Temporary council work... official MoneySavingExp...

[MSE Lawrence]

This is a special discussion as part of the

Boost Your Income

article, all about

Temporary council work

which is part of the Work, work, work section

Please feel free to add your comments, suggestions or questions

Just click reply

[lynzpower]

A couple of really good ones for upping of income with the local councils.

1) the census- yes, its not due yet- but when it is its a good little spinner, basiclaly door knocking adn getting people to fill out the census. you have a patch you get paid for each survey returned. I think I got a few hundred out of it last time.

2) working with elections - ballot watching stuff like that, manning polling stations, and counting. Our local councils pay about 10-15ph ( london) if you already work for the local council as well, sometimes they allow you to have EXTRA annnual leave to "help out " the electoral registrations teams

Exam invigilation is also a good one for adhoc work ( again seasonal) always advertising on gumtree/ jobcentreplus website for these.

[Frugaldom]

You can also apply to register as a temporary relief worker through Education, Social Work & Community Services. Once accepted, your 'contract' does state that the council cannot guarantee you work, but it is always another 'string to your bow' and there's usually work available during school holidays. It does take a couple of weeks for payments to reach your bank, so this isn't a quick-fix solution, but it can earn you a decent residual income over the year, especially if you include unsociable hours and weekends. I can highly recommend it

[Katgoddess]

We use qualified nursery workers for our crèche bank in the Children's Centres. They are mainly teaching assistants, ex childminders and childcare workers who want a few hours during term time.

Also electoral registering. Similar to the census mentioned above.

[Reacher]

I am currently working for my local council's electoral office as an 'Electoral Canvasser'. This involves visiting about 250 local properties who haven't returned their electoral registration form. I have to visit between 19-28 October and help people fill in the form (unless there are any major changes, it usually takes less than a minute as it is mostly pre-printed with last year's info). I will get paid £40 to attend a 1 hour training session, £10 travelling expenses, £10 phone expenses (you would only use the phone to call the Council offices with any queries), £20 for 2 hours' admin work and £10 per hour visiting houses (we are allowed to work up to 28 hours). For safety reasons, you are not allowed to enter houses and the council will have someone working through the weekend and evenings in the offices for any queries etc. Obviously this involves working weekends and evenings when more people will be at home.

As far as I know, it is now the law (from last year) that this has to be done every year.

I have also done electoral counting in the past. I have always enjoyed this during general elections although you have to work into the early hours of the morning, it it a good atmosphere with all the candidates and local tv and radio there. However local elections can be a bit of a drag with a lot of waiting around for voting slips to be delivered from the polling stations. However you are getting paid to sit around! I might try and put my name down for a polling clerk next year as it is good pay but a lot of people want to do it.

I am a Council employee although my job doesn't involve anything to do with the elections office. I usually find out about these jobs through our work email. However, I do know that the Council also employs outside people (including a lot of retired people) but I have never seen the jobs advertised. I think people must contact the elections office and ask for their name to be put down.

[Arwen]

They do put their name down with the election office.I was a polling clerk in the May elections and got £145 after tax for being sat on my backside all day. Read a good bit of my book that day as well.

[tigger462]

So what department would i write to at my local council and what sort of thing would i need to say - like do you send a CV or just state you are willing to help in vote counts etc?

[pennyfrog]

I'd really like to know too.....!
Is there a form we need to ask for?

[bigturnip]

There should be a section about working at elections on your local district council website, normally www.<yourdistrict>.gov.uk. Most have an a-z index of services and it will come under something like electoral services

[A little stressed!!]

Are we due a vote soon??

[welshasiancheapskate]

Originally Posted by A little stressed!!

Are we due a vote soon??

yes we are-May 1st/2nd if I am right.
I had applied for doing temp work for postal vote counting/polling station clerk etc.
I never got chosen for any of tehm as they only give priority to employees of the Council.

[Techno]

2nd of May in Wales - would think rest of UK is about the same time

[mrs.maverick]

Originally Posted by Techno

2nd of May in Wales - would think rest of UK is about the same time

Actually the election is on !st May, but I expect it to go well into the 2nd(I'm a candidate!)

[I'mcomingbackasaman]

Every council has an electoral registration office. If your interested in counting on the night of the local/general elections you'd need to apply about 2 months before hand. It's £52 here in pie eating country. (sorry murph to mention pies!)

[dmg24]

Originally Posted by Tellmenow

You can start up a home based business. This will help bring in additional income.

Spam. Reported.

[Li0nhead]

Originally Posted by Tellmenow

You can start up a home based business. This will help bring in additional income.

So the local authority will pay me to start a home based business...... If your going to spam a thread at least spam a thread you have read the title of. idiot.

[Techno]

Originally Posted by mrs.maverick

Actually the election is on !st May, but I expect it to go well into the 2nd(I'm a candidate!)

I'll be a bit late then going on the 2nd
Where are you standing Mrs M North, South or Mid?

[Iain M]

Although there are some local council elections this year, the next countrywide elections are for the European Parliamentary elections on Thursday 4 June 2009.

Polling staff will be required that day (polling hours for all elections are 7am to 10pm), but in addition staff will be required for the count, which is divided into two tasks:
a) the verification count which involved counting the number of ballot papers in the box as compared to the number reported as having been issued by the polling staff. Depending on the decision of each Council's Local Returning Officer this task will either be from 10pm on Thursday 4 June or from 9am on Friday 5 June;
b) the actual counting of votes by candidate/party will be on Sunday 7 June from 6pm – this is to ensure that any declaration of result in the UK occurs after the close of polls across Europe and avoids any chance of influencing voters in other countries.

Ahead of the polling day the council will also be looking to employ people during normal office hours to both issue and receive postal votes.

To register your interest in election work you should contact the Elections Office at your local council as they will start allocating jobs from now onwards– don’t leave it until May or you would probably be too late for the June elections. If you are not sure of the contact details for your local office you can find out by entering your postcode on this website http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/

It is important to note that if you are not employed by your Council that you would be a new employee, and Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 requires all potential employees to provide documentary evidence to confirm their eligibility to work in the UK. If you wish to be employed at elections you would need to show originals of the following items:

A valid passport or a full birth certificate;
Plus
Proof of National Insurance number (e.g. P60, P45, payslip, correspondence from Inland Revenue, etc.)

These cannot be copies. If you are anxious about sending the items through the post you could call and book an appointment at your local Elections Office and take in your documents and at the same time register your interest in any election work.

[weaver33]

Just an added thought to resurrect this thread...

How about traffic enumeration?...

I used to count cars for Hampshire County Council and got paid £90+ per 12 hr survey.

I think you contact the environment/traffic section of your local council.

Does anyone know of any other casual bank work for the council...

[Nosht]

I heard last week that the General Election is to be 6th. May.

N.