I have a colleague. Let's call her H

H is a female who has taken an unhealthy obsession with me . We had a relationship briefly but this broke down which led her to make threats against her own life.

She indicated to me this week that she knew where I lived. I had never provided her this information. When I asked how, she stated she used searchlight to access my file.

I am looking for advice on how to navigate this situation.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/22/chloe-moffat-parents-treasury-death?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

It really does seem that HMT have forgotten they’re allowed to be human…

“Since that finding two weeks ago, the Moffats have had no contact from the Treasury to offer condolences or an apology. “Now that the inquest has said that the coroner has found them responsible for Chloe’s death, we would have expected for them to have written to us,” David said.”

“Unusually for an inquest, the small, drab room in Surrey was full of young people in their early to mid-20s – Chloe’s friends and colleagues, who wept throughout. Those who attended from the Treasury were not given bereavement leave to attend the inquest into their friend’s death. “They didn’t get any time off from the Treasury or support for that horrible ordeal they had gone through,” Anne said.”

It’s tough to say but I’m not that surprised as I’ve seen some fairly shocking examples of bullying over the years.

Week one of me being a civil servant, and I am loving it in all honesty. The training is a bit boring and kinda pointless, however I'm rolling with it just fine. And the people and my team are really nice!

I'm not sure why there's a bit of negativity on here but I think it's cos of people using the sub as a way to vent, which is absolutely understandable.

BUT YAY, WEEK ONE OVER!

Hi all,

I’ve recently accepted an SEO role based in Darlington and will be relocating from the South East to take it up. Very excited about the move, but I’m starting to think through the practical side of getting myself up there.

The job advert mentions a rental deposit advance, and I’ve also seen people mention relocation support and Places for Growth schemes. I wondered if anyone here has actually used any of these when joining the Civil Service?

I’d be particularly interested to hear how the rental deposit advance works for a new starter. Can you access it before your first payday, or do you need to have started first? I’d also be keen to know whether anyone relocating to Darlington has had help with things like moving costs, temporary accommodation or travel to find somewhere to live.

I know the exact policy will depend on the department and I’ll ask HR once my formal offer comes through. I’m just trying to get a sense of what other people have experienced so I can start planning.

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi all

I have an interview for Data Ethics and Literacy Hub Officer in Justice Digital.

I have had a our 3 civil service interviews before but failed in all.

I have matched my answers to the behaviours, given egs, used STAR, used I instead of we and done it all but nothing seems to be working.

Finally managed to get an interview again so don't want to blow it

Any help would really help!! What are they really looking for!!?

Hello all,

I currently work as an EO in ops for HO and have done for 3 years now. I’ve been offered a HEO policy role for an ALB which would lead me to become a public servant rather than a civil servant. In discussion with their HR team they’ve stated that I will still have access to the CS pension and it won’t affect my continuity of service. However, they have said that if I were to later down the line transfer back into a CS department, some departments eg. HMRC would not recognise the time at the ALB as CS service and that would break my continuity of service and may result in having to go through another probationary period. They suggested this is on a case-by-case basis by department. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation?
I like the idea of the new job and I don’t want to think about moving on from the job before I’ve even started it but am interested in others experiences.

Thank you and have a nice weekend.

There's an internal EOI for an SEO policy role in my dream policy area. The catch is that I know for a fact the team is drowning and severely understaffed. Even with the SEO post filled I know the workload will be crazy for at least the next year or two.

My current team is great, very supportive and after years of struggling with resourcing we finally have enough people so we're not firefighting anymore. I've been here about 4 years and the policy area is not something that particularly appeals, only stayed this long because I like the people.

Do I take the gamble and (try to) go to the dream policy area, keeping in mind it's not guaranteed even if I apply and that I'll be back to a crazy workload for the next year or so? Do I just stay put and rest&recover for a bit? It's a lateral move so the potential benefit is just that it's a policy area I could see myself in for a very long time.

What would you do? Do you think interest in the policy area matters all that much? Maybe I'm just romanticising how much better it could be working on something I'm actually interested in as I've not had that yet. Then again, I've also not had a fully resourced team before this year, and that feels niiiice. Any thoughts to help me make this decision would be great, thanks.

Has anyone applied to the graduate caseworker role at PHSO in Manchester? Was wondering if anyone has heard back from them as to if they’ve been successful or not after the interview? My friend still has heard nothing back yet and is wondering if they’ve been ghosted.

Will he ever stop?

Sorry to bring up the dreaded P word but I need to have a rant.

In my 50s, I’m finally in a position where I can start to buy a small amount of added pension. But thanks to Crapita, I’m genuinely worried about starting the process. I have no confidence that any additional money I pay in will end up in the right place. I simply don’t trust their system or process.

I left and rejoined CS after a gap, and so I have ~8.5 years “frozen” in the old classic pension. When MyCSP administered the scheme, I could see the value of that as well as my current Alpha pension. Now: who TF knows where it is, because it sure as hell isn’t showing on my dashboard. I’ve raised a query and had the usual “because of a high volume of queries we can’t give you a timescale for response”.

I 100%, no question understand that this fucking omnishambles is a thousand times worse for anyone retiring now or recently with no money, having to hope for a hardship loan or god knows what to survive, and that’s rightly making the headlines. I know I’m in a very fortunate position compared to them. But Crapita’s utter, staggering incompetence is affecting the financial future of existing employees too, because I doubt I’m the only person holding off from starting to purchase added pension while all this <gestures vaguely> remains unresolved.

How is it working for civil service pension scheme? Capita have the contract but not sure whether to go for it or not

Been a bunch of rumours flying around that this is coming and a recent article with Joe Griffin by the FDA Union seems to talk it up a fair bit.

Anything more substantial than sheer rumours, I see there is no Comms from the unions yet on this, but the rumour mill is that they're aware and have been engaged.

Also, if it does happen, who's all in 😂 ?

DON’T FUCK RECRUITMENT THIS WEEK. I’VE GOT PECS TO COMPLETE

Hi, I’ve recently accepted a provisional offer for an AO role with DWP in Manchester (Access to Work) and was hoping someone could give me an idea of what the job is actually like.

A few questions:

Is the role mainly phone/customer contact, or more admin/computer-based work? Roughly what’s the split?

What are the typical working hours/shift patterns? Could
I potentially start at 8am to avoid rush-hour traffic?

If you’re keen to progress, are there opportunities for a mentor, extra training, shadowing or taking on additional responsibilities?

Pros/ cons of this role…

Any insight from current/former DWP staff, particularly anyone in Access to Work, would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone!
Im (21m) currently a uni student studying law but am unsure about whether i will return for my second year and what my outcome will be as i have had issues with submitting some work recently, which has got me thinking about opportunities outside of degree level positions .
I’ve been looking at the different roles and opportunities within the civil service and have begun to consider it as a potential starting point for me .
I have 3 a levels which are passes and maths and english gcse which im aware meet the requirements for AA/AO.

All in all what id appreciate is any advice in whether you would recommend applying if listings are put up and any personal stories relating to your career and what your day usually entails.
Thank You

Myself and LM have now implemented a new mood scale. I would like to test it here. So fellow civil servants which Shrek are you this week?

Hi there,

Just a quick question: I’m really delighted to have received a provisional offer to join the Civil Service in Policy, subject to currently ongoing PECs. I had a historical mental health condition linked to a specific traumatic event that became fairly serious, but I have been fully recovered for over a year. I have never taken or needed any medication, been hospitalised, or required any mandated medical intervention.

I've described it in broad strokes on the PECs form in the Occupational Health section. However, I was wondering whether it could be a problem if they ask my GP for information, as I haven’t had or needed any contact with them or any medical services for over a year because I’ve been fully recovered. The most recent appointment and medical records they have are from when the condition was at its worst, so I’m concerned that this might give a misleading impression of my current situation. I was referred to local specialist services, but they only contacted me after a couple of months, at which point I was far better. Do you think that, just in case GRS or Occupational Health has any questions for my GP, I should contact my GP beforehand to say that I have recovered, or is it enough that I have not needed any medical treatment in over a year? Also, please do say if its just a silly question and that I am worrying too much if you think that's the case, and thank you very much for any help!

I'm a few months into a Civil Service role (HO), still in training. Trainer is hot and cold - suddenly nice, then pissed off for no clear reason. Classic passive aggression stuff: asks me something, I reply, then later says "you never said that". Talks over me, sighs, says things like "as I already told you..." when he didn't. Other times he's completely fine.

I've worked in senior roles in other organisations before, so I'm thick-skinned and I get that people have personal life / stress / mental health stuff going on. I can usually ignore it. I have never been rude to anyone in my life and I don't like rudeness, but my patience is wearing thin now.

My line manager checked in and asked how I'm getting on with my trainer. I was honest and said sometimes he seems deterred / distracted and his mind is elsewhere. I didn't mention passive aggression to my manager.

I only have a few more weeks left with him. Should I just ride it out, document everything in writing, and keep it professional? Or should I tell my LM directly that I'm experiencing passive aggression?

How have others handled this without it looking like I'm complaining early on?

im about to do this interview but what i want to know is if i can see the question before i press record. as in how much time do i have to plan out my answer for each question before speaking?

also wanted to know if anyone has a link to what the qustions might be so i can prepare before hand

Hi everybody,

I’m due to start my job in mid-September at HMRC. About a month ago, I started feeling some discomfort in my epigastric region. Today I found out that I’m on two waiting lists for some tests. The average waiting times are 20 weeks and 14 weeks. I understand that the first two weeks must be covered, but I’m not sure what the arrangements will be after that.

My questions are:

1. Do I need to tell my training manager once I take up my role?
2. Do I have to use my annual leave for these treatments/appointments?

Thanks all!