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Critics attack one job offer
Councillor John McCartney
SELBY Council has been slammed for attending a Jobs Fair whilst it had just one job available.
The job in question was the post of lead officer in the authority’s finance department – a position that pays £40,000 a year – and critics have said that this is a position unlikely to be filled by a candidate attending a jobs fair.
The fair was organised by Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams, and took place at Selby College last Thursday. It has been hailed a success, with several vacancies being filled on the day itself – but SDC’s participation has been singled out for criticism.
Eggborough Independent councillor John McCartney raged: “So they went to a jobs fair to advertise one job? Another waste of staff time. Instead of attending this non-jobs fair they could have helping to reduce the appalling ten week wait for dealing with council tax benefit claims, or the planning backlog, or the legal case backlog.
“And what about the jobseekers who attended the jobs fair how did they feel when they approached the SDC stall and asked what jobs were on offer only to be told there weren’t any? It’s pathetic.”
Labour opposition leader Steve Shaw-Wright added: “Its presence looks more like window dressing than anything else – particularly when you look at the nature of the job they had on offer. I would argue that you’re hardly likely to pick up a suitable candidate for that post at a jobs fair which, after all, is mainly aimed at those at the start of their career rather than people at the peak of theirs.”
The council has in the past two years been cutting jobs rather than creating them – last year around 60 jobs disappeared. Although only around 20 of these were redundancies, there were many posts that were not filled following retirement or resignations.
A SDC spokeswoman said: “Selby District Council attended the recent jobs fair advising recruits of one professional vacancy. However it was felt important to use the jobs fair as an opportunity to showcase other potential opportunities which may be available within the council over the forthcoming year. This includes work placements, internships, apprenticeships and graduate placements. We are currently supporting a number of students to gain the experience they need in order to be successful in their specialist area such as planning and policy work. It is our intention to continue this work.”
Currently no jobs are advertised on SDC’s website.
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Weather for Selby
Sunday 26 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South
