Character Enquiry Centre (CEC) Caseworker

Job Title: Character Enquiry Centre (CEC) Caseworker

Salary: You will receive £28,511 the Band E minimum plus £1,721 location allowance. Progressing to Band K1 upon successful graduation of our Academy and achieving Accredited Caseworker status (Band K1 Minimum £29,258 - Maximum £33,269 plus £1,721 location allowance). Plus a generous pension scheme and a reward & discount scheme.   

Location: Sidcup

You’ll find the facts…

So the vulnerable don’t face the risk.

This job is all in the detail. 

Reference & Vetting – Vision for 2025:

Through the development and empowerment of our people we will continue to build trusted, inclusive and collaborative teams who lead on national services that protect the public, prevent risk and harm, and ensure communities are at the centre of everything we do.

Background to The Character Enquiry Centre (CEC):

CEC is a large unit which provides specialist police background checks for those seeking to or who will have significant contact with the most vulnerable members of society. This work is commissioned by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) with our main focus being the protection of children and vulnerable adults from harm. The MPS is the largest provider of this service and process over 300,000 applications a year. Our ‘vision’ is to be the lead service provider setting the standard for all other forces.

The Role:

The role of a caseworker is one of the key roles within the CEC, as they are the first tier in a two-tier decision making process. The position is fully computer based and is not a standard administrative role. The caseworker role entails a large amount of reviewing sensitive intelligence, extensive reading and report writing. Therefore, it is essential that you possess fundamental IT and literacy skills to perform the role.

Those joining CEC will receive 4 weeks CEC Foundation training. Upon successful completion of this training and on passing the PNC assessment you will progress onto the CEC Academy. The average graduation from the academy is 20 weeks. 

Individuals will be permitted 2 attempts to pass the PNC assessment. Failure to pass assessment after 2 attempts will lead to termination of your contract.

This is a pressurised production environment and you will be expected to meet and maintain targets for both production and quality within this role. You will be provided with real-time feedback on your work in order to help you achieve and maintain the required quality standards.

All staff successfully completing Foundation training and Academy will be entitled to work in line with the Met’s Blended Working Policy. This currently means that after an initial period of working full time in the office, subject to a competency and risk assessment from their Line Manager, individuals may be able to work 2 days in the office and 3 days at home (using Met laptops) each week. It should be noted that this arrangement is subject to short notice change with an agreed notice period, and will also be subject to acceptable performance levels being achieved.  

As a CEC caseworker you will:

• Work 100% of your time on a computer, therefore IT skills are mandatory
• Work within a safeguarding environment on a team of caseworkers conducting checks on behalf of The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
• Carry out extensive research. Analysing Police intelligence to determine if there is relevant information held regarding an applicant or third party. Intelligence matches are made via names, dates of birth, addresses and data held on the Police National Computer (PNC)
• Determine whether intelligence identified relates to the applicant and if it does, write concise summaries, recording and creating a trail of relevant decision making
• Identify relevant intelligence and bring this to the attention of the relevant decision maker, following CEC and Quality Assurance Framework (QAF – national guidelines)
• Where necessary perform additional research using various MPS intelligence systems, including PNC, IIP, CRIMINT Plus and CRIS
• Comply with the MPS and DBS QAF guidelines
• Conduct various administration duties pertaining to the role

It will be down to you to help make decisions about the disclosure of information that directly impacts children and vulnerable adults, and those who want to work with them. Working in small teams, you will take ownership of a caseload - cross checking details, using various innovative systems simultaneously to look through any reports that flag up and prepare a summary report of your findings. Your work will involve reading crime reports, and sometimes potentially disturbing material, but the outcome will be that you are playing a part in safeguarding the most vulnerable people in our communities. You will have support from your team and managers, so you will not be alone in making your decisions, but we will look to you to make recommendations for how best to move forward. 

The importance of this role cannot be underestimated. You do not however need experience to join our team, as we will give you all the specialist training and supervision you need to succeed. 

You will need to be self-motivated with a great eye for detail, excellent writing and computer skills, with the ability to follow processes. Of course, it goes without saying that integrity is key and a passion for research and analysis will help you make the most of the job. 

This is a flexible and rewarding role that will bring you a great sense of pride – you will be an integral part of our crucial team. Our roles bring real opportunity, not only will you leave each day with a sense of job satisfaction knowing you have played a part in keeping our society safe, you’ll build up experience that can act as a springboard into other data analyst roles within the Met.

Further Information:

Please note that this role does not grant access to the car park facility at Marlowe House.

Please click on the below link to view an online candidate information pack that will you give you an insight into the Met, the competency framework we use which shapes our daily work behaviours, the application process and a host of other information, that will help inform and support your application:

https://sscl-innovation.com/MPScandidatepack/

Click the apply now button below and start your career at the Met. Applications will be via a detailed online application form.

Application Stages:

Sift Stage: Applicants should note that we will be adopting a two-stage sifting process. Stage 1 will involve a team of sifters only reviewing and marking the critical competence of ‘We Analyse Critically’. Given this importance, applicants MUST achieve a minimum score of 4 out of 5 in order to advance to Stage 2 of the sift process. This will mean that any applicants scoring 3 or less for this competence will automatically be deemed to have failed the selection process for this role. All applicants advancing to Stage 2 will have the rest of their remaining competencies reviewed and marked.

Assessment Stage: Due to the nature of this role successful applicants at sift stage will be invited to undertake a decision making based assessment. This assessment will use example scenarios to review your ability to follow written guidance and methodical approaches to make a decision on the intelligence presented. You will be provided 50 minutes to complete the assessment and this will be conducted in person at an MPS location.

Interview Stage: Upon successful completion of the Sift and Assessment stage you will be invited to partake in an interview, where you will be asked the following Competency and Values based questions (We Analyse Critically, We are Collaborative, Integrity) Please answer with your experiences and what you can bring to the role. Interviews will take place in person at an MPS location.

Completed applications must be submitted by 09/02/2023.

We view diversity as fundamental to our success. To tackle today’s complex policing challenges, we need a workforce made up from all of London’s communities. Applications from across the community are therefore essential.

As a Disability Confident Committed Employer the Met have committed to ensuring that disabled people and those with long-term health conditions have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

www.metpolicecareers.co.uk