Axe to fall on nearly 300 Serco jobs

OUTSOURCING firm Serco has announced nearly 300 job cuts at its customer service centre in Bolton.

The move has been forced by the reduction of child maintenance cases Serco manages on behalf of the Department of Work & Pensions.

Staff were being briefed on the news today.

It means the customer service centre on Manchester Road, which has 1,000 full time and part time workers, will reduce in size with the possible loss of 190 permanent jobs by the end of March 2016.

Bosses have said all temporary assignments on the contract will also end, with a further 100 temporary staff set to be affected.

“Serco hopes to achieve some of the overall reduction in permanent roles by not filling vacancies and, where possible, redeployment,” a spokesman said.

“Separately, the company will also end all temporary assignments on the contract. Staff are being briefed on the changes today and a formal consultation process will be launched in the next few weeks.”

Serco currently manages more than 140,000 cases each year, but this figure has been steadily reducing as DWP works to close all legacy cases by January 2018.

Separated families are now being supported to put new arrangements in place, either through Family Based Arrangements or through the Statutory Scheme managed by the Child Maintenance Service from various locations across the UK.

Serco will provide a reducing service at Bolton until the end of 2017 by which time all cases currently managed by the company will have closed.

Garry Robinson, Serco customer services director said: “I am incredibly proud of the team in Bolton. It’s thanks to their hard work and dedication that Serco is able to support the DWP for a further 21 months and continue to help separated families with their child maintenance arrangements.

“However, as our overall caseload reduces, we sadly need fewer people to manage the service.

“We will give our full support to those affected over the coming weeks and months. We know how important our Bolton office is to the local economy and we will be doing everything we can to secure its long-term future.

“For example, we are working with Bolton Council to mitigate the impact and will continue to pursue new opportunities as they present themselves.”

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