Case Progression Officer (Ref: 19818)

Job summary

Job description

Job Title: Family Case Progression Officer

Grade: Executive Officer (EO)

Fixed Term Contract Length: 12 Months

Location: Central Family Court, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6NP

Overview

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an agency of the Ministry of Justice. We provide support for the legal system across England and Wales, along with non-devolved tribunals in Scotland and Northern Ireland, ensuring justice works for everyone.

Our Justice system defends our fundamental rights and freedoms. It is a cornerstone of our modern society. It protects some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, from families in crisis to claimants and commercial businesses. We have a responsibility to deliver a Justice system that is accessible to everyone and operates efficiently.

The key purpose of the role is to

• Responsible for and assisting with, case management decisions on family matters which will progress our Family Improvement Plan.
• Working closely with other individuals involved in the court process – including the judiciary, colleagues from HMCTS, Cafcass and local authorities to manage cases through the court in an efficient and collaborative way.
• Assisting with ensuring all reporting data is updated to illustrate the progress of our Family Improvement Plan.

Essential Skills & Criteria

• Ability to self-motivate, with the ability to collaborate with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders.
• Experience of working in an administrative role in a customer focussed environment.
• Proficient with IT and Microsoft Software packages
• Excellent communication and organisational skills

Key responsibilities

Operations

• Lead the implementation of efficient and consistent administrative practices, procedures, and standards, implementing solutions to identified problems.
• Monitor key performance areas, analysing performance trends and making recommendations for improvement to the Delivery Manager.
• Conduct ongoing reviews of procedures and work practices and manage the implementation of new initiatives and legislation.
• To provide written and verbal advice to queries from staff and HMCTS users.
• Contribute to the delivery of operational, performance and service standard targets.
• Provide statistical data for the management team and judiciary.
• Deal with any accommodation issues that arise and liaising with estates/ facilities and/or contractors as needed.
• Contribute to the Family Improvement Plan and the wider Business Plan
• Monitor and proactively report on HMCTS assurance programme and contribute to ongoing development.
• Ensure the risk management system and standards are applied by all staff in line with HMCTS/MOJ policy.
• Ensure Governance and Assurance around the safe and secure receipt, accounting and transfer of both money and personal data.
• Alert others, as appropriate, to risks which are not capable of local resolution.
• Deputise for the Delivery Manager, as necessary.
• Deal with customers and complaints and address root causes of complaints.
• Apply Continuous improvement principles, tools, and techniques to working practices to improve efficiency of operations.

Case Progression

• Assign responsibilities for action and monitoring progress against plans.
• Plan, co-ordinate and organise training and development for staff. Ensuring that learning development needs of all staff, including inductees, are identified, and met.
• Take a lead in employee engagement activities to maintain good working relationships with staff and to improve service delivery and staff morale / motivation. Review open case load, prioritising the oldest cases, keeping an up-to-date record.
• Identify any outstanding tasks (i.e. chase a report/statement or outstanding order)
• Liaise with CAFCASS and Judiciary regarding any future hearing dates.
• List cases across the court estate where appropriate.
• Draw up and send out additional orders and notices of hearings.
• Ensure case details are kept up to date.
• Give directions to stakeholders on requirement to progress case, where appropriate

Calculations and analysis

• Identify and implement solutions to local problems, referring more complex problems to a Delivery Manager.

Communicating with the public, the judiciary, other court users and representatives of other agencies and organisations

• Maintain effective working relationships with the judiciary, supporting agencies, voluntary and user groups. Working with agencies to improve the level of service offered to users.
• Provide feedback to staff, judiciary and other stakeholders on performance against targets.
• Think beyond own area of responsibility, considering wider policy and organisational implications of issues.

Specialisms

• Have a working knowledge of functions undertaken within the Cluster, to support the development and review of policies and procedures.
• Provide specific functions as directed by line management in line with the SOP for providing that service.

Accountability

• Reporting to a Delivery Manager.

Other duties

The post holder is required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.

Travel

• You will be required to travel across multiple sites, notably Central Family Court, East London Family Court and West London Family Court
• All Case Progression Officers will be expected to work at least two days per week from First Avenue House, High Holborn.

Further details

New recruits to the Civil Service joining MoJ are expected to join at the band minimum.

These operational roles are customer facing, requiring successful applicants to be office based to provide HMCTS services to the public.

Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. HMCTS welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs and are agreed prior to appointment. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ’s Flexible Working policy.

Fixed term appointments (FTA) on promotion

MoJ employees may apply for FTA opportunities in MoJ that are advertised at a higher grade than their current substantive grade. Where an employee accepts an FTA on promotion, this promotion will be temporary, and the employee will revert to their substantive grade upon return to their home business area, as per the loan policy for OGD loans. Before applying, employees must seek approval from their line managers to ensure they can be released for the duration of the FTA and can return to their substantive role at the end. If there is no role available at the end of the FTA, the employee will be subject to redeployment and potentially redundancy procedures.

Loans/Detached Duty

The terms of the loan or detached duty will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant (candidate). This includes grade on return. Prior agreement to be released on a loan or detached du