Ministerial Correspondence Officer Leeds, England
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About the job
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Things you need to know
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Location
About the job
Job summary
About SOLS:
Across Solicitor's Office and Legal Services (SOLS) we provide legal services to the whole of HMRC. This includes:
The conduct of independent reviews of decisions made by HMRC which are requested by customers under the legislative provisions.- The conduct of tribunal and civil litigation on a full range of services.
- Work on new legislation.
- Drafting of statutory instruments and other legal documents.
- Legal advice to ExCom and staff.
We also provide technical accountancy and forensic services to HMRC, are head of the Compliance Accountants’ and Insolvency Professions as well as handling Ministerial Correspondence and Freedom of Information requests for HMRC.
Role of the team
The team has a crucial role in influencing and quality assuring the writing style of the department as well as identifying key correspondence trends and building statistical data for stakeholders. The team also handles operational correspondence sent to the Treasury.
Job description
Duties include:
- Team inbox management and post count
- Open, date stamp and count hard copy post
- Registering cases – including the task of creating and sending acknowledgements
- Action cases transferred in/out from other government departments
- Triaging cases in preparation for registration
- Action urgent cases and chasing emails
- Update spreadsheets with new and updated contact and business information; share details with team colleagues
- Prepare draft packs up with returned draft letters for signature by Chief Executive and Director General’s, pass to the Officers to proofread and action
- Update and maintain spreadsheets with daily work delivery; host morning team meetings, liaising with team members to effectively allocate daily work.
Other work:
- Provide admin support to Officers, Quality Officers, Data Analyst and Operational Manager where appropriate
- Provide cover for the team on early/late rota
- Provide cover and support to the Freedom of Information and Policy teams which includes registering cases
- Support Private Offices with queries and any other work
- Liaise with business areas to coordinate a response within 15 days
- Ensure that phone calls/enquiries from MPs, taxpayers and business areas are answered promptly and effectively and escalated to Team manager as required
- Share any lessons learned with colleagues at team meetings or by email.
Person specification
This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need, so please take into account the advertised office locations for this role when submitting an application and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.
HMRC welcomes applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, taking into account our operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer
There may be a need to travel across the UK with occasional overnight stays being required and there may be a need for occasional travel for business purposes.
This vacancy is only available at the specified locations, alternative locations are not available.
Your office location is contractual so if you are successful, there is an expectation that you will attend that office location as required by the business. You need to consider how you will meet this requirement before you apply and discuss any concerns with the vacancy holder before accepting any role.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Managing a Quality Service
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
SOLS use the Success Profiles framework for its recruitment. Your application will be assessed against the Experience and Behaviour elements of the framework. The Behaviour and Strengths element of the framework will be tested at interview.
Your application will include:
- A CV detailing work experience in the last 3 years and other relevant experience.
- A 250-word Personal Statement on what can you bring to the role and why you are suitable for the role.
- A 250-word Behaviour Statement on Making Effective Decisions.
- A 250-word Behaviour Statement on Managing a Quality Service.
Selection will be by sift and (if required) interview.
In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will assess the lead behaviour ‘Making Effective Decisions’.
Those applications progressing to a full sift will be assessed using the CV, Personal Statement (The CV and Personal Statement will be given a combined score) and Behaviour Statement Managing a Quality Service.
Candidates who are successful at the sift stage and progress to interview will be interviewed online (Microsoft Teams). Interview dates to be confirmed.
The interview process will include Behaviours (Making Effective Decisions and Managing a Quality Service) & Strengths-based questions. Full details will be provided to those candidates invited to interview.
Start dates may not be agreed straight away but this will be discussed further with successful candidates.
We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.
A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Eligibility
To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact [email protected] as soon as possible.
Diversity and Inclusion
At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.
Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.
For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values.
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
The Civil Service runs a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Locations
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.
Security Update
For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks.
All Criminal Record Checks applications are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
Further Information
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process.
Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.
Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk
Problems during the application process
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact [email protected] at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.
Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 311392 & vacancy closing date 20/09/2023. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.
For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
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)
- 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
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
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