HM Land Registry (HMLR) staff who voted to take industrial action in response to the Government’s directive to return to working in the office for 60% of their working time have said they will not cover for colleagues or take on extra work out of their job description or pay grade from 21st January 2025.
HMLR staff in the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union voted to take industrial action in December which the PCS have confirmed will take effect from 21st January 2025. During this period of ‘indefinite industrial action’ workers will refuse to cover for their colleagues or take on extra work outside their job description or grade say the PCS union.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said:
“Our members at the Land Registry are disappointed the employer imposed changes to their working conditions without prior agreement. We call on management to work with us to find a solution that’s fair and acceptable to our members. It would cost them nothing and might help Land Registry regain some of the goodwill required to make progress in clearing the huge backlogs of work.”
The dispute has come about following a directive for civil service workers to return to the office for 60% of their working time; an attitude the PCS union has described as ‘Victorian.’
The industrial action is also in response to what the PCS has described as the ‘inappropriate use of personal data and having to accept extra responsibilities without extra pay’; an issue it says is in relation to individual personal performance and proposed changes to staff grading and classification which could impact individual performance and potentially compromise the accuracy and quality of work.
Clarifying, the union said under the PCS Land Registry GEC agreed “Data Principles” for the sharing of individual performance data in 2021, individual performance data ‘may be used.’ The union asserts without agreement, HMLR have insisted ‘individual data must be used.’ Adding ‘this will worsen HMLR managers’ overreliance on data to assess performance, without making a reasonable assessment of the complexity of caseloads and other factors that impact on performance, and will only lead to additional pressures for increased output.’
There are also concerns about ‘adequate checks and balances on the accuracy and quality of the work’ which could potentially compromise the Register. Changes to ‘Classification’ would allow staff to carry out work applicable to a higher grade, say the union, ‘breaking with established practices whereby specific areas of work are designated for specified grades. There would be no additional payment for this out-of-grade work, it would disguise the resource needed at the higher grade and would reduce future promotion opportunities.’
In response HMLR said it has recruited more than 1,700 new caseworkers with the agency saying it has started to see the impact of this additional resource but warns land registration skills and expertise take time to build. A spokesperson for HMLR told Today’s Conveyancer
“We do believe that part of people’s training and career development involves being able to demonstrate their potential to take on more complex work with the right level of support and assurance. This both enables caseworkers to build their confidence and capability and enables HMLR to ensure the integrity of the register is maintained.”
Through caseworker dashboards the agency says individual productivity, quality and training needs amongst other information will be available as part of rounded performance conversations with line management. The data will enable the agency to ‘accurately understand our performance at all levels but also aids continued performance improvements, helping to develop and nurture talent and to recognise and celebrate our achievements and successes.’ HMLR confirms at no point will any personal employee data be used as part of that (process) and early pilots have evidenced positive outcomes.
Responding to the PCS union’s latest statement, a HM Land Registry spokesperson told Today’s Conveyancer
“We believe this action will cause minimal impact to our services. We will continue to closely monitor any effects the action may have and respond as needed to maintain essential services that support the property market, such as searches, registrations (including expedites), and customer contact, as we did during previous periods of full industrial action.”
2 responses
Some would say they have been on strike for the last four years?
It might be helpful to put something constructive on here, rather than the usual comments.
The Customer Service teams from a few years ago were brilliant, really helpful and you could speak to the person doing the job. That’s what we now lack. Bring a similar system back so that we can have some proper communication and there would be a much better rapport between lawyers and the Land Registry staff.