CSR/1320/16 - Higher Officer Caseworkers (Tax Professional and Operational Delivery)

I'm a bit pissed off today.

I contacted CSR because the last comms I had from them said pre-employment checks should take 20 working days.
That was 23 days ago and I've heard nothing since, I'm internal so there shouldn't be much to do really.

They told me that they know there is a delay but that another company is doing it, so they can't tell me how long it will be but everything is fine. They also said there isn't a point of contact at the other company so I can't get in touch to check myself.

3 hours later I've received an email from manpower that says I need to accept the offer by replying BEFORE my pre-employment checks start (and it says these will take about 20 working days).

So early today when they said everything was fine, they lied.
Then when I asked if there was a point of contact at manpower they could chase, they lied.

Now it looks like I'll be waiting ANOTHER 4 weeks before my pre-employment checks are completed and I get a confirmed offer.
What an absolute joke.

The exact same has happened to me today. I last heard on 16 September stating i have a provisional offer and that it would take 20 days to carry out checks and they will discuss start dates with my manager. Today i got an email telling me to confirm whether i want to accept the provisional offer so that pre employment checks can be carried out. An absolute shambles.

That sucks! Did you both apply in June 16 when the 1320/16 was launched or have you been added to this campaign from a previous one?

Is any of the existing civil servants able to answer this question about pay in HMRC?

Is the salary that you start on for this campaign your permanent salary or does it increase on a yearly basis? I heard automatic pay progression had ended?

Automatic pay progression has ended. There are slight annual increases in the bandings (ie 1%) but you cannot move up any more.
It has been raised fairly often that the civil service should no longer be allowed to advertise external roles with a salary banding, as it is not possible for someone to get anything but the minimum.

Excellent answer, thanks. It is quite ridiculous that this is the case though.

I applied for the 1320/16 which is the june campaign and received an email to say my checks have been completed and will be contacted in due time for a start date...which i think is November

Hmm, no, that's the email address you were instructed to reply to in order to accept the provisional offer for the 1320/16 campaign!

Most people seem to have received the same email around 16 Sept. Were you keeping an eye on your spam/junk folders like you were advised?

Haven't received any emails from manpower to accept the provisional offer - have checked all spam (just in case).

Status just says "provisional offer" as of 13th September - no further update.

Which location?

Haven't received any emails from manpower to accept the provisional offer - have checked all spam (just in case).

Status just says "provisional offer" as of 13th September - no further update.

I applied for the 1320/16 which is the june campaign and received an email to say my checks have been completed and will be contacted in due time for a start date...which i think is November

I received the same email a couple days ago. I'm applying for Belfast. With regards to the start date someone mentioned the 5th of December. Not too sure if that was a guess or if that person was in the know. However, December would allow more time for people to give their notice.

Someone from a previous campaign had been given that start date for Belfast. They could be the only one starting then, or they could be one of all those waiting from the previous campaign to be starting then, or they could be one of a mixed group of the previous campaign and this campaign to be starting then, or everyone currently with a provisional offer who applied for that office could be starting then. Given how things have been so far, I wouldn't be getting my hopes up until I had a formal offer and a start date!