This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in preventing and relieving homelessness in Redbridge.

The Housing Needs Service is undergoing a visionary transformation to achieve successful outcomes for our residents. We are seeking people who excel in building positive and trusting relationships and expert in finding long lasting solutions for our residents and their housing concerns.

You would be joining the London Borough of Redbridge at an exciting time, joining an ambitious new Housing Needs Service that embraces change and a positive learning culture for colleagues with a vision to preventing homelessness for all.

We are seeking a highly experienced Complaints Officer who wants to work in a Housing resident-centred service. You will play a major part in reducing the number of complaints received by understanding patterns and contributing to the overall success of the new service.

The role a detailed understanding of complaints and LGO processes is desirable and practice and the ability to translate complex legislation into simple solutions for our residents. The role will also involve contributing to innovative and creative policies, strategies and processes. This is a specialist role that will at the cutting edge following the introduction of the Homelessness Act 2017.

This role requires effective communication skills and will be given the opportunity to develop professionally.

Key responsibilities:

* To deal with complex enquiries, including from the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), Members and MP's and ensure high quality and timely responses for issues that range across all of Housing Needs functions including prevention, homeless assessment, the housing register, allocations and temporary accommodation

* Manage housing needs cases that go to the LGO from inception to dealing with outcomes and remedies

* Manage and co-ordinate input into complex cases involving child and adult safeguarding interventions, serious case reviews etc

* To reduce the need for provision of temporary accommodation and resulting expenditure by ensuring effective and timely input in case referred but also offering good quality options, prevention and relief advice as part of casework interventions

* To take responsibility for the recording of high quality, key data on all types of casework which support the submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government ensuring key trends on homelessness, the causes and solutions is available. Also ensuring information on homelessness. Temporary accommodation and allocations as it relates to officer interventions is available for analysis locally to support the management of demand and response to trends and service issues

This is a specialist role that will be at the forefront of the response to the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

For an informal discussion, please contact Darren Fairclough, Operational Head of Housing Needs - Darren.fariclough@redbridge.gov.uk

Job Description