Vacancy -- Tribunal Support Officer

The Welsh Tribunals Unit (WTU) provides the administrative support, casework and clerking for independent, judicially-led tribunals. This is a post to support tribunals which are served from the Llandrindod office. 

The post-holder will primarily provide administrative support to the Agricultural Land Tribunal Wales (ALT) and the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales (SENTW), as well as providing general administrative support to the team as required. 

ALT plays an important role in determining disputes and other issues between agricultural landlords and tenants arising from tenancy agreements held under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986. ALT also determines disputes relating to the drainage of agricultural land under the Land Drainage Act 1991. 

SENTW adjudicates over appeals made by parents about their child’s additional learning needs and against decisions made by Local Authorities. SENTW also deals with claims of disability discrimination in schools in Wales. These cases are often disagreements between parents, Local Authority’s and Governors of Schools; legally complex in nature and sensitive in terms of the ultimate outcome having a bearing on the child’s education and the type of help and support received in school. The post-holder will process appeals and claims, completing work with a high degree of accuracy and in strict compliance with statutory and other prescribed time-scales, and provide high quality customer service to tribunal users and members. 

The post-holder may be required to undertake similar work in relation to other tribunals supported by the WTU’s Llandrindod staff, which may include the following: Registered Inspectors of Schools Appeals (RISAT); Registered Inspectors of Nursery Education Appeals (RINEAT) and Adjudication Panel for Wales (APW).

• Analysis of information – digest and work with complex information including Tribunal regulations and legislation, under the guidance of the Tribunal Officer. 
• Post - process incoming and  outgoing post, ensuring all items are correctly logged and draft acknowledgements and responses to routine correspondence within required      timescales. 
• Pre-registration checks - prepare appeals and claims for registration – open case file, complete checklist, assign case number, input details on appeals information spreadsheet, send acknowledgement letter, obtaining manager’s approval and drafting registration letters within required timescales. 
• Information spreadsheets - ensure information and key performance indicator spreadsheets are updated after completing any action on a case. 
• Bundles - paginate, index and photocopy a master Tribunal bundle for each case, and, once signed off by the tribunal officer, photocopy bundles for distribution to parties and      panel, ensuring that all photocopying and indexing of papers is of a high quality and that bundles are issued in line with required timescales. 
• Meetings - obtain quotes for venues and seek approval from the business manager, book venue, manage invitations and attendance lists and issue papers. Provide secretariat support at internal  and external meetings, including taking minutes. 
• Booking hearings - book venues and accommodation for hearings and events taking into account WG procurement      policy and need for value for money, maintain accurate up-to-date records of hearings and notify parties and panel members of hearing details to required deadlines.
• Clerking hearings - greet parties and panel, responding appropriately to questions, deal with procedural issues which      arise or refer to the tribunal panel and ensure the smooth running of the hearing. 
• Travel – travel throughout Wales, including some overnight stays. 
• Tribunal Decisions - send a copy of all new decisions to the Judicial Lead 
• Tribunal helpline - deal with telephone enquiries, ensuring that information given is accurate and complies with      information security policies; refer complex queries to tribunal officer or business manager. 
• Records management – maintain house-keeping of files, archive closed case files and hearing recordings (on CD), maintain electronic registers, identify recordings due for destruction and – when approved – destroy items scheduled for destruction. 
• Business support – assist with the preparation of KPI and customer satisfaction reports and provide any other      support as required. 
• Information security - comply with WG securitypolicies at all times and complete all related mandatory training.

This post offers the opportunity to develop a wide range of administrative and clerking skills whilst working in a judicial context and ensuring access to administrative justice for people in Wales.

20/06/2019, 16:00

Posts recruited to as part of this recruitment campaign are broadly open to UK nationals, those with right to remain and work in the UK and those that meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules only. Check your eligibility here:

• UK Visas and Immigration - GOV.UK

• Nationality rules – GOV.UK

Prior to appointment, all successful applicants will be required to produce original, acceptable documents as part of the pre-employment checks. If it becomes apparent at a later stage in the process that you aren’t eligible to apply, your application will be withdrawn, or offer retracted.

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and increasing diversity in the Welsh Government by removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We are committed to recruiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are currently under-represented in Welsh Government.

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage and civil partnership (both same sex and opposite sex), impairment or health condition, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender identity or gender expression.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) organisation. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are five Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Minority Ethnic Support Network (MESN); Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation and Welsh language skills are considered an asset to the organisation. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace. 

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the line manager on behalf of the Welsh Government of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together.

Our 3 recognised trade unions are:
•         PCS
•         Prospect
•         FDA

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as:
•         pay
•         terms and conditions
•         policies and procedures
•         organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We encourage staff to get involved. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. and to learn more about trade unions and partnership working.

• Unless stated otherwise in ‘actual starting salary’, all candidates will start at the minimum of the pay scale being appointed to (this includes existing civil servants).This is not negotiable.
• Unless stated otherwise in ‘type of opportunity’, this recruitment advert is not open on a Loan or Secondment basis.
• For more information on the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for Loan and Secondment positions in Welsh Government, please see external recruitment candidate guidance.
• Unless stated otherwise in ‘Location of Post’ the role/s recruited to via this campaign can only be worked in the UK, not overseas.

All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system.  If you have a disability which would prevent you from applying on-line, please e-mail SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales to request an application pack in an alternative format, or to request a reasonable adjustment related to a disability in order to submit your application.

To apply, you'll need to have an account on our online application system.  Click the 'Apply' button below, and you'll be asked to 'Log in' if you already have an account, or 'Register' if you don't yet have an account.  Registration takes just a few minutes to complete.  You'll need an e-mail address to be able to register.  Once you've registered for an account and logged in, you'll be taken to the online application form, which you'll need to fully complete and submit before the deadline on the closing date.  

If you’d like to apply for this vacancy in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

For further information regarding the Welsh Government recruitment process, please see the Recruitment Guidance for External Candidates (link).

When evidencing your suitability for the post, it is recommended that you refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework (link)

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint, about how the process was conducted should either write to the Head of Resourcing, Welsh Government, Cathays Park 2, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.  If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint raised with the Welsh Government and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.