Civil Service Track Record
The Civil Service already employs around 38,000 people in North East England and demonstrates a successful track record in working with national Government and the Civil Service.
Several government departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) already carry out national functions in the North East:
- Education and Skills (Darlington)
- Work and Pensions (Benton, Newcastle)
- Inland Revenue – National Insurance Contributions Office (Benton, Newcastle)
- Land Registry (Durham)
- UK Passport Office (Durham)
- Child Support Agency (Benton, Newcastle)
- Pension Service (Benton, Newcastle)
- Commission for Social Care Inspectorate (Newcastle)
- Prescription Pricing Authority (Newcastle)
The main employers are the Inland Revenue and DWP, which currently employ some 25,000 people in the North East. The Prison Service and the Prescription Pricing Authority account for another 5,000 employees. Many other departments, agencies and NDPBs are represented in the region.
There is plenty of capacity in the region to accommodate more civil service jobs – the North East has a pool of skilled available labour. See the Workforce section for details.
Government departments in the region find it easy to recruit high calibre staff. The National Insurance Contributions Office (NICO) received almost 10,000 applications for 200 new posts, and a very high proportion exceeded the minimum criteria for the jobs. A further 700 new staff were easily recruited for a new contact centre in North Tyneside in 2004, enabling it to be up and running in record time.
National Savings & Investments and UK Passport Services in Durham report levels of around seven suitable applicants for every job vacancy advertised.
The North East workforce is traditionally loyal – on average the North East has the lowest staff turnover rate in the country (less than 50% of the rate for the South East), reducing recruitment and training costs for employers. The civil service in the region reports much lower than average levels of churn amongst staff. In particular, National Savings & Investments and UK Passport Services in Durham experience a very low attrition rate of 1.4%, against a UK average of 16.1%.
Government departments in the North East benefit from positive relationships with the trades unions and a high level of co-operation between management, staff and the unions. The constructive climate enables departments to work with the unions to introduce flexible ways of work that benefit the business and the staff. For instance, NICO has been able to introduce an additional workstream whereby 1,000 people work a new 4pm – 9pm shift, without paying any additional allowances. Flexibility has been gained at no extra cost to the business.
The North East’s strong local cluster of government departments and agencies facilitates career progression for civil servants. The clustering of departments on our major sites, such as Benton in Newcastle, encourages developmental moves between departments such as DWP and IR. Evidence shows that staff tend to return to their original department after a period broadening their experience elsewhere in the civil service in the region.
There is increasing co-operation between government departments and agencies in the North East, with several cross-departmental groups meeting regularly to identify and resolve common issues. Government Office for the North East is playing a part in improving communication and collaboration between the region’s departments and agencies.