27674 - Governance and Standards Manager

£30,258 - £36,178
1
12 Months
London
London
10 SOUTH COLONNADE LONDON, E14 4PU
HEO
PB HEO Inner London
Permanent
Full Time
Governance, Operational Delivery

About the Parole Board:

The Parole Board is an independent court-like body that is responsible for carrying out risk assessments on prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released into the community. We do that with great care and public protection is our top priority.  

All Parole Board decisions are solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release. Not all decisions Members make are popular, but they make these decisions fairly and objectively.

The Board is made up of about 100 members of secretariat staff based in our London Head Office and approximately 250 Members who make decisions on risk and hold hearings at prisons around the country.

The Parole Board is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. Staff who work for the Parole Board Secretariat are Public Servants and not Civil Servants.

About the role:

This is an exciting opportunity to take a lead role in maintaining and improving standards at the Parole Board.

The Governance and Standards Manager will support Parole Board governance by managing and coordinating the activities of the Review Committee, Standards Committee and Joint Review Panel; the maintenance of standards by investigating and responding to complaints made against Parole Board members; and the development of a continuous learning environment by collating and disseminating learning points and themes relating to member practice and conduct.

The Governance and Standards Manager will also be responsible for managing cases referred to the Board by the Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service Serious Further Offence Team, analysing data and statistics on request, ensuring any high-profile cases are managed appropriately.

This role provides excellent opportunities to:

  • Work closely with senior stakeholders, particularly judicial, independent and specialist (psychologist/psychiatrist) Parole Board members.
  • Work with external stakeholders such as Criminal Justice colleagues.
  • Gain experience in an environment of continuous improvement.
  • Manage business critical and high profile workstreams.

Information about the committees:

The Standards Committee is responsible for identifying and advising on issues relating to the accreditation, competence, appraisal, performance, deployment, support and development of Parole Board members. It also has a longer-term objective to develop and promote high standards of practice across the whole of the Parole Board and facilitate effective communication and collaboration on these matters between members, senior management and Secretariat staff.

The purpose of the Review Committee is to ensure that the Parole Board has arrangements in place to review its decisions to release offenders on parole licence and on temporary licence where the offender is alleged to have committed a Serious Further Offence. The Review Committee sits outside of the formal Parole Board management structure and its members include external colleagues from the wider criminal justice system, to retain its independent scrutiny role.

The Joint Review Panel is a stakeholder group that identifies learning in cases where there is further offending after release.

Person specification:

The job holder will need:

  • Excellent interpersonal skills to deal with challenging situations and build relationships with key stakeholders
  • Excellent communication, verbal and written, skills
  • Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to plan ahead and effectively manage a workload with competing priorities
  • The ability to analyse and summarise information in a relevant way for different audiences
  • The ability to work responsibly in dealing with confidential/sensitive information, maintaining and enhancing the reputation of the organisation.

Main Duties:

  • Support the preparation and facilitation of the Standards Committee, Review Committee and the Joint Review Panel, including the recruitment of committee members; commissioning and preparation of papers and reports as necessary; attending the committee meetings; taking the meeting minutes and overseeing the actions to ensure progression.
  • Manage the review and escalation of the Serious Further Offence cases’
  • Support other governance committees as required, sharing relevant information.
  • Investigate complaints relating to member conduct and/or practice and compile responses for referral to the designated person for ratification prior to being issued.
  • Monitor and report upon the complaints process and outcomes, making recommendations where appropriate.
  • Identify, collate and analyse sources of learning relating to member practice and conduct, and from Parole Board quality assurance processes.
  • Provide reports on learning points/themes, ensuring that they are disseminated to the membership in an engaging format and are used to inform the development of member guidance, the Quality Assurance Framework and learning & development activities.
  • Attend national and regional meetings and events which may require occasional travel and overnight stays.
  • Provide leadership support and direction to the Governance and Standards Officer.
  • Actively contribute to your function’s business plan and organisational policies.
  • Role model management and professional behaviours in line with the Parole Board’s vision, values and competence framework.
  • Other tasks appropriate to the role as assigned from time to time by Line Manager and Head of Function.
  • Undertake these responsibilities in line with current legislation, local and national policies, and the key documents listed below.

It is essential that you have:

  • Strong written and oral communication skills
  • Strong analytical skills
  • Strong planning and organisational skills

It is desirable that you have:

  • Experience of minuting committees or meetings
  • Experience of complaints investigation
  • Understanding of the parole process
  • Experience of working in the criminal justice system

Behaviours:

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

  • Communicating and influencing
  • Delivering at pace
  • Working Together
  • Making effective decisions

Security:

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Check.

Selection process details:

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Strengths.

At the sift stage, you will be assessed against Behaviours and a statement of your suitability for the role

As part of the interview, there will be a thirty-minute written assessment.

Any persons successful in gaining an interview will need to bring in photographic ID, and two items which prove address dated within the last 3 months. Failure to do this may result in the successful applicants offer being withdrawn.

As part of the interview, there will be a thirty-minute written assessment.


The Parole Board offers a range of benefits:


Annual Leave


Generous allowances for paid holiday starting at 23 days per year, and rising as your service increases. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 2.5 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.


Pension


The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.


Training


The Parole Board is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.


Support


A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.


For any moves across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to carry on claiming childcare vouchers


Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.


Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.


Networks


The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.


It is anticipated that the interviews will take place the week commencing 5th August 2019.

22/07/2019, 23:55 hours.

If you require any assistance please call 0845 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@sscl.gse.gov.uk Please quote the job reference - 27674.

If you have any queries regarding the role please contact the Member Development and Practice Team by email MDPTeam@paroleboard.gov.uk or call 0203 880 0885.

To apply for roles in MOJ you will need to confirm your employment history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why. 

For some roles you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC), Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC/SC/DV requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3/5/10 years prior to the date of application (The level of checks that are required are stated in the advert).

If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:

  • You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
  • You were studying abroad
  • You were living overseas with parents

In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account.

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

if you feel that your application has not been treated in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance

We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.


Application form stage assessments

Behaviours
Working Together - word limit
Delivering at Pace - word limit
Making Effective Decisions - word limit
Communicating and Influencing - word limit
Experience
Statement of Suitability - 500 word limit

Interview stage assessments

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.
Behaviours
Making Effective Decisions
Communicating and Influencing
Strengths may also be assessed at interview but these are not shared in advance.
Additional Assessment(s)
Written Exercise

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

· UK nationals

· nationals of the Republic of Ireland

· nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

· individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

· Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

This Vacancy is closed to applications.