DERRY has received a jobs boost today with the news 20 posts are coming to the city.
Communities Minister Paul Givan has announced that his Department has secured a £8million contract from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to deliver services to claimants in Great Britain.
The contract will provide 170 jobs in the North of Ireland, and will be delivered from offices in Derry and Ballymena.
The Ballymena office will get the majority of the jobs with 150 located there, and the remaining 20 jobs will go to the Lisahally Service Centre which currently already provides services to DWP.
While a number of the posts will be filled in the first instance through internal NI Civil Service redeployment, it is expected a total of 150 posts will be filled through external recruitment and recruitment agencies.
The Minister made the announcement during a visit to DWP headquarters in London.
Minister Givan said: “This new contract is the second to be secured by my department this year on behalf of DWP and underscores their confidence in the quality skills and service our staff in Northern Ireland consistently deliver.
“Providing services to Great Britain on behalf of DWP is now a core part of my department’s business.
“I am confident the new contract will provide excellent opportunities at the sites in Ballymena and Derry.”
The contract is for an initial two year period at £4million per annum.
The average salary will be in excess of £19,000 for the 170 posts which will be mainly administrative grades.
The posts will assist in the delivery of Universal Credit and the Benefit Cap across Great Britain on behalf of DWP, and are expected to be fully operational by the autumn 2017.
This is the second major contract to be secured by the Department for Communities, with an announcement earlier this year of 280 jobs to provide additional services to DWP commencing in 2017.
One hundred additional staff have been recruited to date.
