85529 - Investigation Triage and Support - Caseworker

 Position: Investigation Triage and Support (ITAS) Caseworker

Company: Office of Public Guardian (OPG), Supervision and Investigation Services (SIS)

Location: Hybrid working between home and either Embankment House, Nottingham or Victoria Square House, Birmingham. Some travel between either site may be required.

Grade/Salary: £22,940 - Administrative Officer (AO)

Contract Type: Permanent

Overview  

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) protects people in England and Wales who may not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves, such as about their health and finance. We are an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), set up in 2007 following the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act of 2005.

OPG is responsible for registering lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and enduring powers of attorney (EPA) and supervising deputies who are appointed by the Court of Protection.

Job Description, Duties and Responsibilities

Investigation Triage and Support Caseworker’s are responsible for reviewing concerns that come into OPG and risk assessing them accurately and in a timely manner, determining whether OPG has jurisdiction to investigate, or whether the concern needs to be signposted to other appropriate external bodies. You will undertake the most appropriate and timely action to safeguard an adult at risk.

You will ensure concerns raised about the way in which attorneys are exercising their powers are correctly progressed and/or resolved promptly and effectively. This may involve providing administrative support to OPGs investigations team including inputting financial data and gathering information such as Land Registry searches and Life Event Verification (LEV) checks.

You will gather the relevant information for each case, liaising with colleagues, external partners, and other agencies as appropriate including care homes, concern raisers and local authorities. This will involve communicating via telephone calls and written letters/emails.

Primary duties include:

• Risk assess all concerns in accordance with the OPG SVA Policy, and instructions from senior staff, contributing to team and unit achievement of published and internal Impact Indicators to Risk Assess 95% of concerns raised within 2 working days and signpost or close off within a maximum of 5 working days.
• Consider whether concerns received are valid and suitable for investigation in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.                                   
• Where OPG jurisdiction to investigate does not exist, ‘signpost’ safeguarding concerns to appropriate external bodies such as social services accurately logging the same, working to the IIP and internal standards.
• Notify relevant Local Authorities via a Safeguarding Adults at Risk referral to instruct/inform; providing accurate information within information sharing protocols to enable them to action in relation to concerns received regarding vulnerable adults.
• Contact relevant parties of a case to obtain information, including concern raiser, local authorities, and care homes.
• Identify, categorise, record, and correctly prioritise concerns that require safeguarding activity, and conduct appropriate and relevant enquires to determine if the OPG have grounds to investigate.
• Continually update the safeguarding case action records/administrative records to provide an accurate and complete picture of enquiries made, decisions reached and reasons for those decisions.

General Duties:

• Provide administrative support for staff investigating alleged abuse of donors of lasting and enduring powers of attorney, including obtaining GP information, land registry and bank information for donors as necessary. 
• Manage daily workload in accordance with published Impact Indicators. Prioritising work appropriately, seeking guidance and support from team leader/EO as necessary.
• Bring issues in relation to administrative functions which present a risk to IIP achievement to the attention of the team leader/EO.
• Monitor and maintain inboxes and databases including updates and issue resolution.

Record-Keeping, Data Security and Statistical Analysis:

• Acknowledge and adhere to statistical deadlines and act on directions from team leader as necessary to help maintain internal data collection.
• Take personal responsibility for compliance with the OPG record keeping policy.

Develop and maintain a culture of excellent service delivery and continuous improvement:

• Proactively look for ways to improve service delivery, and work with OPG Change Management processes to suggest and introduce improvements.
• Participate in and promote a culture of safeguarding awareness and support and contribute to the aims, objectives, and performance of the OPG, your division and team in an environment of continuous improvement.
• Offer insights and recommendations based on evidence and experience.
• Maintain a pro-active and positive approach to the work.
• Take responsibility for own learning and development.  Regularly review your performance record to assess your strengths and areas for development and work with your manager to identify learning opportunities.
• Participate in evaluating and improving your own performance.
• Undertake other administrative duties as required or as implemented due to team leader direction, continuous improvement activity or major organisational change.

Quality:

• Ensure all work produced is accurate and provides the correct information.
• All communications must be written in plain English. Telephone calls must be carried out in a manner which is professional and attendance notes maintained.

Support for Team Leader and for other OPG Teams:

• Carry out ad-hoc tasks as delegated by the team leader and support other areas of the OPG as required.
• Contribute to regular case review meetings, team information briefings and team discussions to share expertise and experience and to promote a system of peer review and discussion.

Diversity and Equality of Opportunity:

• Positively embrace and demonstrate diversity and equality of opportunity in all areas of work.

Health and Safety:

• Take responsibility for own health and safety for the safety of others and abide by OPG Health and Safety procedures.

Other Duties:

• Undertake any other duties associated with the skill set of this post.
• Maintain a positive and constructive attitude towards ad hoc tasks.
• Ensure you alert your manager to any training or support required to carry out additional tasks.

Location:

• Applicants should apply for a suitable post where they can travel to and from their home office location daily within a reasonable time.

Hybrid Working:

• In SIS we offer hybrid working. This is subject to business needs and satisfactory performance and it’s a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement while your office will be your contractual place of work. Hybrid working is available pro rata for part time staff.

• All new starters in ITAS are required to attend the office full time (37 hours per week) during the first 4 weeks of training. Following those initial weeks, you are expected to continue your training and consolidation in the office but any arrangements for part time working can commence.

• We require part time staff to commit to at least 22:12 working hours per week as a minimum.

Skills & Qualifications

Essential:

• Ability to manage and prioritise your own workload to meet objectives.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word.
• Basic knowledge and confidence of Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to identify and analyse relevant information from a variety of sources to support decision making.
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to deal with people at all levels with good written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work flexibly and at pace to deal with the changing nature of the work.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act and Code of Practice

Application Process

This recruitment will follow the Civil Service Success Profile process.

Candidates will complete an online test.

Interview Process

If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview which will be assessed against the Success Profile criteria. At interview candidates should expect behaviour, experience, and strength-based questions. The Civil Service behaviours assessed at interview include the following:

• Delivering at Pace (Level 1)
• Communicating and Influencing (Level 1)
• Making Effective Decisions (Level 1)

The candidate should also expect strength-based questions at interview.

All interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams.

Reasonable Adjustments:

At OPG we are committed to ensuring our workplace remains diverse and inclusive place to work. We want to help you demonstrate your full potential whatever type of assessment is used. If you require any reasonable adjustments for any aspect of the selection process, do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

For further information on benefits of working for OPG, such as our Flexible Working Policy and a FAQ, please check the candidate information pack attached to this advert.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, we may offer you an alternative role at the same or lower grade should one be available.

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com 

Please quote the job reference - 85529.