Prisoner Casework Specialist Caseworker

Salary
- £35,182

Number of jobs available
- 1

Detail of reserve list
- 12 Months

Region
- London

City/Town
- Croydon

Building/Site
- 1 RUSKIN SQUARE CROYDON, CR0 2WF

Grade
- EO

Organisation Grade for HMPPS
- Band 4

Post Type
- Permanent

Working Pattern
- Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working, Other

Role Type
- Administration / Corporate Support

Will the successful applicant have line manager responsibilities?
- No

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced drafter to work at the heart of Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service at our HQ in Croydon. Our Prisoner Casework unit is a dynamic, high-performing team that handles a wide variety of urgent, sensitive work. You will be given full training and mentoring to enable you to assume the responsibilities of this specialist role. A confident communicator, already adept at building excellent relationships with stakeholders, this post will offer you the opportunity to develop those skills to the highest level. This is a rare chance to learn about every aspect of the work of HMPPS, to contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders and to protect the public we serve.

Applicants should have experience of drafting to a high standard in a work or university setting. Applicants will be required to complete a written task at the interview.

We reserve the right to sift on just the lead competency - Communicating and Influencing - if we get a large number of applicants.

**Overview of the job**

The Public Protection Casework Section (PPCS) is placed within the Public Protection Group (PPG) of the Community Interventions Directorate. The post of Prisoner Casework - Casework Specialist in Prisoner Casework within PPCS is not operational, although the business objectives of PPCS are focused on delivering frontline public protection and prisoner casework on behalf of the Prison's Minister and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The Prisoner Casework - Casework Specialist role involves drafting a wide range of correspondence within a team that handles approximately 4,500 pieces of correspondence and casework each year from across the whole prison estate. This includes:

- A broad range of general correspondence (Ministerial, CEO and Treat Official) in respect of determinate and indeterminate sentence prisoners.
- Reviewing governor adjudications and the penalties awarded in respect of determinate and indeterminate sentence prisoners.
- Investigating and responding to queries from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, ensuring that recommendations are implemented within the specified timescale.
- Responding under the Data Protection Act to requests for information from other governmental departments, such as the Home Office and the Department for Work and Pensions.
- Responding to correspondence from Inside Times, including drafting responses for publication.

The job holder will report directly to the Team Leader (Band 5), who in turn reports to the Deputy Head of Prisoner Casework (Band 7).

**Summary**

There are no line management responsibilities with this post.

The job holder's responsibilities involve managing a correspondence caseload on a day-to-day basis. The job holder is expected to have or develop strong generic casework skills and a good understanding of how establishments function. Given that they often need to draw upon the support and input of policy colleagues across HMPPS HQ, they need to develop an excellent knowledge of the work of HMPPS HQ and policy groups and be able to network effectively.

The work involves liaison with a number of stakeholders, including prisons and the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, to solicit information that will ultimately be used to draft replies to correspondence. All of the work requires the ability to meet tight deadlines, organise and prioritise casework, and strong drafting skills.

Responsibilities include the drafting of precise and accurate advice/correspondence to Ministers and senior officials on a wide range of matters relating to individual prisoners in public and private sector prisons. Subject matter includes, but is not exhaustive to, security categorisation and transfer, visits, access to education and offending behaviour programmes, regimes, lost property, safer custody and health care issues.

The post holder is also responsible for caseworking around 2,500 adjudication reviews in accordance with Prison Service Instructions, ensuring that there are systems in place to monitor performance and ensure that business targets are met.

The post holder will deal with sometimes complex and sensitive cases relating to individual prisoners. They will draft articles for publication in Inside Times.

There are challenging targets to ensure that casework is completed within the deadline (which will vary depending on both the type of correspondence and work).

The job holder will be expected to build and