Designated Social Care Officer DSCO

Salary

Soulbury plus 3 SPA points £62,197 - £66,432 per annum

Package

Permanent, full-time, 36 hours per week

Job category/type

Education & Schools

Date posted

21/11/2025

Job reference

R0007139

About us at Hounslow

We'd love you to join us at the London Borough of Hounslow Our people are deeply committed to providing excellent services to our residents, doing all we can to make lives as good as they can be.

We are an outstanding council, serving an outstanding borough. With brilliant, visionary leadership, a dynamic Cabinet and a can-do culture, we've built strong partnerships which have transformed how we serve one of London's most diverse boroughs. Hounslow is the world in one place and full of potential. We are stepping up for our residents like never before.

About our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

We live by five core values: Lead with Heart, Do New, Pass on the Power, Harness the Mix and Be a Rock. All our work has equality, diversity and inclusion at its very heart, best articulated in "Harness the Mix". It's about breaking down barriers between our parts and people and unlocking the problem-solving power of our amazing mix of minds. We serve a diverse community, we have a diverse workforce and we are committed to being an inclusive employer.

We work hard to create representation across our workforce and leadership community, we have thriving employee network groups and our learning and development programmes help us lead, model and breathe ways of working that eliminate inequality, inequity, injustice and bias.

As part of this and under our commitments as a Disability Confident Employer, we make reasonable adjustments to accommodate our candidates. There's space for you to tell us what you need within our application form.

Our Benefits

If you join us, you'll have access to a range of employee benefits. Read more about these here.

About The Role

There are some exciting opportunities to be part of the leadership team within the Access, Inclusion and Participation pillar in the London Borough of Hounslow.

Designated Social Care Officer (DSCo)

As the DSCo you will act as the strategic link between social care and the Learning Support and Assessment (Statutory SEND) team, ensuring that children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive coordinated support across education, health, and care.

Reporting to the Service Manager – Learning Support and Assessment, you will:

• Facilitate strong working relationships between children's and adults' social care, education, and health services to ensure consistent and effective delivery of statutory duties under the Children and Families Act 2014.

• Support the implementation of the local area SEND and AP Improvement work, influencing service development, policy, and practice to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND and their families.

• Ensure that social care input into Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments, plans, and reviews is high quality, evidence-based, and delivered within statutory timescales.

• Provide professional oversight of social care advice and information included in EHC Plans, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and clarity. Oversee the quality assurance of social care contributions to SEND processes, ptomoting consistency and continuous improvement.

• Represent social care at multi-agency panels, EHC decision-making meetings, and SEND partnership boards.

• Work collaboratively with the Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) and Designated Special Educational Needs Officer (DSENDo) to ensure alignment across education, health, and care pathways.

• Support the SEND Service Manager and Head of Service in delivering transformation priorities, service redesign, and compliance with inspection frameworks (e.g. Ofsted/CQC).

If you're a collaborative and knowledgeable Social Care professional, with a passion for inclusive practice and system improvement, we'd love to hear from you

About The Team You Will Be Working In

The Lifelong Learning, Skills & Employment division provides a range of statutory and community services, regulated and non-regulated.

Our vision is for a thriving community where all our residents can engage in and benefit from lifelong learning opportunities - for personal growth, health and wellbeing and economic success.

The division, which sits within the Children's & Adults Services Department, is organised into four operational service areas, each led by a Head of Services, and each contributing to achievement of the Borough's 'limitless' Lifelong Learning Strategy.

About You

As a DSCo within the Access, Inclusion and Participation pillar, you will be a member of our extended Hounslow Leadership Team who play a key role in delivering high-quality, resident-focused services.

You will provide expert guidance, support, and leadership across Hounslow to set high standards for practice and service delivery, ensuring compliance with legal and ethical standards. You will be required to work in a proactive and collaborative way with other Council services and partners to provide expertise to support the effective delivery of service for residents.

Through collaboration with your senior team, and other leaders and stakeholders, you will advise on best practice and offer strategic insights to support the efficient and effective delivery of services, and the development and implementation of critical initiatives. Your role involves training and mentoring staff in your area of expertise and succession planning for roles which require similar levels of expertise.

You will also provide regular updates on outcomes to your Head of Service and Director, and as an effective senior team member, promote a positive, inclusive culture, championing staff development and continuous improvement.

The Access, Inclusion and Participation pillar includes our Statutory SEND (Learning Support and Assessment) function, Specialist Practice & Advice (including the Educational Psychology service), Education Inclusion and Participation function, and the Virtual School.

This role reports to the Service Manager – Learning Support and Assessment within Access, Inclusion and Participation.

As a DSCo, reporting to the Service Manager – Learning Support and Assessment, you will have:

• Qualified and registered social worker (Social Work England registration).

• Evidence of continuous professional development in areas relevant to Social Care, SEND or integrated working.

• In-depth knowledge of the Children and Families Act 2014, SEND Code of Practice (2015), and related statutory guidance.

• Sound understanding of the statutory EHC needs assessment and review process, including legal responsibilities and timescales and social care's role within it.

• Understanding of multi-agency working and integrated service delivery models across education, health, and care.

If you're an innovative, collaborative and knowledgeable Social Worker, with a passion for inclusive practice and system improvement, we'd love to hear from you.

Read more about the work you'll be doing in the Role Profile.

When Interviews Will Be Held And Who To Contact

The key information you need about the role should be in the Role Profile, but if you have any further questions about the role, please contact:

Email:

Interviews for this job will be held during week commencing 5th January 2026.