The truth: they're on their knees even by their own statistics
Remember the debate on here as to whether there were 'parked vacancies' in the call centres, and the existing staff were being overloaded, and subject to stress that was proven to lead to mental health problems?

The initial thread, which i can't find any more

then here:
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/695140?condense_co...false
Here's the answer, from the council's website:

http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Advice-Benefits/B...us.en

Anyone who has ever worked in a call centre knows what these figures mean: in a word, crisis.

38 days ON AVERAGE to make a decision on new claims, only 73% in 7 days or under (a crap target in the first place)

29 days ON AVERAGE to update a claim, only a third updated within the generous target of 14 days.
So, if you're benefits went up because you were working less hours or taken a pay cut - wait a month to get the money you need to compensate.
Or, if you're benefits went down because you were earning more, the council will overpay you for a month then send you a shitty letter about how you've taken too much and you have to pay it back NOW.

Only 12% of calls answered in 50 seconds. Again, anyone who's worked in a call centre knows the story behind that number: the bosses have given up trying to get anywhere near it.

The bosses decide to let people wait longer on hold (or gamble on the callback service being within an hour of when the predicted time), take a totally unacceptable time to process claims, and then boast they only make a mistake on 4 out of every 100!

No wonder people are pissed off with the service they are getting. And who gets the grief from them? The managers who made the decisions, or the supervisors who enforce them? No chance, you can't 'escalate' a call unless you have the bailiffs at the door.

The people who get the grief are the poor frontline staff, who i have always found to be really helpful in the circumstances. They get the stress from claimants stressed out by bad service. They get stress from their supervisors refusing to take escalation calls. They get stress from the constant mountain of calls to take, and the cuts in 'down time' that that means. All this stress, in a job that is already recognised as one with a high risk of staff developing poor mental health.

And why don't we get the staff 'whislteblowing' on here? Because the council has made it clear that anyone who talks gets disciplined or sacked.

ALL THIS IN OUR NAME. All approved by councillors (unless they want to come on here and make it clear they don't?)

At least the customer service points work well - so why have they just closed a load of them?