Inspection Support (HM Inspectorate of Prisons)

HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) for England and Wales is an independent inspectorate which reports on the treatment of, and conditions for, those in prison, young offender institutions and court custody suites in England and Wales, and immigration detention facilities in the United Kingdom. HMI Prisons also inspects Border Force customs custody (jointly with HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) and secure training centres (jointly with Ofsted). By invitation, HMI Prisons inspects some military detention facilities, as well as prisons in Northern Ireland and in other jurisdictions with links to the UK, such as the Isle of Man.

The role of HM Inspectorate of Prisons is to provide independent scrutiny of the conditions for and treatment of prisoners and other detainees, promoting the concept of ‘healthy establishments’ in which staff work effectively to achieve positive outcomes for those detained and for the public.

The Inspectorate’s work constitutes an important part of the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment. This Protocol requires signatory states to have in place regular independent inspection of places of detention.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an Arm’s Length Body (ALB) of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The Chief Inspector of Prisons is a Crown Appointee, while the staff of the Inspectorate are civil servants employed by the MoJ. The established values of the Inspectorate are:

• Independence, impartiality and integrity are the foundations of our work.
• The experience of the detainee is at the heart of our inspections.
• Respect for human rights underpins our Expectations.
• We embrace diversity and are committed to pursuing equality of outcomes for all.
• We believe in the capacity of both individuals and organisations to change and improve, and that we have a part to play in initiating and encouraging change.

Job Description

Inspection Support Officer (AO) HM Inspectorate of Prisons

About The Role

This is a unique post within a small and friendly secretariat team, which principally involves providing administrative support to ensure that our inspections run effectively. Key responsibilities include supporting the Deputy Chief Inspector with managing the current ongoing inspection programme and allocations plan, liaising with a range of internal colleagues, external partner organisations and stakeholders about our inspections and inspection/thematic reports and managing the correspondence sent to our general enquiries in-box from prisoner’s families and friends and other members of the public. The role involves dealing with sensitive material on a regular basis, so a high level of discretion and judgement is required.

The post sits within the secretariat team at HM Inspectorate of Prisons which provides a wide range of services to support the effective delivery of inspections. The post holder will also provide administrative assistance within the Secretariat such as booking hotels and travel for inspection teams and taking minutes at corporate meetings. There will be the opportunity to get involved with other elements of the secretariat teams work and shadowing an inspection. The post holder will be line managed by the Executive Assistant to the Chief Inspector/Deputy Chief Inspector. This post involves working a minimum of three days a week in the office and two days from home.

Grade

AO (Band E)

Responsibilities

1. Support the Deputy Chief Inspector with managing the current ongoing inspection programme and allocations plan, which involves reviewing the plan at monthly meetings and communicating changes to internal colleagues, external partner organisations and stakeholders as required. This involves handling and storing appropriately Official Sensitive documents, crucial to the delivery of HMI Prisons’ core functions.

2. Create inspection announcement letters for Independent Review of Progress (IRP) visits and announced inspections within the appropriate timeframe.

3. Work with colleagues within the secretariat team to arrange travel for inspection teams and the Research Team – including car hire, hotels, flights.

4. Act as secretary to the Equality and Diversity Action Group (EDAG). Understand the objectives of the group and support the Head of Secretariat to ensure that priorities are reflected in the Inspectorate’s Equality and Diversity Action Plan. Provide administrative support to the Chair including confirming meeting dates, organising papers, liaising with attendees, and taking and distributing minutes of meetings.

5. Act as secretary to quarterly meetings to discuss safeguarding referrals in collaboration with safeguarding inspectors. Provide administrative support to the Chair including confirming meeting dates, organising papers, liaising with attendees, and taking and distributing minutes of meetings.

6. Circulate inspection debriefs to HMPPS HQ and other external stakeholders the week after an inspection.

7. Monitor the arrival of action plans from HMPPS, HO and HMCTS after the publication of inspection and thematic reports, save in the relevant file on the shared drive and send to the Research team for monitoring purposes.

8. Keep an ongoing separate list of in-year publications for use at the time of writing the annual report. In liaison with the communications team, circulate the draft annual report and introduction to HMPPS, HO, HMCTS and other in-year inspected bodies, receive factual accuracy responses, and send back replies.

9. Manage the Inspectorate’s public inbox and respond to or pass on correspondence as appropriate, working in collaboration with colleagues within the secretariat team. This involves responding to enquiries, raising safeguarding issues with places of detention, and resolving queries from prisoners, family members of prisoners and other members of the public.

10. Work with the Head of Secretariat and Executive Assistant to the Chief Inspector/Deputy Chief Inspector to draft responses to FOI requests.

11. Circulate daily/weekly briefings from HMPPS to an agreed copy list.

12. Provide cover for the Chief Inspector/Deputy Chief Inspector’s executive assistant post as required.

13. Provide administrative support to the Head of Secretariat as required.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and this list is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to undertake additional tasks of a similar level as required.

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer.

All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 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 Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

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.

Support

• A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

• To Shared Service Connected Ltd (0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

For more information on applying for a role as a candidate with a disability or long-term condition, please see our Disability Confident Scheme Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.