UUP get DCC to act on job applications

As a result of the intervention by the Foyle UUP Constituency Association, Derry City council has asked the Job Centre to make hard copy application forms available at all its centres for council posts in future.

“When it became clear from contact with a constituent that forms for this vacancy were only made available at the Asylum Road Job Centre, we became concerned and contacted the Human Resources at Derry City Council,” said local party Chairman Terence Wright.

“It was also reported that the vacancy had not been advertised at the Job Centre in Lisnagelvin but we have been unable to verify this as at the time of checking the job had already closed.

“The staff members in Human Resources at Derry City Council were helpful and responsive but there remains lack of clarity as to the reasons for the situation as it developed due to there being discrepancy between the version of events from the Job Market and Derry City Council,” he added.

Mr Wright said that whilst the situation has been addressed the UUP remains concerned as to the circumstances of how this came about and will be seeking assurances that checks and balances are built into the system to ensure that there is no repetition.

“Vacancies need to be made available and allocated on a fair, transparent and equitable basis. No other standard is acceptable.

“It is now our understanding that the vacancy is to be advertised throughout the Derry City Council area and that application forms will be made available at a more than one Job Centre,” he said.

A spokesperson for Derry City Council explained that it uses the services of the Job Market to advertise Council job recruitment opportunities across all its networks in Northern Ireland.

“It is normal practice for job application forms to be distributed by post or email by the Job Centre and to date, this has been successful for Council.

“Printed application forms are traditionally only available at the Job Centre’s main local office at Asylum Road.

“In light of this incident, Derry City Council has asked the Job Centre, in addition to their normal service to make printed application forms available at all its centres in the Derry District for Council posts.

“To facilitate this particular applicant the Council has also extended the deadline for this post for a week. The Council spokesperson added that remains committed to equality and transparency,” the spokesperson said.