About the job

Job summary

We are looking for 3 student placements as part of your sandwich year on a relevant course. You will be working for a government agency at the forefront of environmental planning in the UK. Our projects are of national significance including wind and solar farms, pipelines, nuclear power, transport schemes and many more. This is your chance to be involved in shaping landscapes and communities in England using sustainable and environmentally conscious methods.

The Planning Inspectorate has a long and proud history in ensuring a fair planning system for England. The work we do has a significant impact on people’s lives, the communities where they live and the economy. 

We want our colleagues to be able to work more flexibly and more collaboratively, exploring new and innovative ways to improve the way we provide services.  

 

For further information on the Planning Inspectorate, please see the information pack attached. You can also view our careers page at Civil Service Careers  

Job description

What’s it about?

The Planning Inspectorate examines national infrastructure planning applications and makes recommendations to the Secretary of State for a final decision. These include applications for offshore windfarms, rail projects, road alterations, airport developments, nuclear power stations and waste and water projects. It's an exciting time to join our case team!

What will I do?

You will be immersed in the centre of infrastructure planning in the UK. Working in a dynamic casework team, you will provide support in the many various duties required of the process. This can include attending developer meetings, quality checking application documents and organising case evidence. You will also have the opportunity to travel to various locations around the country to ensure the smooth running of preliminary meetings, site visits and hearings.

What about training?

Learning and development is central to the placement year. You will job shadow and learn from experienced case officers as well as attend courses and seminars that will give you in-depth knowledge of many facets of the planning profession.

Who is eligible to apply?

You will be studying a relevant course, such as planning, policy, human geography etc. and your degree must contain a placement year.

For full information on the role and assessment process please refer to the candidate pack attached.

Meet Sara and Matthew - former placement students at the Planning Inspectorate. Here they talk about their experiences.

 

Office attendance

All of our office-based roles are contractually located at Temple Quay House in Bristol. We encourage office attendance to foster collaboration, conversation, group creativity and employee wellbeing. You will be expected to attend Temple Quay House at least 12 times a year. Depending on your role, you may be required to attend more often than 12 times a year either permanently or temporarily to ensure we deliver our services in the most efficient and effective way for our customers. If you would like to discuss our Office Attendance in more detail, please contact us at PINS.Recruitment@PlanningInspectorate.gov.uk

Person specification

Essential Criteria (what you are required to demonstrate):

• Sandwich year placement student, on a relevant course such as planning, human geography, or others. 
• Good Microsoft IT skills to manage large spreadsheets of text, and complex reports.
• Proven ability to accurately check data and information records.
• Excellent customer service providing comprehensive written correspondence and telephone contact to a wide variety of customers.
• Prioritise and manage risks communicating clearly with managers and support teams.

Desirable Criteria (you don’t need to demonstrate but would be a bonus):

• Experience with MS Teams or other online meeting platforms, and with managing mailboxes in MS Outlook.
• Experience of working within an administrative environment.
• Involvement in planning or consenting regimes.
• Knowledge of the Planning Act 2008. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £20,172, Planning Inspectorate contributes £5,446 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, Strengths and Experience.

Application 

Complete the online application form on Civil Service Jobs which requires the following information:

• A CV: The CV section is an opportunity for you to detail your career history. It should outline the jobs you have done, the length of time you were employed within each role and a brief description of your role, responsibilities and duties which demonstrate relevance to the role you are applying for against the essential criteria. You must type, or ‘copy and paste’ into the text box called ‘Employment History’ within the online application. You cannot attach a copy of your CV.
• A Personal Statement (1000 words max): The personal statement allows you to outline your suitability for the role in more depth, expanding on your CV evidence. It is an opportunity for you to provide evidence against the essential criteria listed within the candidate pack on the Person Specification page.

We will assess your application on the evidence you have provided against the Essential Criteria detailed in the Person Specification in the candidate pack.

In the event of a large number of applications, a lead sift may take place.  The following point will be used as the lead criteria when shortlisting if this happens, and if you do not meet the minimum standard the rest of your application will not be assessed.

• Sandwich year placement student on any environmental related course such as environmental science, environmental management, ecology or geography.

All shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome shortly afterwards.

 

Interview 

If you are shortlisted, you will:

• Be asked to attend an interview to have a more in-depth discussion about your experience and suitability for the role
• Interviews will be a blend of behaviour, strength and experience questions

Candidates who are successful at shortlist stage will be sent full assessment requirements with their interview invitations.

 

Other Information 

Shortlist Date: 15th – 29th January 2024

Interview Date: Between 5th and 16th February 2024 

Interviews are currently being completed remotely using Microsoft Teams. We would like to reassure candidates that the virtual interview will not be recorded (or retained) within the Planning Inspectorate, other than usual interview protocol and in line with the Civil Service jobs Privacy notice.

We encourage all candidates to make themselves familiar with the role and what we will be assessing you against which is detailed in the Person Specification.

The Planning Inspectorate is committed to finding the right person for the job. We recruit using Success Profiles and consider the criteria you will need to demonstrate to be successful for the role, by doing this we are pushing up performance, diversifying our workforce and creating an inclusive culture.

 

ID and Documents

If specific qualifications/memberships are essential for the role and you are successful, you will be asked to provide accurate scanned or photographed images of the qualifications/memberships that you listed on your application prior to your start date.

We must check that any successful candidates are allowed to work for the Civil Service before we employ them. If successful, you will be asked to do a right to work check using identity document validation technology (IDVT) through the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP), Civil Service Jobs.  If we are unable to confirm your right to work and through the IDVT we will need to do a manual right to work check using original documents with you in person.

 

Disability Confident Interview scheme

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. We run a Disability Confident Interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria for the job.

To be considered for an interview under the scheme you must:

• have a disability defined by the Equality Act 2010
• provide evidence in your application that you meet the minimum criteria in the job description
• meet all of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential

While we will endeavour to provide you with all the appropriate information, you are the expert on your specific requirements so if you require any adjustments, you should consider the information provided about the assessment process in the candidate pack and then:

•           Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. The earlier and more clearly you tell us what you need and why you need it, the more likely we are to be able to accommodate you in a timely fashion.

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. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.