Fixed Penalty Notice Officer(Attendance)

Job Title: Fixed Penalty Notice Officer(Attendance)
Starting Salary: £26,835 progressing to £30,060 per annum / pro rata
Hours: 37 hours per week and 18.5 hours per week
Location: Hertfordshire
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Childrens Services

We have a part time vacancy in East Hertfordshire (18.5 hours per week), and we have a full-time vacancy in West Hertfordshire (37 hours per week).

About the team

The Statutory Attendance Support Team are a strong established team with statutory responsibilities and expertise in relation to school absence and are a core part of Hertfordshire's strategy supporting the Department for Education (DfE) agenda in making attendance everyone's business.

The team works with children, young people, families and schools supporting, removing barriers and ensuring access to education. We are currently recruiting for 1 full-time position supporting West Herts and 1 x 0.50 position supporting East Herts.

The role sits within the Statutory Attendance Support Team which covers responsibilities for school attendance, penalty notices, school aged employment and children in entertainment.

About the role

• To ensure the Local Authority fulfils its statutory duties to in relation to Penalty Notices for unauthorised absence from school on behalf of schools, academies and relevant Local Authority staff in accordance with the Local Authority's Code of Conduct. This entails having a thorough understanding of the legislation governing Penalty Notices and the ability to be able to explain this to all stakeholders involved.
• This entails having a thorough understanding of the legislation governing Penalty Notices and the ability to be able to explain this to all stakeholders involved.
• Prepare and issue Penalty Notices on behalf of schools, academies and Local Authority Attendance Officers once they have been authorised as meeting the Code of Conduct.
• Ensure the Local Authority's Code of Conduct in respect of Penalty Notices is implemented effectively, working in conjunction with key staff in schools, academies and wider attendance team.
• Provide advice and guidance to schools and academies in the correct implementation and ongoing use of Penalty Notices.
• Be able to have difficult and challenging conversations with parents/carers.
• Monitor and track the progress of Penalty Notices, prepare cases for prosecution where notices remain unpaid, and it has been agreed by management that there is no reason why prosecution should not be pursued.
• Use software packages such as Microsoft office to prepare letters and documentation according to local procedures and statutory requirements.
• Update and manage computer databases, provide reports and compile information as required.

About you

Essential:

• You will be able to interact with confidence and credibility with a range of colleagues, professional teams and with schools and parents.
• You will be able to work with minimal direction and supervision and be able to recommend courses of action to the team manager.
• You will have the ability to implement, maintain and monitor processes effectively and be confident in the use of electronic recording and record keeping.
• You will have excellent organisational skills, good attention to detail and be able to prioritise your workload effectively.
• You will be able to work to strict deadlines to prepare evidence for court including collating witness statements in relation to unpaid penalty notices.
• You will be able to respond sensitively and firmly to parents, by telephone and in writing, who wish to challenge the issue of a penalty notice.
• You will have an understanding of the relevant statutory guidance and the role and responsibilities of the Local Authority as they relate to the use of Penalty Notices for non-school attendance.

Desirable:

• You will be educated to A level standard (or equivalent) and have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

These are examples of what you may achieve and what you will need in the next 12 months:

• You will learn from an experienced and expert team committed to achieving the best outcomes for children and young people in Hertfordshire.
• You will be expected to establish excellent working relationships with all professionals.
• You will learn and develop sound practice through an established induction programme and ongoing professional support.
• You will be expected to have good admin skills to enable you to navigate Children's Services databases and produce professional documents.
• As a service we proactively support a blended approach in working which prioritises outcomes over locations.
• With this flexibility comes better work/life balance, a reduced environmental impact and financial savings.

This job role is within the Corporate Services, level CORP7 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Corporate services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact

Kim.Claridge-Taylor@hertfordshire.gov.uk in respect of the West role and chris.thomas@hertfordshire.gov.uk in respect of the East role.

Interview Date: 19th December 2024

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.