Homelessness Reviews Officer
Crawley, West Sussex
Temporary – 3 Month Initial Contract
Full Time, 37 hours
Immediate Start
Basic DBS Required
Our client, a local authority based in Crawley, is looking for a Homelessness Reviews Officer to start immediately. The main purposes of the role are:
to be responsible for the statutory independent reviews function in relation to the Housing Act 1996 (as amended) Part VII homelessness decisions, ensuring that decisions are consistent with the council’s statutory responsibilities.
ensuring that outcomes are linked to service improvement, training, coaching and mentoring of staff across the housing options teams.
To implement the statutory reviews provisions of homelessness legislation, taking account of relevant Codes of Guidance, case law and policy. The post holder will require comprehensive and expert knowledge of housing functions and related law and statutory guidance, sufficient to handle legal challenges.
To generate income into the service through the completion of s202 Reviews and Training for other local authorities.Please note, the successful candidate must have demonstrable experience of undertaking S202 reviews (all types), excellent communication and significant experience in homelessness
Duties:
To carry out thorough enquiries and investigations of complaints, reviews and legal challenges under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended), ensuring that decisions made are fully compliant with relevant legislation, up to date case law and policy, and are issued within targets and statutory timeframes.
To log and update all stages of all work carried out on the relevant IT systems
To contribute to service improvements, working with all team members, and in particular with the Housing Options Team Leaders, by assisting with MP enquiries, stage one complaints and completing statutory reviews, adopting a customer friendly, problem solving approach to prevent further escalation and resolve at the earliest point of contact.
To provide coaching and mentoring to staff to deliver the statutory requirements of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and ensure consistency and robust decision making across the team
To provide training as appropriate on all aspects in relation to the Council’s statutory duties under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended)
To work closely with the Council’s Legal service in relation to s204 County Court Appeals, attending court where necessary and liaising directly with Counsel where appropriate
To be responsible for the collation of and required redactions of case files which are requested as part of Subject Access Requests and copy homeless file requests working with the Council’s Data protection Officer
To make decisions on the Local Authority’s discretion to provide, extend or cancel interim accommodation pending a homelessness review or appeal decision when such a request is made. This includes the writing of Mohammed case law letters to advocates and solicitors or responding to Mohammed case law letters.
Respond to any legal challenges, including threats of Judicial Review, relating to duties owed and/or decisions made in accordance with the Housing Act 1996 (as amended). In conjunction with the Housing Options Manager, instruct the Council’s Legal Services regarding legal challenges against the Council.
If you are interested in this position and meet the above criteria, please send your CV now for consideration. If you require any additional information regarding the position, please call Alex at Service Care Solutions on (phone number removed) or send an E-Mail to
