About the job

Job summary

Please refer to job description.

Job description

Overview of the job    

The reoffending rate has remained broadly static at around 29% since 2010, and during the 12 months ending March 2019, 81% of offenders convicted or cautioned had at least one previous conviction or caution. Reoffending is costing society approximately £18bn per year and almost half of all prisoners reoffend within 12 months of release.

The job holder will seek to provide a key focus on the prison drug strategy by providing strategic and operational direction within the prison to ultimately reduce substance misuse, developing relationships between HMPPS, drug and alcohol agencies and external commissioners. This is an exciting opportunity as a priority area of work rather than being attached to other roles with operational responsibility.

The Drug Strategy lead will be responsible for the delivery of the HMPPS Drug Strategy (“the strategy”) and associated Guidance and Good Practice in the establishment, ensuring the agency is reducing the level of drug misuse amongst prisoners through a comprehensive range of activity brigaded under each of the three themes of the strategy, which align to the overarching Government Drug Strategy:

1.    Restricting Supply
2.    Reducing Demand
3.    Building Recovery

The post holder will focus on the reducing demand and building recovery strands of the drugs strategy as well as developing relationships to manage other strategy actions.

This an opportunity for an experienced and skillful individual to oversee a whole prison approach to the continuing development of processes and procedures around reducing the harm caused by drugs in our prisons. The post holder will be required to build effective relationships with colleagues across HMPPS and MoJ to ensure the strategy is delivered.

The post holder will act as a subject matter expert to the Governor and their Senior Management Team (SMT).

The role may be operational or non-operational and establishment based. It is focused on achieving operational improvement in prisons and so requires the post holder to have (or to develop) a good understanding of the operational realities of drug misuse in prisons and the operational context in which the activities sit.

Experience of working in prisons would be highly desirable.

Summary  

The job holder provides strategic leadership and is responsible for planning and managing the Drug Strategy in the establishment ensuring effective arrangements are in place for governance, risk management and monitoring. This involves responding to fluctuating workload and maintaining a calm approach in the face of competing
interests.

They will provide advice and progress updates to senior managers throughout HMPPS regarding the drug strategy delivery in the establishment.

The role will be establishment based with the expectation that post holders will travel as and when required.

This post may be operational or non-operational. If operational, please see Technical Requirements.

Responsibilities, Activities & Duties    

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

•    Review and support the establishment in design, implementation and updates of drug strategy ensuring effective governance is in place and alignment to the national HMPPS strategy. Identify and communicate current trends in relation to substance misuse in the establishment.
•    Develop a detailed understanding of, and map the key barriers and opportunities to success in order to inform longer-term national approaches.
•    Lead innovation and new initiatives within the prison that reduce demand and build recovery, ensuring collaboration with key partners, staff, prisoners and families. Ensure person centred pathways for recovery that empower individuals to lead a substance free life.
•    Work in collaboration with the Health and Justice lead offering advice and support to manage the transition into the community to improve continuity of care.
•    Collaborate with PGD Drug Strategy leads and the national HMPPS Drug Strategy and Delivery team to address individual concerns from visits and follow up reports.
•    Support strategic discussions with partners and stakeholders to ensure a whole prison approach to the delivery of the prison strategy. Ensure that best practice is shared through a variety of forums, including drugs lead meetings, internal learning events, opportunities to promote projects on the intranet.
•    Act as a single point of contact for the prison drug strategy promoting staff knowledge and ensuring health services are aligned to prison processes and procedures.

Dependant on operational experience will undertake some or all other management tasks including:
•    Act as the Governor's representative by chairing adjudications and taking charge of day-to-day establishment operations as Duty Governor.
•    Promote Prison Service policy in all activities and behaviours e.g. promote diversity, decency, safety and reducing re-offending agendas.
•    Review open Assessment Care in Custody Teamwork (ACCT) as and when required in line with audit baselines.
•    Provide leadership and management of the Function. Will have the skills to apply all Human Resources (HR) related policies and practices and be able to carry out all aspects of people management such as Attendance Management, Disciplinary Investigations, Performance Management and Staff Appraisals.
•    Manage Prisoners Complaints Process within the Function.
•    Responsible for ensuring all litigation claims relevant to the area have been dealt with in accordance with policy.
•    Oversee the compilation and regular progress reporting of performance improvement programmes.
•    Manage the appropriate authorisation of Financial Compliance Statements.
•    Manage devolved budgets in accordance with the financial procedures outlined in the budget delegation.
•    Ensure that the Function produces and analyses audit and establishment performance management information identifying variances and areas requiring improvements.
•    Contribute to the establishment’s overall achievement of (SDIs) and standards and be accountable for the performance and delivery of targets relating to the Function.
•    Accountable for all local and national policies relating to the Function, and ensure procedures implemented are compliant, including the development of new policies.
•    Contribute to the development and delivery of the medium-to-long term strategic and business plan for the establishment, with overall responsibility for implementation within their Function.
•    Attend relevant boards/meetings and actively contribute either as chair or team member.
•    Responsible for ensuring the defined work areas and associated activities comply with Health and Safety legislation. Ensure all risk assessments are undertaken and staff are made aware of their personal responsibility towards Health and Safety compliance.
•    Work collaboratively and provide constructive challenge to colleagues to ensure that their own and other Functions are joined up and together contribute towards the overall delivery of the establishment’s performance.
•    Contribute to the preparation of the establishment contingency and emergency plans and ensure implementation when required.
•    Ensure the effective use of staff resources and the provision of training and annual leave opportunities.
•    Produce relevant reports as required and ensure that the response to all correspondence are within agreed timescales.
•    Carry out investigations and administration in relation to incidents of potential discrimination and report on findings.
•    Accountable for ensuring actions arising from Standard Audit, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) Action Plans and Managing Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) surveys, including local Self Audit action plans and Resettlement strategies, are delivered.
•    Deliver and implement projects as directed by the Governor.
•    Actively encourage staff engagement within the Function to ensure objectives are met.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English or (where specified in Wales) Welsh.

Person specification

Please refer to job description.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £47,907, HM Prison & Probation Service contributes £13,366 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Strengths.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.