Public and Commercial Services Union

The chancellors budget this week announced an additional £1.7 billion spending on the jobcentre network. DWP permanent secretary, Leigh Lewis has this week welcomed the increase and commented that “we must use the extra funding wisely, particularly at a time when public finances are under enormous pressure” PCS will be strongly urging the permanent secretary to use some of this additional money on much needed pay improvements for his hard working and committed staff.

Jobless figures

The number of people out of work in the UK rose by another 177,000 to 2.1 million between December and February.

The number of people claiming jobseekers allowance rose 73,700 last month to 1.46 million.

The unemployment rate was 6.7% for the three months to February, up from 6.1% the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced this week.

With pressure increasing on DWP members every day PCS will be using these figures to argue for additional resources, better terms and conditions and, of course, much needed improvements in pay.

Meetings with DWP on pay

Following the publication of the treasury pay guidance PCS has now met with DWP senior management to discuss implications of the guidance for members in DWP. This includes the agreement achieved by our national campaign last year, to use efficiency savings for improving pay.

The treasury set a tight deadline of 30 May for departments to identify potential efficiency savings, and both the DWP and PCS agreed to make this work a high priority, with further meetings planned.

Other DWP issues

Management and PCS have identified a number of potential improvements in managing attendance, family friendly and job security policies. We are also looking closely at ways of improving the employee relations framework to allow your reps the time and facilities to represent you properly.

It is clear that the pay talks may not provide results until June. But, we have made it clear to management that with the enormous pressure being faced by members it is therefore essential that the talks on these other important areas are concluded as soon as possible.