[Politics] Tory meltdown finally arrived [was: incoming]...

[Nobby Cybergoat]

I haven't got much to add except to say that, as a long-term lazy arse slacker, I have found it equally easy to be unproductve at work or at home.

The main difference being that when I slack off at home it usually inolves something relatively positive, like going for a walk or doing some baking. Whereas at work it involves leaving a work related document on my screen whilst staring out of the window and day dreaming about Victoria Cohen-Mitchell, a hot tub and game of trivial pursuit with forfeits*.

I should also note that I've rarely if ever had a bad review, never been sacked and always left work with good references. Which suggests that I am either a consumate bullsh*tter or that my actual value is not directly tied to the number of hours spent tapping at a computer. LIke many others (and unlike all those people who actually do/make real stuff), I have a bullsh*t job and if I didn't do it, hardly anyone would notice and the world would be much the same place. So maybe it's time drop the victorian era obsession with the protestant work ethic and chill a bit about how people arrange their lives and choose to get their work done.


*this may be a little niche, but I bet I'm not the only one.

I'm hoping the thumbs up speaks volumes

 

[Audax]

DVLA and a potential 15 week wait for a passport shows that WFH shouldn’t be used in all settings, these are two important documents.

If the department can’t run properly they need to be back in the office full time

I'd argue that actually shows a dysfunctional department, and is not necessarily about WFH vs office based working. It *might* be a WFH issue, or it might be something completely different. This article suggests that while WFH was a factor (there are some parts of the work the DVLA does that cannot be done from home), it was not (and remains not) the primary factor. It actually sounds to me like shifting to a predominantly WFH system, with only those who need to be office based expected to be office based, might actually make the DVLA a lot more efficient and resilient in the future.

 

[Marty McFly]

DVLA and a potential 15 week wait for a passport shows that WFH shouldn’t be used in all settings, these are two important documents.

If the department can’t run properly they need to be back in the office full time

I'm in the middle (I hope) of my 15 week wait for a passport. Entirely my fault as I'd booked my holiday before checking the date on my passport. Sod all to do with them WFH

It’s shouldn’t be that long of a wait though.

The home office advice last year was don’t apply as the staff are WFH

Not sure if applying from overseas is different, but my 'standard' application has taken five weeks from application to receiving the passport at my door.

ALSO: Long time follower of this thread, surprised my first post is about passports/WFH and not the ineptitude of that **** Johnson.

 

[Audax]

I haven't got much to add except to say that, as a long-term lazy arse slacker, I have found it equally easy to be unproductve at work or at home.

The main difference being that when I slack off at home it usually inolves something relatively positive, like going for a walk or doing some baking. Whereas at work it involves leaving a work related document on my screen whilst staring out of the window and day dreaming about Victoria Cohen-Mitchell, a hot tub and game of trivial pursuit with forfeits*.

I should also note that I've rarely if ever had a bad review, never been sacked and always left work with good references. Which suggests that I am either a consumate bullsh*tter or that my actual value is not directly tied to the number of hours spent tapping at a computer. LIke many others (and unlike all those people who actually do/make real stuff), I have a bullsh*t job and if I didn't do it, hardly anyone would notice and the world would be much the same place. So maybe it's time drop the victorian era obsession with the protestant work ethic and chill a bit about how people arrange their lives and choose to get their work done.


*this may be a little niche, but I bet I'm not the only one.

This prompted me done a little pathway of thinking, which boils down to:

- In many jobs, paying "by the hour" is an outdated concept.

Yes, there's absolutely still jobs (eg factory work) out there where productivity is directly relatable to hours worked. And for those jobs, carry on paying on an hourly rate.

But in the modern world, there are also a lot of jobs where productivity is *not* necessarily linked to hours "worked". At the end of the day, does my current employer care if I do my full 37 hours per week or 35? The answer is "no, not particularly ... as long as you're achieving what we need you to achieve". For some people, working fewer hours could be more productive than pushing them to work a "full quota". The concept of "burn out" is real, and the point at which people enter burn out varies from one individual to another.

If Employee A achieves maximum long term productivity by working 35 hours across 4 days, why should they be paid any less than Employee B who is equally productive doing 40 hours across 5 days? Similar concept for WFH vs Office based: Employee A might be most productive when working from the office, while Employee B is more productive WFH.

As an employer (and this includes you, JRM!) I would hope the priority is on maximising productivity from your staff while having the minimum impact on their lives (thus helping your employees towards a better work/life balance). For me, that means flexibility in the work environment and recognising that your staff are not one singular collective "resource" to manage but actually a conglomerate of varying individuals.

 

[mr sheen]

I imagine that the people processing passports are following a fairly regimented process, the majority of applications going straight through, and that nearly all of the process is digital. Wherever they sit. And that therefore its relatively easy to measure a drop in productivity and output. Which I am sure the government would be quoting to back up their back to the office drive if the figures existed.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I'd argue that actually shows a dysfunctional department, and is not necessarily about WFH vs office based working. It *might* be a WFH issue, or it might be something completely different. This article suggests that while WFH was a factor (there are some parts of the work the DVLA does that cannot be done from home), it was not (and remains not) the primary factor. It actually sounds to me like shifting to a predominantly WFH system, with only those who need to be office based expected to be office based, might actually make the DVLA a lot more efficient and resilient in the future.

I have no idea how it works, processes of getting forms etc to the staff processing it - so It’s guess work - but I would think there would be at least some hold up in the postal aspect of getting this sorted? Or at least a couple of steps added in scanning/sending off the details to the WFH staff, not sure if there is a way around this?

The company I work for is ending WFH for some areas due to people taking the piss (which is a people issue ) and DPA breeches

 

[A1X]

I like the idea people presumably think the people WFH are printing off the passports themselves at home and then not bothering to wander to the post office for a week to help cause the delay, rather than the overwhelming likelihood that they're all working on an automated computer system which is simply being overwhelmed with an onslaught of requests after people neglected the renewal of passports for two and a half years or so.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I like the idea people presumably think the people WFH are printing off the passports themselves at home and then not bothering to wander to the post office for a week to help cause the delay, rather than the overwhelming likelihood that they're all working on an automated computer system which is simply being overwhelmed with an onslaught of requests after people neglected the renewal of passports for two and a half years or so.

People were told not to apply due to WFH staff.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

I'm in the middle (I hope) of my 15 week wait for a passport. Entirely my fault as I'd booked my holiday before checking the date on my passport. Sod all to do with them WFH

I had to apply for a new passport at the back end of last year when I realised my old one was just about to expire. It was standard application, and I received the new passport within a week.

My son-in-law is a civil servant working for HMRC. Obviously there is nothing in the way of documents people might need urgently there. ..... or at least not to the sme extent as a passport or a driving licence. But he would say that - or even says that:
1. he and his department are actually more efficient working from home.
2. If everybody in his department turned up at the office at the same time, there would not be enough desks/space for all of them.

Having worked in an office environment 40 years ago where flexitime was used and I had to reconcile the clock times and so on, I am convinced people respond to being trusted. Someone out to send J R-M on a management training course.

 

[Audax]

I have no idea how it works, processes of getting forms etc to the staff processing it - so It’s guess work - but I would think there would be at least some hold up in the postal aspect of getting this sorted? Or at least a couple of steps added in scanning/sending off the details to the WFH staff, not sure if there is a way around this?

The company I work for is ending WFH for some areas due to people taking the piss (which is a people issue ) and DPA breeches

If you read the article, it says that 80% of DVLA transactions are handled online, and that side of things continued smoothly during the Pandemic. It was the other 20% that caused issues, but that was partly down to actually not working at all for the early part of lockdown, UK / Wales differences in rules and poor coordination, Shapps meddling and causing strike action, etc. if what's presented in the article is true, the problems at DVLA were mostly unrelated to WFH. And where they are/were related to WFH, a large portion of those problems are simply because the DVLA wasn't set up to enable WFH. They do have some specific challenges that are likely to continue to require office-based processing, but that's a small percent of the total workload and advance planning, flexibility in handling those office-based processes could smooth things if they ever found themselves in a similar position again.

As an example: by enabling and facilitating WFH where that is efficient they could significantly downsize the Swansea office. With the savings generated, they could potentially open duplicate offices elsewhere in the UK as well - segment up the country so people who do need to send paper documents in do so to their nearest office instead of everyone sending to Swansea. They'd probably still be saving money overall if the number of offices was kept small (Wales, Scotland, and ... Liverpool or Birmingham maybe). Then if any one office finds itself unable to process on-site, they have the option of diverting their mail to another office. And, with smaller offices only used for specific purposes, they could design those offices to minimise the risk of ever needing to close them in future using what they learned during the pandemic.

Honestly ... I don't see much in the DVLA example that backs up JRM.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I renewed my daughter's passport recently. Took about 2.5 weeks from start to passport arriving. Fine.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

I renewed my daughter's passport recently. Took about 2.5 weeks from start to passport arriving. Fine.

I applied for a global health card a month ago and still nothing

Sent from my SM-A326B using Tapatalk

 

[Bob!]

Tory Councillor resigns in Raab's constituency.

Disses local and national Tories, advises people to vote LibDem.

[tweet]1519101131640684545[/tweet]

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Tory Councillor resigns in Raab's constituency.

Disses local and national Tories, advises people to vote LibDem.

[tweet]1519101131640684545[/tweet]

fair play, the more rational members have started to jump ship

 

[zefarelly]

fair play, the more rational members have started to jump ship

Fair play indeed.

I'd be very surprised to see that from any of the snakes round our way. They like their bread buttered thickly

Having said that the tide, I think/hope, is turning. The councils will fall/change soon. then I want to see Laughton in the mud where he belongs.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I applied for a global health card a month ago and still nothing

Sent from my SM-A326B using Tapatalk

Did you do online using your old EHIC? I got mine back within two weeks last year.

 

[rippleman]

I had to apply for a new passport at the back end of last year when I realised my old one was just about to expire. It was standard application, and I received the new passport within a week.

My son-in-law is a civil servant working for HMRC. Obviously there is nothing in the way of documents people might need urgently there. ..... or at least not to the sme extent as a passport or a driving licence. But he would say that - or even says that:
1. he and his department are actually more efficient working from home.
2. If everybody in his department turned up at the office at the same time, there would not be enough desks/space for all of them.

Having worked in an office environment 40 years ago where flexitime was used and I had to reconcile the clock times and so on, I am convinced people respond to being trusted. Someone out to send J R-M on a management training course.

Well he would say that wouldn't he!!

As someone who deals with HMRC on a daily basis I can absolutely assure you that is total BS.

A helpline that was invariably answered within 3 rings now takes 10-15 minutes to be answered. Correspondence that used to get a response in 4-6 weeks is now taking 3-4 months. I had an acknowledgement from HMRC yesterday thanking me for my "recent contact". My letter was dated 8 December 2021 - so HMRC now deems over 4 months to be "recent".

I have been dealing with HMRC for decades and never has the service deteriorated to such an appalling level.

As a former civil servant myself (Customs & Excise and Inland Revenue) we were trained that we were there to "serve the public". Now it is a total farce.

 

[Jim in the West]

My experience dealing with HMRC over the last couple of years (sorting out my father's estate) is that anything in writing takes months and months to sort out, whereas if you call them you generally get a knowledgeable, polite individual who sorts it in a matter of minutes. Obviously there are times when the wait on the phone can be a pain, but last week my call was answered within a few rings.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

A law breaking governement with death on their hands.

[tweet]1519254890236813312[/tweet]



[tweet]1519261194091171843[/tweet]

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Well he would say that wouldn't he!!

As someone who deals with HMRC on a daily basis I can absolutely assure you that is total BS.

A helpline that was invariably answered within 3 rings now takes 10-15 minutes to be answered. Correspondence that used to get a response in 4-6 weeks is now taking 3-4 months. I had an acknowledgement from HMRC yesterday thanking me for my "recent contact". My letter was dated 8 December 2021 - so HMRC now deems over 4 months to be "recent".

I have been dealing with HMRC for decades and never has the service deteriorated to such an appalling level.

As a former civil servant myself (Customs & Excise and Inland Revenue) we were trained that we were there to "serve the public". Now it is a total farce.

You ignored part 2 where the Civil Service properties have been sold off or leases dropped, in the name of austerity from 2010. There aren't enough desks for everyone to work in an office.