Your new organisation
Southend on Sea City Council is a Unitary local authority, providing vital services to meet the needs of the local community. We employ around 1,800 staff who are working alongside our partners and local communities to deliver the city vision and make lives better for the people of Southend. Southend itself is a vibrant place to live and work, offering coastal living alongside excellent and fast transport links into London.
Working for Southend-on-Sea City Council offers a challenging and rewarding career in local government within a collaborative and innovative environment.
As a Unitary Authority we are responsible for all local government functions ranging from regulatory services, transport, public health, and parks through to planning, social services, community safety and education, so we offer a wide range of career opportunities.
The diversity of our economy, communities and investment in several exciting regeneration projects makes our Council a great place to work, learn and make a difference.
Your new role
We are looking for a knowledgeable Home to school travel assistance lead (SEND) to join the SEND home to school travel assistance team. This role is offered on a fulltime and temporary basis (6 months).
As transport entitlement officer, you will lead on the review of home to school transport services, systems and processes which relate to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Ensuring the most efficient use of public resources and minimise the carbon impact of transport arrangements.
Listed below are the duties for which this role will be primarily responsible:
- To lead engagement with Council staff, parents and schools in relation to the provision of home to school transport services for children and young people with special educational needs
- To lead the review and update existing entitlement criteria and processes to ensure the Council is providing a statutorily compliant service in an efficient and effective way.
- To lead the review of existing home to school transport provision to Children and Young People with SEND to ensure services are being assessed and delivered equitably, efficiently and in a way which meets identified needs and risks.
- To lead, in conjunction with transport staff, the development of proposals for alternative transport options which deliver greater value for money and are based on robust risk assessment and plans.
- To support work on the development of Personal Budgets and Independent Travel Training schemes to establish the feasibility of implementation within the programme.
- To ensure staff in operational services are fully aware of and trained in the application of new policies and entitlement criteria for new transport requests.to ensure fair and just application.
- To support the development of the overall change management strategy for the Council to transform the Home to School Transport Service.
- To work with schools and parents to understand their views and investigate potential improved ways of working which can be delivered through the transformation programme.
- To support the ongoing review and updating of the Home to School Transport Policy in conjunctions with the Head of Service.
- To contribute to the development of systems which track and evaluate the impact of changes to entitlement, criteria and service provision.
- To ensure recording systems for decision making in respect of Home to School Transport decisions on new applications are effective and robust.
- To support consultative work with a broad range of stakeholders, including parents, schools and transport providers to ensure that the transformation programme is taken forward in a legal, timely and robust manner.
What you'll need to succeed
To be successful in this role, it is essential that you have working knowledge of relevant legislation, processes, procedures and issues relating to the service user group. It is essential that you have solid understanding of the statutory requirements of a council to provide home to school transport and principles of sustainable travel. You have to be able to plan, manage and prioritise a caseload and seek guidance where necessary.
It is vital that you can show an understanding of the circumstances of people with more complex social care needs, to gather detailed and appropriate information and to reach a view about the likely source of assistance. Excellent numeracy skill and ability to make recommendations for the provision of services in line with the budget determined and according to assessment of needs is highly essential for this role. You need to be competent in a range of IT tools including MS Office and database management systems. You need to be able to communicate effectively and professionally with the team, end service users, schools, educational leaders and partner agencies both verbally and in writing. It is essential that you can build meaningful relationships with key stakeholders across all levels as you will be liaising with various people from different backgrounds.
What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV.Please note: Applications for this vacancy may close prior to the date advertised above so you are advised to apply as soon as you are able to. Southend-on-Sea City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. All applicants for this role will require an enhanced DBS check.
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