About the job

Job summary

The Home Office is here to make our country safer. As well as working to protect the most vulnerable, reduce crime and enforce the law, we work to and have a proud history of providing refuge to those who have been displaced or are seeking asylum. Whether it is fighting crime, protecting our borders, or combating slavery, the Home Office is at the cutting edge of public policy in this country and our work is some of the most challenging and rewarding in government.

About the Public Safety Group:

The Public Safety Group’s role is to keep the public safe by protecting the vulnerable, cutting crime, disrupting the highest harm criminals, and ensuring that our police, fire, and rescue services are as trusted, efficient, and effective as they can be in delivering front line public services. 

The people in our Group develop and implement policy, provide funding, and deliver legislation. We make the most of innovation, data, and partnerships to protect the vulnerable, prevent crime, and tackle the highest harm crimes. We work with our partners in law enforcement, establishing governance arrangements at a national, regional, and local level.

This role sits within the Police Strategy and Reform Unit, which is part of the Policing Policy Directorate, within the Public Safety Group. The Unit is responsible for:

 - Overarching strategy and reform: Setting the overall strategic direction for policing with the sector, delivering the Government’s commitments on police reform via the National Policing Board’s work programme and spotting and gripping policing related risks and opportunities. 

 - Governance, accountability, and scrutiny: Developing the role of police and crime commissioners (PCCs), policy responsibility for police and crime panels and inspection via His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), as well helping to drive system improvement on performance. It also acts as a key interlocutor with chief constables, police and crime commissioners and other key policing stakeholders. 

 - Mayoral Devolution and Policing Structures: Supporting delivery of the Government's Levelling Up agenda by leading on the policing governance elements of English devolution plus policy on policing structures issues and neighbourhood policing.

Job description

As an Senior Policy Advisor for HMICFRS Police Inspection Policy, you will act as the senior policy lead on force performance issues. You will help the department to properly respond to HMICFRS’ reports on force and system performance, and to support forces in HMICFRS’ enhanced monitoring programme, known as ‘Engage’.

This role offers great exposure to Ministers and senior policing stakeholders. It requires cross-Home Office working to support other policy teams and close working with colleagues in the Inspectorate and in police forces across England and Wales.

Part time working is available in this role but candidates must be able to work a minimum 30 hours over 5 days per week.

Person specification

This role will require you to manage competing demands, maintain positive relationships with stakeholders and develop policy. You will need to be able to communicate effectively, both in your written and oral communication. You will need to be a self-starter, able to work confidently and independently with a range of different teams.

Key tasks and areas of responsibility include: 

Departmental Response to Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) Reports – You will ensure that Ministers and relevant teams within the Home Office are suitably briefed on the contents of HMICFRS’ PEEL reports. You will ensure that the contents of reports reflects departmental and ministerial priorities through attendance at the Technical Advisory Group for PEEL, and support analysis on HMICFRS’ grade data to inform wider policy work on policing performance. 

Force Performance – You will support senior colleague and Ministerial attendance at the Police Performance Oversight Group (PPOG), producing briefings, attending the meetings, monitoring sector actions taken to support forces, ensuring agreed actions from the Home Office are carried out, and briefing Ministers on the outcome of meetings.

State of Policing – You will lead on landing the Home Office’s response to the annual ‘State of Policing’ report, ensuring key policy teams and Ministers are quickly briefed on its contents and advising ministers on the departmental response to any recommendations.

Briefing Support – You will lead on all briefing and correspondence related to police inspection policy, as well as leading on or feeding in to parliamentary questions and any urgent questions.

Policy Support – You will support the G7 to ensure individual issues (including but not exclusively linked to poor performance in policing) are adequately addressed. You will help to maintain an overview of HMICFRS’ main work programmes and outputs, being a central point of contact for the department and for OGDs on all HMICFRS police inspection questions. You will aide in coordinating cross-Home Office responses to future HMICFRS consultations on PEEL and their approved inspection programmes.

The postholder will also support the development of policy across the Unit’s remit, specifically helping to drive system improvement on performance, and on the police governance, scrutiny and accountability portfolios, and other regular priorities as required. 

If the successful candidate chooses to be based in Manchester Soapworks, they will be expected to travel to London on occasion as required by the business. 

Essential criteria

•    Managing your own workload and delivering to tight deadlines, including experience of working in a changing environment and planning, collaborating and delivering through others to meet both short and long-term deadlines. 

•    Effectively managing relationships with a range of stakeholders with strong interpersonal skills giving you the ability to form effective working relationships with key stakeholders and the ability to manage challenging conversations when necessary.

•    Communicating effectively, both through oral and written communications, with the ability to succinctly and quickly brief senior stakeholders.

•    Policy development and/or implementation, including on complex and cross-cutting policy issues. You will need a strong track record in problem solving, with the ability to analyse and interpret a wide range of data.

Desirable criteria

•    Experience working in or on policing, police inspections or policing policy.

•    Knowledge and understanding of policing services and governance arrangements

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

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.

As part of the application process candidates will be required to submit a CV and Statement of Suitability (of no more than 1000 words). In addition candidates will be required to provide evidence of the lead behaviour 'Delivering at Pace'.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Your Statement of Suitability should be aligned to the Essential Criteria as set out in the job advertisement.

CVs will not be scored.

The sift will be on the Statement of Suitability and the behaviour 'Delivering at Pace'.

In an event where a high volume of applications are received, an initial sift will take place using the lead behaviour 'Delivering at Pace'.  Candidates who pass the initial sift will be either progressed to a full sift or straight to interview.

Successful candidates shortlisted for interview will be tested on all behaviours outlined in the job advertisement and strength based questions. 

Sift and interview dates

The sift will take place week commencing 12th February 2024.

Interviews will take place week commencing 26th February 2024.

Interviews will take place remotely. Further details and instructions will be provided closer to the scheduled interview.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change. 

Further information

For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.  A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

The successful candidates will be required to hold or be willing to secure CTC clearance.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working.  This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estates capacity, by Spring 2024.  Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details).

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. All applications are screened for plagiarism and copying of examples/answers from internet sources. If any is detected the application will be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need for them to go through a further selection process.

Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.

Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.

Transfer Terms: Voluntary.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.

Any move to the Home Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at  https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk 

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• 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. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.