Civil Servants - Anyone here work for the Department of Levelling Up? DLUHC?

Quveas · 09/06/2023 16:49

I have a friend who works for them - and it's predecessor DCLG. She hates it, but lives with it because part-time / term time only work isn't easy to find. She says it is chaotic, nobody knows what they are doing, managers are conspicous by their absence unless they need to blame someone for their latest cock-up (of which there are many), and their turnover is really really high (which says a lot to most people).

For my sins I have no experience of working for them (and wouldn't work for them) but I do have experience on the client side. I can attest to their turnover - at times we have had contact officers appointed who haven't even stayed long enough to meet them! This year we are on our third and it's only June. Nobody understands the rules of the programmes they are promoting, everthing is several months (at least) behind schedule, and it's a complete mess. One of their flagship programmes (UKSPF) was supposed to start in April 2022, and was so delayed that people were literally running around trying to spend £millions in March 2023 because they had only just been given permissions to spend that years money, and if they didn't defray the monies by 31st March they lost the entire years money! They still haven't fully issued the "rule book" for spending the money either, so nobody has a clue what they are doing.

The words "piss-up" and "brewery" come to mind.

Tippingadvice · 09/06/2023 17:51

How big of a department is this? I would call it mid to small but in terms of influence it’s a parent department and part of the Whitehall cohort so high profile.

Is 40% a week in the office enforceable or do people end up WFH more? This will depend on the job and department.

My advice, get any job you can in the Civil Service then once you are in research, network and find the right Dept and job for you.

RandomMess · 09/06/2023 18:04

Things must be chaotic as the ERDF funding ends in autumn as needs wrapping up and new funding is coming in/through way behind what was expected.

So people leaving/going on secondment/moving left right and centre I should think.

ecuse · 10/06/2023 10:20

You know that when things like funding pots are late it's almost never anything to do with civil servants and everything to do with ministers and politics, right? And that the civil servants will have been briefing for months (or years!) saying WE HAVE TO GET THIS OUT?

Doesn't negate the point about stressful workplaces, though. In fact in my experience it enhances it!

Agree with the PP who said if you want a CS role it's not a bad idea to grab whichever one is offered that looks acceptable to you then rotate around internally. There's huge opportunity for internal transfer and the majority of jobs below SCS are advertised to existing civil servants only so you'll have much more chance to find the right role once inside. Don't worry about how long you feel you have to stay in the first role. There's huge internal churn across policy departments in particular (it's a massive institutional failure) and people commonly stay in roles for very short amounts of time. Equally though be aware that you might think you're working in the role you applied for but really you'll be picked up and moved around in whatever way suits the organisation. This has its pros and cons. You're unlikely to be bored, lots of chance to develop new skills and learn, probably means people advance more quickly. But if you're the type of person that finds that stressful it's worth being aware. DLUHC has had a lot of structural change in last two years.

I would also bear in mind there's a reasonable chance of a change in government in next 18 months or so which might change the vibe. Everything I just said might still be true, or it might feel totally different - who knows!

quicknamechangeforthisone · 10/06/2023 10:25

I think this is highly dependent on area. I work there and am really happy, and know others who’d say the same.

Quveas · 10/06/2023 11:04

You know that when things like funding pots are late it's almost never anything to do with civil servants and everything to do with ministers and politics, right? And that the civil servants will have been briefing for months (or years!) saying WE HAVE TO GET THIS OUT?

Yes, of course I do. But that doesn't negate anything that I said - when civil servants haven't a clue what the rules are that they are supposed to be applying, can't answer essential questions, are harassing partners to spend in impossible timescales and issuing "threats" on behalf of their employers, that is a significant stressor and cause of turnover. And that is why my friend hates the job. It doesn't matter whether you are a civil servant or a factory worker - if your employer is chaotic, incompetant, and clueless, then the job will take a toll on the employees who are still expected to deliver "something" without the tools to do so.

ecuse · 10/06/2023 14:05

Quveas · 10/06/2023 11:04

You know that when things like funding pots are late it's almost never anything to do with civil servants and everything to do with ministers and politics, right? And that the civil servants will have been briefing for months (or years!) saying WE HAVE TO GET THIS OUT?

Yes, of course I do. But that doesn't negate anything that I said - when civil servants haven't a clue what the rules are that they are supposed to be applying, can't answer essential questions, are harassing partners to spend in impossible timescales and issuing "threats" on behalf of their employers, that is a significant stressor and cause of turnover. And that is why my friend hates the job. It doesn't matter whether you are a civil servant or a factory worker - if your employer is chaotic, incompetant, and clueless, then the job will take a toll on the employees who are still expected to deliver "something" without the tools to do so.

100% agree 😁

IncomingTraffic · 10/06/2023 14:14

I have experience of several different departments. My experience of one part of DLUHC has been absolutely dire. A complete absence of leadership - the SCS seem to be MIA. Pockets of utterly toxic culture. Impossible to deliver anything because the various G7/6 team leads (who all think they’re far more senior and important than they are) are too busy fighting petty turf wars and trying to control who knows what.

All central government departments are dysfunctional. In different ways. But I would not choose to work in DLUHC based on my experience of them.

IncomingTraffic · 10/06/2023 14:21

And yes, there are problems with the ministers and the inability to progress legislation.

But I have been looking at eminently deliverable stuff (in no way contingent on policy achieving anything) that is completely thwarted by the dysfunction between teams at G7/6 level. The amount of tax payer money that is literally being wasted because of petty politics with no discernible stakes to anyone looking in is very depressing.

IncomingTraffic · 10/06/2023 14:24

That’s petty office politics by the way.

Not actual politics (also a mess).

kmoon10 · 15/07/2024 12:10

Hi all

Just found this thread on Google and have a question about mat leave at dluhc or MHCLG as it is (again) now! I’ve worked in a no of depts as a contractor (perm in the past) and I know mat leave can differ in terms of length of service amongst other things across departments.

Is anyone working there currently that can helpfully advise me what the specific maternity policy is please? I want to know specifically about the 12 months of service and whether this applies or not in this department, and if so what date does it count from

Thank you in advance! :)