Social Care Transport Officer

Social Care Transport Officer

Location: Chelmsford
Salary: GBP22,700 - GBP28,500 p.a.
Contract type: Fixed term contract/secondment to cover maternity leave (up to 1 year)
Hours: Full time, 37 hours per week

Job Role:

This role is responsible for the assessment and delivery of cost-effective and quality transport provision for approximately 1300 adult social care service users and 200 children in care across the County of Essex; ensuring effective stakeholder engagement in a complex environment.

The role is critical in ensuring that the Local Authority meets its statutory duties and policies related to Social Care Transport provision; within an overall budget of circa GBP6 million.

The Social Care Transport Officer will assess transport requests for adult service users and children-in-care attending college, day opportunities, residential establishments, contact and education; applying the relevant policies and discretion in exceptional cases. They will ensure that the Local Authority receives best value for any transport provision provided; through negotiation with suppliers, variations to existing contracts and having the authority to approve cost changes. The ability to undertake these responsibilities independently, with limited supervision, is essential.

Brokering personalised solutions for service users or children will be a key part of the role; considering a whole host of potential options from Direct Payments, to providing a managed service or procuring transport.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
• Within a complex and difficult setting, work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the best overall outcome for adult service users or children in care, whilst protecting ECC's interests and ensuring compliance with all legislation and guidance related to the assessment and provision of transport.
• To ensure transport requests are assessed, and transport provided where eligible, ensuring deadlines, targets and performance indicators are met whilst maintaining highly sensitive passenger data and financial data records in accordance with ECC policies
• Be part of a customer focussed team to ensure complex, sensitive and difficult customer interactions are dealt with in a timely manner working with partners and stakeholders to resolve operational issues in a proactive manner.
• Be responsible for, and have the authority to, approve Adult Social Care transport expenditure; ensuring the Local Authority receives value for money for any contracts or personalised solutions it provides. You will also provide an excellent customer journey through our processes.
• The post holder will be required to deliver a number of projects independently as part of their role, ensuring delivery to cost, time and specification, using multiple different IT systems
• To prepare and submit reports and provide advice to senior managers for performance and budget monitoring purposes.
• Be a subject matter expert for Social Care transport, providing advice and support to colleagues, commissioners, directors and customers of the Local Authority and also actively promote the services that we offer.
• Identify and broker opportunities where personalised transport budgets could be offered and implemented with the aim of achieving high customer satisfaction, provide choice and control whilst also meeting the high level SEN or disabilities of our customers

Knowledge, skills and experience
• Educated to degree level or equivalent by experience
• Demonstrable commercial astuteness alongside excellent negotiation and influencing skills with the ability to persuade stakeholders
• Evidence of successfully delivering outcomes for service users in a complex, customer facing role; with an appreciation of accountability and the consequences of actions
• Significant experience of delivering services for service users in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment
• Ability to remain calm working under pressure to deadlines/targets is essential
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision to complete essential projects
• Experience of working in a political environment, understanding and responding to different perspectives and taking a cross organisational perspective (particularly with Adult & Family Operations)
• Have an excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power point). User knowledge of SPITS, MOSAIC, DPS and Capita One systems would be advantageous, but not essential.
• Knowledge and understanding of the main principles of the Care Act, Fair Access to Care, Equality Act and the DDA. An understanding of the Data Protection Act and a commitment to information security is essential
• Significant experience within a transport environment would be beneficial and a geographical knowledge of Essex is desirable

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please visit:

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees, including:

• A local government pension scheme (LGPS), a career average scheme with employee and employer contributions
• Annual leave entitlement of up to 29 days per year (depending upon grade and length of service)
• Purchase of additional annual leave (up to agreed limits)
• Flexible working arrangements (for most roles but depending upon service requirements)
• Discounted shopping through a dedicated Reward Portal (including discounts at major supermarkets)
• Training and development and payment of professional fees (approved professions only)
• Employee assistance programme provided in-house (wellbeing and counselling provision)
• Childcare vouchers, through salary sacrifice
Please note ECC regularly reviews its reward and benefits)

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity is key to our success.

If you have any queries regarding this role, or require anything further, please contact the Essex Recruitment Team on *.
*Calls to this number will cost 7 pence per minute plus your telephone charge rate