Vacancy -- Family Court Advisor (Welsh Essential)

Working for the Civil Service

The Welsh Government's recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

Vacancy Details

Health and Social Services Group
Cafcass Cymru
SEO - £41,700 - £49,370
A starting salary between £39,310 and £41,560 will be offered to the successful candidate based on their skills, knowledge and experience and performance at interview. This range is not negotiable
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Permanent
Pan Wales
'Pan Wales' means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location, but requests will be taken into consideration.
TBC

Purpose of Post:

To assess the needs, safeguard and promote the welfare of individual children involved in Family Proceedings and providing advice and reports to the family courts to achieve the best possible outcomes for these children.

Key tasks:

As a Family Court Adviser you will:

  • Carry a case load of private and/or public law cases.
  • Provide professional social work advice and assistance to Courts to achieve a timely conclusion to proceedings and secure the best possible outcome for the child based on their individual needs and best interests.
  • Provide high quality evidence (orally and in writing) to the Court.
  • Ensure that the child’s welfare is paramount throughout proceedings, including ensuring the child is safeguarded in line with organisational requirements and the All Wales Child Protection Procedures.
  • Ensure the appointment and instruction of legal representation for the child as required and in line with statutory and organisational requirements.
  • Ensure the child’s wishes and feelings are appropriately taken into account and reported upon in a timely and high quality fashion throughout the assessment of the child’s needs as part of family proceedings.
  • Advise and assist parents and other relevant parties to proceedings in dispute in the child’s best interest in order to minimise the need for court intervention.
  • Work effectively with partner organisations, stakeholders and service users whilst maintaining the required independence as part of proceedings.
  • Keep up to date with changes in legislation, guidance, court rules, policies, procedures and best practice developments.
  • Comply with organisational policies, procedures, statutory requirements and court rules in the delivery of services to children and families involved in family proceedings.
  • Be responsible for personal learning and development in accordance with the requirements of Social Care Wales and the Welsh Government’s performance management process.
  • Work as a team member, attend relevant meetings and contribute to the effectiveness and wider planning of Cafcass Cymru as required.
  • Provide management information on workloads, practice and performance as required.
  • Use ICT effectively for case planning and recording and to support service delivery.
  • Represent Cafcass Cymru and the Welsh Government in a professional manner conducive to promoting a positive image at all times.

Development opportunities:

This post offers substantial opportunities to play a key role in the management, development and improvement of an all-Wales service, including liaison with a variety of agencies and organisations.

Closing Date:

04/06/2021, 16:00

Eligibility

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:

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.

Equality and Diversity

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.

Disability Confident

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

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

Welsh Language Requirements

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.

Essential
Full understanding of all work related material
Fluent
Can understand all work-related conversations
Can prepare written material for all work-related matters

Social Partnership

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.

Competencies / Job Specific Criteria

Competencies: 

Making Effective Decisions

  • Make decisions when they are needed, even if they prove difficult or unpopular

Collaborating and Partnering

  • Deal with conflict in a prompt, calm and constructive manner

Seeing the big picture

  • Actively seek out and share experience to develop understanding and knowledge of own work and of team’s business area

Changing and Improving

  • Actively encourage ideas from a wide range of sources and stakeholders and use these to inform own thinking

 

Job Specific Criteria: 

  1. Evidence of Practice based tools to support evidence centred practice.
  2. An understanding of the needs of children involved in private and public law proceedings within the family justice system including the importance of timely reporting and avoiding delays in decision-making for children.
  3. Evidence of effective case planning and recording casework with child/ren and families according to the Code of Professional Practice for Social Care.

Assessment Process

Applicants must have a minimum of 3 years post qualifying experience of working within safeguarding services for children and their families in the statutory sector, a Diploma in Social Work (or Social Care Wales registered equivalent) and be a registered Social Worker with Social Care Wales or other Care Regulator.

 To apply, you'll need to complete the online application form, answering the following 2 questions based on the job specific criteria above.  

  1. Using an example from your practice, demonstrate your understanding of the needs of children subject to family proceedings and explain why timely reporting and decision making is critical to ensuring good outcomes for children. (Max 500 words)
  2. Drawing from examples from your practice, tell us about your experience in using evidence based practice to inform your analysis and how this leads to safe and robust recommendations which inform decision making to secure the best outcome possible for children and young people. (Max 500 words)

Please note, you do not need to provide a written response in relation to the 4 competencies.   These will be tested at interview stage.

Remember to tell us your preferred location in the 'Additional Information' box.

Once you’ve submitted your application form, the selection process will consist of the following stages:

  • Stage 1 – Shortlisting based on responses to the above questions
  • Stage 2 – Panel interview on the competencies and job specific criteria, including presentation prepared on the day

For more detail about the application and interview process please contact CafcassCymruHR@gov.wales

Other Information

  • 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.

This advert is for a Welsh Essential vacancy. Cafcass Cymru has offices in the following locations:

-Gwent (Newport)

-Mid & West Wales (Newtown, Carmarthen)

-North Wales (Llandudno Junction, Wrexham)

-South Wales (Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil)

-South West Wales (Swansea)

 

Successful candidates will be appointed in merit order to immediate vacancies and any other vacancies arising over the next 12 months.

 

An allowance of £1,000 per year is available if you use your own car for all official business travel and cover in excess of 2,000 statutory miles per year. A valid driving licence and motor insurance is required.

 

We strongly encourage all potential candidates to contact Cafcass Cymru prior to completing an application to discuss the role and recruitment process.

Please contact CafcassCymruHR@gov.Wales, noting the area you are interested in working in to arrange an appointment to speak with a manager. 

CafcassCymruHR@gov.Wales

How to apply

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

Grievance and Complaints

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.

This vacancy is closed to applications.