Homelessness Prevention Officer

This role will deliver high quality, customer focused advice and support to people in Oldham who find themselves rough sleeping or at risk of rough sleeping. This will include providing housing advice to people in the district and completing investigations into applications from customers who are at risk of homelessness as defined by the statutory duties under Housing Act 1996 Part VII, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and relevant case law.

The successful postholder will provide support to the Council in delivering its statutory homelessness duties by taking homeless applications in an effective manner and ensuring the council is legally compliant, and meeting performance targets and standards.

• To provide a professional and effective housing options interview and homelessness investigation, taking a full application from customers and ensuring duties are carried out at the relevant stages within homelessness legislation.
• To undertake detailed casework with customers who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. This includes an assessment of legal duties owed, housing and support needs, the production of Personal Housing Plans and consideration of all suitable interventions and potential solutions to prevent homelessness.
• To write and issue all required notifications, letters of referral to other authorities where the customer’s local connection lies elsewhere and outcome letters to advise the customer of the outcome of their initial interview. This includes ‘minded to letters’ and the drafting of the statutory s184 notification letters which must be approved by a manager before being sent.

• Good standard of education, including minimum 5 GCSEs at A*-C grade
• Knowledge of the law governing homelessness and an understanding of the current issues in housing
• Experience of communicating complex legal or contentious information regarding the duties owed to households in a format which is understandable to the audience

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:

A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.

We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.

By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.

We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:

• Work with a resident focus
• Support local leaders
• Committed to the borough
• Delivery high performance
• Take ownership and drive change

You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page

At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:

• 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
• The option to purchase additional annual leave.
• An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
• Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
• Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
• Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
• Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
• Staff recognition and celebration events.
• Peer support groups

We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you have lived or worked abroad for 3 months or more in the last 5 years or 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years whilst aged 18 or over, please refer to the link below for details for how to obtain your Certificates of Good Character. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.

If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer, someone who has served in the Armed Forces, or you’ve participated in the GM Elevate Programme, and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.

For details of how we use your data please see our Privacy Notice

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.

Right to Work in the UK from 1st July 2021.doc

Supporting Documents

↗ Job Description & Person Specification

↗ Right To Work