They have named this Service Centre One(SC1). It began by taking over the telephony and processing work for nine Jobcentres in Derbyshire, approximately 9500 JSA claimants.
The workload was increased on 8 December 2014 to cover the JSA claims from around 20 Jobcentres. By February 2015 the Service Centre will be dealing with the work of all the Jobcentres in the Mid Shires District, approximately 32,000 claims, and will have around 200 staff working in the centre.
At the same time management are continuing to test the same process for ESA claims in Chorlton, which has now been renamed the Test Service Centre.
Visit to SC1
Operational TUS visited Service Centre on 9 December 2014. We met with the project management, members working in the centre and local TU reps.
The view of those working in the SC1 was very positive, particularly from those members who had previously been working in the Contact Centre. At the moment the centre appears to be properly staffed. Staff are working out cover for the opening hours 8-6 on a voluntary basis which is working well. This is the method PCS has been advocating for some time to allow real flexibility for members with no use of scheduling.
The work is much more varied than the work normally undertaken in a contact centre with training to incorporate the processing and FA roles. The atmosphere within SC1 appeared much more relaxed than that normally associated with a DWP contact centre.
Management believe that this is a much better service to the public as it enables staff to take a call and then carry out the resultant processing work, drastically reducing the need for a handoff.
They were very clear that it is beneficial to both caller and the member of staff to get the required information from the customer and then do any necessary processing work once the call has terminated. This is something we totally agree with. Not only does it mean that the caller is not kept on the phone and paying for the call any longer than is necessary, but it enables our members to carry out any update to the system, or to issue payment, without any distraction, cutting down on the potential for errors.
This is in drastic contrast to the current CCS approach, where members are being encouraged to keep customers in-call for as long as possible and are being questioned about the use of after call work.
Consultation
It is clear that there have been some glitches in relation to consultation, as this is a new venture and cuts across a number of existing directorates, BD, NSD and WSD. Management gave a commitment to consult with us regularly at a national level, and we are setting up a meeting with the senior manager, Karen Gosden, in early January. They also agreed that there would be on-going consultation at a local level.
Future of Service Centre Model
It is clear that management are testing this model with a view to making it work and then rolling it out, as it is the preferred model of delivery and is seen as a stepping stone to Universal Credit. As a signal of how important DWP view this, they have set up a new directorate, the Operational Transformation Directorate, which will report direct to Noel Shanahan. We also believe that this model could be a fall back position in the event of further delay, or even abandonment, of UC, as the future direction of UC will only really become clear after next year’s General Election.
PCS has always viewed this integrated model as the best way of both delivering a quality customer service and providing more fulfilling and varied work for our members. Pensions, CMG and the Disability part of Benefits continued to deliver their service in this way and it is the model that has been adopted for Universal Credit.
Only in working age Benefits, under the guise of TPIP, did DWP decide to separate out telephony from processing. This experiment has been an unmitigated disaster, resulting in many experienced members leaving DWP. It saw a huge growth in handovers and double handling.
We welcome any move that leads to better working conditions and greater job satisfaction. We will be pressing management to roll out the SC1 model as quickly as possible, but we will also be monitoring the way in which this happens, with a view to getting the best possible working arrangements for our members and sufficient staffing.
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