Welfare Rights Officer - 3 Posts, Pullar House, Perth - PKC14154

Main Purpose of the Role

Working within Perth & Kinross Council is more than a job, it's about being part of an organisation that puts people at the heart of all we do and provides opportunities to make a real difference by enhancing every life we touch. We currently have the following opportunity: Welfare Rights Officer, 3 Posts - PKC14154 £34,424 - £37,784 Pullar House, Perth.

As Welfare Rights Officer you will:

• Provide telephone advice and information on state benefits, tax credits and other welfare rights issues to all stakeholders, including customers, council staff, frontline agencies and elected members through the Welfare Rights Advice Line and other contact methods.
• Advocate for and represent service users and vulnerable people at Benefit Appeal Tribunals in relation to their entitlement to state benefits and tax credits.
• Provide quality case work and appeals representation at the standard required by the Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers.
• Negotiate and mediate with appropriate agencies and organisations in the process of enabling service users and vulnerable people to secure their entitlement to state benefits, tax credits and other rights such as housing, employment, debt etc.
• Develop and deliver training programmes for internal and external agencies i.e. NHS, voluntary organisations.
• Undertake campaign work targeted at vulnerable clients particularly those who are vulnerable due to age, frailty, disability, mental ill-health or substance misuse.
• Take part in outreach work by establishing links with and undertaking talks to voluntary groups and organisations in order to promote the work of the Welfare Rights Team.
• Engage in partnership working with other relevant services and agencies, e.g. The Pensions Service, NHS Tayside, Housing Benefits, Local Taxes etc.
• Keep clear records and statistics as required to enable the Welfare Rights service to be monitored and assessed.
• Ensure that the individuality, personal dignity and confidentiality of clients are respected at all times.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the eligibility criteria for benefits, tax credits and other income sources.
• Have the ability to understand and interpret complex benefit legislation and case law.
• Undertake appropriate training as directed by the Senior Welfare Rights Officer and co-operate with the introduction of new procedures and/or new technological systems.
• Participate in team meetings, personal development and supervision and contribute to the development of the service by attending working groups and other forums as deemed appropriate.

Skills & Experience Required

• Good general education.
• Ideally, you will have one year’s experience of providing welfare rights advice in either a paid or voluntary capacity.
• A working knowledge of the eligibility criteria for welfare benefits and tax credits.
• You will have experience of advocating on behalf of service-users.
• Ability to use IT programmes and packages such as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint etc.
• Excellent customer care skills.
• You have a personal responsibility for taking care of yourself and others and must comply with all relevant Health and Safety legislation.
• Knowledge of health and safety issues and experience of undertaking risk assessments.
• The ability to treat colleagues and customers with dignity and respect as per the Employee Charter.
• Effective communication skills (verbal and written).
• Ability to produce clear, concise written guidance and information.
• Ability to produce, develop and deliver benefit training programmes.
• Effective negotiation skills.
• Effective presentation skills.
• Listening skills.
• Ability to travel to appointments/meetings.
• Ability to plan and organise own workload.
• Ability to work to tight deadlines.
• Ability to compile reports and maintain detailed records.
• You must have the ability to champion change and work autonomously.
• Ability to build good working relationships with others.
• Ability to make decisions as per responsibilities of this post.
• Ability to problem solve either alone or with appropriate colleagues.
• Must be able to cope with the demands of the job and attend on a regular basis.
• Empathic and non-judgemental approach.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Willingness to undertake training.
• Flexible approach to working.
• Self-motivated.
• Ability to use your initiative.

Working at Perth & Kinross Council

Our values and behaviours influence our work and support us in the delivery of our key priorities. In your application, and should you be invited to interview, you will be asked to describe situations that support the criteria required in the role and which also demonstrate our values and behaviours.

We would love to hear from you and would encourage you to get in touch with Nicola Sutherland to find out more.

External candidates are required to provide contact details for 2 referees, including email addresses. One of these must be your current or most recent employer.

We welcome applications from everyone and as a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to interview applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential requirements of the post.

To comply with Baseline Personnel Security Standard, you will be required to complete a Disclosure Scotland check. If you have lived overseas for a period of 12 months or more (continuous or total) within the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required.