RQ1587664>Benefits Officer> North Yorkshire Council

The rate is £25.07/Hr. (Umbrella-Inside IR35).

Please find JD below

Hours per week :37.00

Duration: 3 months with scope for extension

Location: County Hall, Northallerton, DL7 8AE

All assignments will be full time.

We will only accept candidates who have experience with NEC systems and NEC document management.

Candidates without this will be rejected from the order.

Hybrid is optional however fully remote is also accepted for these assignments. However, please note that candidates may need to collect IT from a North Yorkshire office base.

Will be responsible for administering the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction scheme in accordance with Government legislation, case law and local policy.

Ensure that all claims for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are processed accurately and within the targeted timescales.

Processing and assessing discretionary housing payment applications and dealing with housing benefit overpayments.

The North Yorkshire Council Welfare & Benefits Service, based across a variety of key locations across the county
serves a wide range of residents of the community. The service administers applications for Housing Benefit,
Council Tax Reduction, Discretionary Housing Payments, and Exceptional Hardship Awards whilst delivering
against statutory requirements. The service provides specialist advice and guidance to residents of North Yorkshire,
other council service areas and external partners.

The post holder:
• Will be responsible for administering the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction scheme in accordance
with Government legislation, case law and local policy.
• Ensure that all claims for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are processed accurately and within the
targeted timescales.
• Will work as part of a team of Benefit Officers delivering excellent customer service at the first point of
contact in line with the Council’s vision, values, and behaviours.
• Contributing to meeting the Welfare & Benefits Service objectives and the applicable Customer Service
targets.
• Will have the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English

Operational
management:
• Process and assess all types of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction new
claims and changes in circumstance in accordance with the relevant legislation. This
includes but is not limited to; Self-Employed, Student and Persons from Abroad
claims.
• Provide support to applicants by administering advice and information in respect of
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction as may be necessary.
• Provide a customer facing service to Benefit applicants giving advice, assistance,
answering queries and dealing with complaints.
• Monitor claim progress and address any issues which affect the efficient and
effective operation of assessing the benefit claim.
+Post title: Benefits Officer
Grade: G
Responsible to: Benefits Operational Team Leader
Staff managed: None
Directorate: Resources
Service: Customer, Revenues and Benefits
Job family: C&A – Customer & Administration
Date of issue: March 2024
Job Purpose:
To provide support, advice and guidance to Customers claiming
benefits, and to undertake associated welfare and benefits
administration.
To ensure customer access to appropriate benefits, signposting as
appropriate.

• Where appropriate, identify and refer customers to the Income Maximisation Team in
order to maximise residents’ income and to arrange home visits.
• Check documentation provided by claimants for validity and ensure cases of
suspected fraud are referred to the investigation team and action fraud repots on
completion of investigation to ensure benefit is properly paid.
• Access information, and data, received from case management system and external
systems relating to customer benefit entitlement via daily downloads from the DWP.
• Identify and verify overpayments of Housing Benefit & Council Tax Reduction. Decide
if the overpayment is recoverable, who to recover from and the correct method of
recovery, up to invoice stage.
• Promote the use of digital means of communication to support the Councils Digital by
Default agenda
• Answer customer enquiries via the Face to face, telephone, email, team calls and to
deliver excellent customer service
• Provide information required for benefits Team Leader/manager to review and respond
to complaints and complex claims
• Work closely with council tax regarding benefits cases and council tax accounts
• Make a positive contribution to team meetings, contributing ideas, sharing
knowledge, experience and best practice, supporting and mentoring colleagues as
appropriate.
Performance and
Resource
Management:
• Maintain, accurate, secure and confidential data files and records.
• Contribute to achieving the performance KPI’s as set out in the Service Plan and
national returns.
• Will be required to undertake relevant training necessary to carry out the full range of
duties and responsibilities of the role and expected to take responsibility for their own
development, identifying any training needs and work with the Benefits Operational
Team Leader to address these
Partnerships:
• Work in conjunction with the Revenues and Customer Services departments to
provide an efficient and joined up service undertaking both Revenues and Customer
Service tasks which are appropriate to the role
• Work with internal services, including but not limited to, Housing & homelessness,
Finance, and the Income Maximisation Team.
• Link with DWP JCP, CA and other support agencies
Communications:
• Provide advice, assistance and answer queries through various forms of
communication, face to face, telephone or written.
• Promptly and accurately provide advice and information to a diverse customer base,
including customers, Internal/External agencies, elected members and senior
management.
• Deal with internal and external enquiries relating to benefits claims from, but not limited
to, Landlords, Housing associations, Councillors, CA and DWP
Systems and
information:
• Maintain an up to date knowledge of systems (including DWP systems) in order to
promptly and accurately assess Benefit entitlement.
• Respect the confidential nature of the work of the service and of the sensitive data
collected and viewed.
OFFICIAL
Person Specification:
Essential
Desirable
Knowledge and Experience
• Experience of working in a customer orientated organisation
and of dealing with customers on a one-to-one basis
• Experience delivering high standards of accuracy and
efficiency in the processing of high-volume areas of
transactional work
• Recent experience assessing all types of Housing Benefit and
Council Tax Reduction claims
• Experience analysing and interpreting role-related legal,
financial and technical information, for implementation and
presentation to others
• Practical knowledge of national and England & Wales
Housing Benefit and Council Tax reduction regulations and
relevant legislation
• Knowledge of local authority and DWP
benefit legislation, assessment procedures
and associated matters
• Experience in a financial, administration or
benefit environment, ideally local authority
Revenues & Benefits or DWP benefits
• Knowledge of council tax
• Knowledge and understanding of fraud
legislation
• Experience of the software systems
(including document management) used
within Revenues and Benefits; knowledge
of Northgate is an advantage
• Knowledge of standard IT packages (eg Microsoft Office) to
create letters, reports and present data
• Understanding of practical application of relevant legislation
and policies including GDPR, MOU, Health & Safety and
Equality & Diversity
Occupational Skills
• Excellent communication skills, including ability to explain
complex issues to a wide range of audience
• Highly customer focussed, responding positively and with
empathy when resolving customer issues.
• Able to interpret and analyse information to inform decision
making
• Consistently maintaining a high level of accuracy while
working under pressure
• Able to converse clearly with customers and provide
advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the
post.
• Able to diffuse conflict, deal professionally with challenge
and remain calm in stressful situations
• Experience of working in a climate of
legislative and organisational change
• Proven ability assessing and managing
risk
• Skilled in identifying, analysing and
establishing patterns in data
• Have effective time and workload management skills to
support appropriate work prioritisation and to meet
individual and team deadlines
• Confident and effective decision maker.
• Supportive team member who makes a positive
contribution to team discussions and activities
Behaviours
Our values and behaviours (sharepoint.com)
Professional Qualifications
• GCSE or equivalent in English & Maths or equivalent
• IRRV Benefits / Revenues qualification
OFFICIAL
Structure
Head of Welfare
and Benefits
Benefits
Operational
Manager
Benefits
Operational
Team Leader
Benefits Officer
NB – Assessment criteria for recruitment will be notified separately.
OFFICIAL