Business

Additional 125 public sector jobs to be created in Derry through new £7m contract

The £7 million secured by the Department for Communities (DfC) with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will deliver Universal Credit services to claimants in Great Britain
The £7 million secured by the Department for Communities (DfC) with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will deliver Universal Credit services to claimants in Great Britain The £7 million secured by the Department for Communities (DfC) with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will deliver Universal Credit services to claimants in Great Britain

A LUCRATIVE £7 million pound government contract is to create an additional 125 public sector jobs in Derry.

The major two-year deal secured by the Department for Communities (DfC) with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will deliver Universal Credit services to claimants in Great Britain, with the posts due to be in place at the Lisahally Service Centre by the end of 2017.

While some of the posts will be filled in the first instance through internal redeployment, it is expected that a large proportion of the posts will be filled through external recruitment.

The contract is for an initial two year period worth just over £3.5 million per annum and follow previous DWP contracts announced in September and December 2016, worth a combined £20 million. Those posts were based at the Derry service centre and the department's Ballymena operation.

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities said:

“This is good news for DfC and for Northern Ireland, bringing to 594 the number of new jobs secured by the Department over the past year to deliver DWP services.

"This third major contract for DfC is testament to the continued confidence DWP has in our capacity to provide high quality services for customers in Great Britain."

The Department for Communities currently employs approximately 1900 staff providing services to claimants in Great Britain on behalf of DWP.