Whats the s.p.?
A few weeks ago i asked for information about the situation in the council call centres. Cllr Rogers responded with info on Care Direct, whose workforce had not been cut, and had no vacancies, and so were doing well.
I have a strong feeling that the situation is not the same for the housing benefit and council tax call centres, which i think are based in whitchurch? Cllr Rogers said he would find out details but has not yet responded.

I am convinced that the council is deliberately creating 'parked' vacancies in the call centres that they are not filling on purpose, in order to provide jobs for some employees who's departments will be victims when the ConDems politically motivated cuts start to bite.

Having worked in a call centre myself for many years, and having worked in centres that were deliberately understaffed, i know the horrendous stress this puts on workers who are already employed in a very stressful job. The fact that private profit-hungry companies do this is horrendous enough. The idea that a public council would do it would be deeply shocking.

The Health and Safety Executive published a report on call centres and found the following:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr169.htm

"Conclusion to Question 1: Is working as a call handler more stressful than working in
other jobs?
Overall, based on the current data, the answer to this question is yes. The risk of mental
health problems is higher for call handlers and job-related well-being is lower,
compared to benchmark groups in other occupations."

"In answer to question 3, we found call handling is made stressful for a call handler when they
· have a high workload;
· are unclear about their work role;
· cannot make full use of their skills;
· have conflicting role demands. "

So, increasing workloads (less staff, same amount of calls = higher workload) means that staff in an already stressful job are deliberately being put under even more stress, creating a severe strain on their mental health, by a PUBLICLY ELECTED LOCAL COUNCIL.

And what of the staff that may be transferred into the call centres, from other non-call centres roles they held in other areas of the council?

The effect on them will be even worse. Anyone who has worked in a call centre knows that the most tragic sight is that of the old-school employee, usually 50+, dedicated to their role, trying to offer the same level of service and humanity as they used to in their old role. They have no chance, as they name of the game is not serving the customer, it is taking the call, clearing the queue, minimising wrap time, eliminating idle time. They end up losing the things that made their work, and lives bearable – their pride in their work, and their own self-respect, as team leaders half their age tell them they are 'not hitting targets'.

This causes stress depression and even suicide, as shown by the France Telecom scandal in France last year.

The idea that a publicly elected council could be contemplating doing such a thing to its employees is disgusting, and should be fought by anyone who claims to hold council employees in high regard, such as Cllr Rogers.

Of course, this may not be the case. The overdue freedom of information request put in by Bill Wren may come back as showing that call centres are working as they should, without adding stress to an already stressed workforce.
Cllr Rogers may come back with information about the grade of service targets and realities that similarly show there is no problem, and like Care Direct, there are no 'parked vacancies'.

The council may not be planning to transfer in staff who have no experience of the stress of call centre work, from other departments savaged by ideologically driven cuts.

If this is the case, no one will be happier than me to proved wrong. As I've said, i've seen with my own eyes what happens in those situations, and I would gladly take a bit of egg on my face and be proved wrong if it doesn't happen.

If it DOES happen, however, if this IS being planned, then everyone involved, including every councillor who agrees it, should be treated with the same contempt that they show to their fellow Bristolian council workers.