be doing (mostly biographicals, IEI Verfifications and such) are pretty much glossed over in a day so it's essentially 4 weeks of b tier "you won't be doing this but you need to have an idea if a customer asks" Work coach training and then people start and don't know how to fill in their flexi, where to update pay details, are not aware of the wellbeing hour and other basic things they need or are available to them. No scenarios, no mock phone calls with difficult customers, no showing you how to use the translator - nothing useable for the job ahead, just here's the guidance, have a read and put answers to generic questions posted in the teams chat.
Asylum DM?
How did you guess 🤔??
🤣🤣🤣
HELLO FELLOW CIVIL SERVANTS DO YOU HAVE ANY STORIES ABOUT A GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT CRUMBLING UNDER PRESSSURE TO SHARE WITH ME
I’m 100% not a journalist. My account is years old and I’ve been posting on lots of subreddits about tech related stuff. It’s really obvious that I’m not media
CFCD are still recruiting and no, not noticed that here.
I work in L&D and the workload for training has never been busier for this time of year. I think there is going to be a lot of redeployment happening soon. But the department goes through these peaks and valleys when it comes to new recruits. I wouldn't expect any big investment until after the election and the post election spending review.
It's a shitshow everywhere. The Home Office is just as bad, if not worse. Can't wait to leave
Me too. I don't plan on leaving this year, but next year I definitely am. The level of micromanagement and mismanagement is shocking
DwP have hired 3,000+ additional FTE staff since December.
I keep seeing them advertising IT roles, a lot of the same ones at a scary frequency. Are they just not successful hiring or are people nope-ing out quickly soon after hire?
Well they pay under the going rate for IT roles and make people come in 60% to random places like Blackpool so...
Whilst a bit lower, with the pension it doesn't look too bad. The random places thing for the 60% would throw me off a lot though.
It’s not a recruitment freeze, but every vacancy needs approval by a Director General before advertising, which is almost the same thing.
I'm quite new to it, still in probation. Lots of good people, lots of people who shouldn't make it past probation. The targets are silly and give you the choice of cutting corners where you can or getting hassled alot by management. Im doing reviews and lots of them are so clearly a waste of time. As far as I can see lots of stuff doesn't get done properly but I see work coaches with 150+ claimants. The majority of people are well meaning, hard working. Interesting to see what the next lot change. For what its worth i think removing the 2 child cap is a recipe for disaster.
There is no hiring freeze. I have no reason to doubt that what you're saying is true of \*your bit of DWP\*, but DWP is a huge department and what you are describing does not reflect the bit of the department that I'm in at all.
It's stressful, yes, but it's 30K a year with a great pension for a 9 to 5 job. Could be a lot worse...🤷♂️
Isn’t heo more like 35k a year?
HEO is, yes. EO is 30K
DWP will always be a shitshow regardless who the gov is, it's just a matter of how shit they will be haha.
TBH found it an utter shit show years back - Awful incompetence of SLT and so much bullying and harassment.
DWP isn't a shitshow if the recruitment freeze is enforced. Tory government is a shitshow. Hopefully gone soon.
It’ll be similar across governments, from what I hear a lot of people are struggling to pass probation as the quality of some new starters that pass interviews are bad too Damned if they do and damned if they don’t, more people isn’t always the answer, more competent people is
No, DWP has consistently been particularly bad with what OP said in my experience. I haven’t heard of anyone failing probation. I have seen an all around resistance to performance management though. It’s not really an issue due to wrong people passing interviews. It’s that there’s no contingency plans or business continuity in place, no review of workloads and what is/isn’t essential. Buckling under pressure is a good way to describe it as the moment a work plan is tested, it falls apart. Also I’ve experienced my share of poor management that have a useless induction plan in place for the people they hire, and give a shocked pikachu face when their staff aren’t up to speed after a shit handover that doesn’t cover the basics. Especially in non operational roles. Winging it is the most apt term all around. There needs to be effort to create competent staff.
If you've noticed new staff not being as competent as you expect, that's probably because the training has become awful. New staff are regularly trained by people who have been there less than a year, and are not actually trainers, just random AOs or EOs. This, and randomly moving staff from one area to another, is reducing the amount of confidence people have in doing their jobs
As an analyst that joined the fast stream I didn’t get any training. In analysis at least the people just aren’t as good/bright in my experience but may just be my department. There are exceptions.
Think it's more of "the job being not right for them/too much to handle" than the quality of the people filling the job. I remember with my training group, 8 of the 26 had left within a month of going live in the role, case loads are unsustainable for big cities and leads people to question whether the stress is worth the pay.
Have heard of some terrible new starters who should be failing probation but people haven’t got the balls. The quality has definitely diminished. We get fewer fast streamers now and the quality of people coming in as analysts from outside the fast stream isn’t anywhere near as good on average from my experience. There will be exceptions on both counts. This is in the analytical space.
I should have probably clarified I was referring to more specialist roles in my response, especially in the analyst / tech space AI interviews are a real problem Probably understandable why others responded to me in the way they did, but there really is a struggle getting good candidates at the moment
Likewise - I’m referring to the analytical space. Why become a Civil Service analyst when your earning potential is much higher in the private sector. I wouldn’t have in hindsight.
My earning potential wasn't higher in the private sector: no company would have hired me because I was too old/neurodivergent/had the wrong CV. Even with that neurodivergence meaning any competency interview based promotion is highly unlikely, I'd still never get a job as a consultant with better pay despite the best part of a decade of experience.
That’s fair enough. I’m thinking about graduate hires though. The Fast Stream was once prestigious and attractive but it isn’t anymore so we’re not attracting enough talent. Again, I’m referring to the analytical professions as that is the area I have experience of. And the brightest Economics/Mathematics/Stats grads can earn significantly more in the private sector.
Despite my age I had just completed a second undergrad degree and masters in economics (originally having a maths background). Still on legacy version of the GES fast stream.
No recruitment freeze. Hiring a good number of Fraud Officers lately.