Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 37 per week
The Revenues and Benefits department are currently seeking two full time permanent Trainee Revenues & Benefits Officer’s to join our busy team to assist with the processing of Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support applications and the billing, collection and recovery of Council tax.
Main responsibilities on completion of training will include:
Interpreting Council Tax and Benefits legislation, ensuring that processes and decisions apply in accordance with law and policy guidelines.
Undertake enquiries to identify exemptions, discounts and reliefs from council tax.
Evaluate household details relating to Housing Benefit / Local Council Support claims, carrying out assessments of income, capital and other resources relating to entitlement.
Assessing liability to pay and ensuring customer accounts are accurate and up to date.
Collecting and enforcing payments through courts and other powers of collection.
Processing of new claims, changes in circumstances and reviews for Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support.
Verify and validate information, making all necessary calculations to determine entitlement and notifying customers accordingly.
Signposting customers to other services and departments.
Dealing with incoming and outgoing calls from customers.
An eye for detail will be essential and the successful candidate will have:
Excellent word processing and numeracy skills.
Strong verbal communication skills – able to liaise at all levels.
Demonstrable team working skills.
A good eye for detail and a meticulous approach to workloads.
The ability to work to strict deadlines in a performance driven environment.
Depending on the experience of the candidate you will be required to undertake either one of the following qualifications:
If you already hold a Business Administration Level 3 qualification you will be expected to undertake the IRRV Level 3 Diploma in Local Taxation, Benefits and Advice (RQF) more details can be found here: www.irrv.net/homenew/item.php?wid=63&iid=2606
If no prior experience, then the successful applicant will be expected to undertake the Revenues and Welfare Benefits Practitioner Level 4 more details can be found here: The IRRV - Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation Home Page & here: Revenues and welfare benefits practitioner / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
For further information or an informal discussion, please contact Imogen Kelly on 01983 821000 ext. 8946 or imogen.kelly@iow.gov.uk; or Becky Dollery on 01983 821000 ext. 8965 or becky.dollery@iow.gov.uk.
When you join #TeamIWC you'll receive our staff benefits package, including:
- Annual leave entitlement of 32 days p/a PLUS public holidays!
- Local Government pension scheme
- Discounted Solent ferry travel
- Island bus network discount
- Cycle to work scheme
- Staff parking permit scheme
- Discounted island sports & leisure gym membership
- National and local discounts & benefits schemes
For some vacancies (subject to criteria)
- A relocation scheme of up to £8,000 may be available if you are specifically relocating to the Isle of Wight to take up a new role with us
- If you choose to commute to the Isle of Wight daily, you may be eligible to have some travel costs reimbursed
Find out more about working for the Isle of Wight Council and living on the Island here.
The Isle of Wight Council protects its employees from discrimination and this is supported by the Unacceptable Behaviour Policy, Employee Code of Conduct and Behaviours Framework. We actively promote the diversity of our workforce and we provide flexible working options (where appropriate) to support the different needs of our employees.
The Isle of Wight Council’s Terms & Conditions of employment are available upon request. Please contact our recruitment team via adverts@iow.gov.uk if you would like to receive a copy.
The Isle of Wight Council is an equal opportunities employer, who is proud to encourage applications from all cultures, backgrounds and abilities to better reflect the diversity within our local community. In addition to this, we are also a Disability Confident Employer. Along with a number of other areas of commitments, this means that providing you meet the basic essential requirements of the advertised role and have declared yourself as disabled, you will be offered an opportunity for an interview within the council.
If you have difficulty completing your online application or if you need further information about how to apply, telephone 01983 823134 or email callcentre@iow.gov.uk. Please note only applications completed and submitted online by the closing date will be accepted.
We often receive a high volume of applicants for our vacancies. If you do not hear from the recruiting manager within three weeks of the closing date, we regret that your application will not have been successful on this occasion. If unsuccessful, we actively encourage you to revisit our job pages and apply to alternate posts that may be suitable.
Closing Date: 5 April 2024