Aibu to think the civil service are taking so long due to not wanting me to take up the post?

[Powerfairy]

I applied for a seo position in Jan 25. Final interview in June 25 and passed all checks in August 25.
I have autism and adhd and after a discussion with occupational health in July 25 I asked for a few reasonable adjustments that I have in my current workplace.

There was tumbleweed for months with no further movement, in Nov they said the reasonable adjustments were still with HR and the line of business.
After much chasing, in Dec they have said they can’t do the reasonable adjustments and offered some alternatives which I accepted.
I am still waiting for a formal offer and start date.
After chasing numerous times, I am now told my checks have expired and that decision is with HR whether they can extend or not or will need to completely redo.
After chasing again last week I have been told the line of business wants to speak to me to ensure I understand the role and I’m fully aware of the demands of the role.

This role is a step down for me (work life balance etc) and they’d know that if they looked at my application.

I think if I hadn’t chased them up numerous times, I wouldn’t have had any communication from them at all. My portal still says, all checks complete await contact with next steps.

AIBU to think they are dragging their feet so I withdraw?

Yeah you are BU. It can often taken ages to recruit in CS. Usually the issue is changing budgets and priorities , even for junior unspecialised roles. People can sit on waiting lists for a long time. It’s frustrating but its not personal.

Can you say what the adjustments you first requested were, and what was then agreed? I’d be able to offer a view on likelihood of cold feet if you do.

Was it an application for a specific role in a specific team, or to a more general campaign for multiple roles?

the line of business wants to speak to me to ensure I understand the role and I’m fully aware of the demands of the role.

They take ages with everyone, but this definitely makes it sound like they don't think whatever adjustments have been agreed would work in practice for the role. So I think your suspicions are probably right.

It was a big campaign with a few different roles.
I requested flexible working hours, a designated desk on office days, agendas in advance where possible for meetings scheduled and flexible days in the office.

They agreed to:
flexible working hours as long as I started by 9.30am
a sit to stand desk

they couldn’t accommodate:
set office days
a designated desk
agendas in advance

Ive been following the recruitment process for other applicants on online boards and they are now recruiting for the second campaign, with most people from when I applied already in roles or on the reserve list.

OK given your update I am absolutely baffled and have no idea what they are up to. Agendas in advance and a designated desk should be easy to accommodate.

My guess would be the team have had a bad experience in the past and are worried they’ll have the same problems with you. It’s not fair to project that onto you though.

Is the role quite fast-paced and unpredictable? I’m thinking if there won’t be lots of notice that you’d have to meet x person on y day, it would be a problem if you weren’t available and weren’t able to do it without a fixed agenda.

Thankyou, for your responses.
I think I’m going to give it until the end of Feb to hear from the line of business and be offered a start date, if not I’ll withdraw from the role and do a subject access request to try and understand their rationale behind the delay.

Surely a sit to stand desk is a specific piece of furniture. I believe they are quite expensive. So it would be for your use only when you are in the office? That surely makes it a designated desk.

Don’t withdraw, go back to HR if the business area are reneging on your offer.

CS has always taken an age. My first job (in the olden days) was CS and then it was all done by snail mail so it took months. Even when I heard I was successful I waitedanother 3 months to get an actual start date.

my ds recently started with the CS. It took about 6 months from first application to job start. Extraordinary really.

Which department?

Designated desks may be an issue if everyone else hotdesks. If there are less desks than people because not everyone is in on the same days, it may not be an efficient use of space.

I rarely have an agenda for a meeting. Most of the ones I attend are to discuss either a single topic or a range of issues as they arise, so agendas would not be useful or just a single bullet point.

But I’m not questioning them denying the reasonable adjustments. I accepted in writing what they could offer back in December. Now it’s mid March and they are still pondering whether I’m right for the role.

its been 13 months since I first applied

CS are slow with everyone, it’s just a slow process.

Now it’s mid March and they are still pondering whether I’m right for the role.

It's the 10 Feb...

They are probably thinking you are demanding and going to be a drama lama.

It’s been a long day! Mid Feb obvs

For requesting reasonable adjustments for a disability or requesting updates?

My daughter, too took 7 months from interviews to start her CS job, she was constantly chasing.
I think perhaps in your case OP that they don't want the faf of your (entirely reasonable imo) adjustments are stringing things out in the hope you'll withdraw.

I'll be honest this isn't atypical for civil service. currently there are also recruitment freezes at the moment so they may be reconsidering the role entirely though they will usually honour an offer already given. but particularly if you require higher clearance level it can take a very very long time at the best of times

When I transferred from one unit to another within a CS department, I had to re-request working from home and they did another occupational health assessment, and then I was given the adjustment to work from home. I didn't mention reasonable adjustments before getting the job offered.

I dont think the comment about whether you understand the role is to do with your grade, I think its to do with a conflict between what the role requires and the accommodations you requested. So if theres lots of ad hock face to face meetingsnor travel, then there may not be agendas or the ability to work more from home. I know you've already agreed that you are ok to go ahead with what they can offer, but if the gaps is quite big between what you need and what the job entails they may be giving it second thought. But they should say this explicitly I'd have thought.

I do understand why you see these as reasonable adjustments. At the same time, I can also see how managers sometimes view them as additional pressures on already stretched teams and resources. Things like agendas or extra preparation can feel small individually, but they do add up operationally, which might be why they reacted the way they did.
I’m not saying that makes it right to deny support just that there may be practical constraints influencing their decisions rather than a lack of care.
I say this as someone who works closely with a colleague who is totally blind. He needs very few adjustments, but we’ve been told that services are under increasing pressure because requests for support across a wide range of needs, including ADHD and anxiety, have risen a lot in recent years. So sometimes it comes down to capacity as much as willingness.