Strategy Directorate

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 229101**Salary**:

- £30,817 - £33,899**Grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- HO - Delivery**Type of role**:

- Investigation**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time**Number of posts**:

- 5Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Stoke-on-Trent Melbourne HouseAbout the job

**Summary**:
The first duty of the government is to keep citizens safe and the country secure. The Home Office plays a fundamental role in the security and economic prosperity of the United Kingdom.

We are the lead government Department for immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime, counter-terrorism, fire services and the police.

The government and the Home Secretary have set out four People's Priorities for the Home Office, which are to:

- restore confidence in the criminal justice system
- attract talent and take back control
- protect homeland security
- advance Britain’s place in the world

Windrush has shone a light on ways in which the Home Office must do better. Our values send a clear message, both internally and externally, about what is important to us as an organisation. In all we do we should be respectful, courageous, compassionate and collaborative.
- Respectful - We treat everyone fairly, respecting individual perspectives and valuing and embracing our differences to create an inclusive environment.
- Courageous - We are outward looking and professionally curious, testing new ideas while encouraging challenge and being bold in our pursuit of delivering outcomes for the public.
- Compassionate - We act ethically, with honesty, care and sensitivity, seeking to understand the realities and perspectives of the people we serve to build trust and confidence.
- Collaborative - We work as one team, listening to and supporting each other and our stakeholders, working across boundaries to improve outcomes for the public.

**Job description**:
An Independent Examiner of Complaints (IEC) is being appointed as part of the Home Office response to Recommendation 20 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review report.

The IEC will be supported by a team of civil servants, the Office for the IEC, which will sit within the Home Office Strategy Directorate.

The IEC service will give customers who have exhausted the Home Offices complaints process the opportunity to have their complaint independently reviewed.

The IEC team will undertake a range of duties to support the IEC function including initial assessment, investigation and resolution of complaints, and the production of management information, thematic and data analysis to support wider learning. The team will also engage with colleagues from across the Department and beyond, to ensure learning is translated into practical improvements.

Our HEO Investigators undertake paper based, case specific investigations, into complaints in cases where the complainant has exhausted the Home Office complaints process and remains dissatisfied with the outcome. Investigations may be complex and lengthy.

The role of the Investigator is to determine what happened, identify what should have happened and highlight any unremedied service failures. Any unremedied service failures can be addressed by agreeing settlement actions with the complainant and the Home Office, or through the production of a comprehensive, detailed case history which will allow the IEC to adjudicate on the merits of the complaint.

The role will suit those with a high degree of focus, an enquiring mind and the ability to provide an excellent customer service, whilst managing a heavy caseload in order to meet tight deadlines.

**Responsibilities**:
- Regular dialogue with complainants and the business area complained about to gather information to assist their investigation.
- Analysing complex information from complainants and the business area complained about.
- Identifying scope to settle complaints at the earliest opportunity.
- Agreeing actions to address the complaint to the satisfaction of the complainant and the business.
- Ensuring the completeness and accuracy of the evidence they have gathered as part of their investigation, to ensure the Independent Examiner has sufficient information to allow them to reach a fair and balanced conclusion.
- Drafting closure letters and/or a detailed account of their investigation and proposed conclusions for consideration by the Independent Examiner.
- Attending case conferences with the Independent Examiner, to present detailed explanations of case events and support them in making their findings and any recommendations if appropriate.
- Proactive approach in sharing insight to help the wider IEC Team understand emerging trends, which will enable them to help the Home Office drive forward improvement activity.
- Managing an active caseload of between 11-15 investigations, whilst meeting challenging quality standards and p