We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.
Senior Policy Advisor Ministerial Council on Deaths in Custody
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Prison Policy Directorate
The Prison Policy Directorate is recruiting permanently for a Senior Policy Advisor Band B role. This campaign is open to current civil servants on level transfer and suitable candidates on promotion from MoJ, HMPPS and YCS staff. Opportunity is open to substantive Band Bs and Band Cs on Temporary Responsibility Allowance TRA. There is one post available on loan or temporary promotion for up to 12 months. At the end of the term, the member of staff will return to their home unit.
Location
Successful candidates will have the option to be based at one of the following locations:
- 102 Petty France, London
- 5 Wellington Place, Leeds (occasional travel between Leeds and London may be required post Covid-19)
Ways of Working
At the MoJ we believe and promote alternative ways of working, these roles are available as:
- Full-time, part-time or the option to job share
- Flexible working patterns
- Flexible working arrangements between base locations, MoJ Hubs and home.
At the moment the majority of our staff are currently working from home due to Covid-19
If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without a new competition.
We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce and pride ourselves as being an employer of choice. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity
Job Description overview
This is an exciting and unusual opportunity to work across government to prevent deaths – both self-inflicted and natural – in all forms of state custody, from prisons to secure health settings, policy custody and immigration detention.
The Ministerial Council on Deaths in Custody brings together Ministers, senior officials, experts and practitioners in a cross-sector approach to allow for better learning and sharing of lessons across custodial agencies. Its shared purpose is to bring about a continuing and sustained reduction in the number and rate of deaths in all forms of state custody in England and Wales. The three tiers of the Ministerial Council are the Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody (MBDC) and Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC), and the Practitioner and Stakeholder Group, which provides expertise and input into the Council’s work.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
MOJ is one of the largest government departments, employing around 70,000 people (including those in the Probation Service), with a budget of approximately £9 billion. Each year, millions of people use our services across the UK - including at 500 courts and tribunals, and 133 prisons in England and Wales.
What we do
The MBDC meets twice a year, with relevant groups meeting between, and is co-chaired by the Minister of State for Justice, Minister of State for Crime and Policing and Minister of State for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety. It includes senior leaders from operational and policy functions, scrutiny bodies, the Chief Coroner and charities. It sets priorities for departments and agencies to make policy and operational changes to prevent deaths, and holds them to account through a shared workplan.
The IAPDC is an advisory non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care. The role of the IAPDC is to provide independent advice and expertise on the prevention of deaths in custody to Ministers, senior operational leads and to the Ministerial Board. It is chaired by Juliet Lyon CBE, Visiting Professor, School of Law, Birkbeck, University of London, and has five other public appointees:
- Professor Seena Fazel (Oxford University)
- Professor Jenny Shaw (Manchester University)
- Deborah Coles (Director of INQUEST)
- John Wadham (Chair of the UK National Preventive Mechanism)
- Jenny Talbot OBE (Prison Reform Trust)
For more information about the IAPDC visit www.iapondeathsincustody.org.
The team is jointly funded and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care. The team is hosted by the Ministry of Justice and sits in the Scrutiny, Performance and Engagement division within the Prison Policy directorate.
Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
The role
As Senior Policy Advisor, the postholder will be responsible for leading the research and policy work of the Board and the IAPDC. This is a unique role which combines providing advice to Ministers and senior officials with support for an expert advisory body that is independent of Government, working collaboratively across three departments and four agencies (prisons, policing, immigration detention centres, and secure health settings).
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with leading sector experts and senior leaders to carry forward work to prevent state custody deaths. They must have excellent influencing, collaboration and networking skills, and be a high-quality researcher and drafter, capable of bringing together complex information from multiple evidence sources to reach clear conclusions.
Main Activities / Responsibilities
The job holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities:
- Work in collaboration across MoJ, the Home Office and DHSC to implement the priorities of the Ministerial Board, supporting policy and operational priorities across departments and agencies to prevent deaths in custody.
- Lead on supporting the IAPDC to develop research and evidence to inform advice to Ministers and departments on how to prevent deaths in custody. This will involve leading on the drafting of advice for ministers and senior officials, research reports and briefings, select committee evidence and ministerial correspondence. Examples of recent IAPDC projects include producing guidelines, adopted by the Home Office, on preventing deaths in immigration detention and reporting with the Royal College of Nursing on how to avoid natural deaths in prison custody, leading to a policy review and new strategy for compassionate release..
- Wider activity to support the work of the Ministerial Council, including through the delivery of high-quality written materials for the Ministerial Board and support of the development of the secretariat team.
Management of Resources
Scope for line management.
Skills and Experience
In your application, you will need to demonstrate how you meet the following Civil Service behaviours:
- Seeing the big picture: Develop and maintain an understanding of economic, social, political, environmental and technological developments to ensure activity is relevant. Ensure plans and activities in your area of work reflect wider strategic priorities and communicate effectively with senior leaders to influence future strategies. Adopt a government-wide perspective to ensure alignment of activity and policy. Bring together views, perspectives and diverse needs of stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of the issues surrounding policies and activities.
- Working together: Actively build and maintain a network of colleagues and contacts to achieve progress on shared objectives. Challenge assumptions while being willing to compromise if beneficial to progress. Build strong interpersonal relationships and show genuine care for colleagues. Ensure consideration and support for the wellbeing of yourself and individuals throughout the team. Understand the varying needs of the team to ensure they are supported, and their experiences are utilised. Create an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are taken into account and bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. Remain available and approachable to all colleagues and be receptive to new ideas.
- Delivering at pace: Ensure everyone clearly understands and owns their roles, responsibilities and business priorities. Give honest, motivating and enthusiastic messages about priorities, objectives and expectations to get the best out of people. Comply with legal, regulatory and security requirements in service delivery. Set out clear processes and standards for managing performance at all levels. Ensure delivery of timely quality outcomes, through providing the right resources to do the job, reviewing and adjusting performance expectations and rewarding success. Maintain own levels of performance in challenging circumstances and encourage others to do the same.
- Making effective decisions: Understand own level of responsibility and empower others to make decisions where appropriate. Analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions. Invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making. Display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular. Consult with others to ensure the potential impacts on end users have been considered. Present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risk
Desirable criteria:
- Knowledge or experience of policy or operational processes for keeping people safe in custodial settings such as prisons, police custody, immigration detention or secure health settings.
- Knowledge or experience of human rights law and wider frameworks to protect lives.
Application process
You will be assessed against the Civil service success profiles framework.
Experience
You will be asked to provide a CV/Work History during the application process in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.
Behaviours
Please provide examples of how you have met each one of the behaviours listed below (see Annex A for more information):
- Seeing the big picture
- Working together
- Delivering at pace
- Making effective decisions
Please also refer to the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade (Band B or equivalent):
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf
Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview, testing both behaviours and strengths.
Candidates invited to Interview
Please note that interviews will be carried out remotely.
At interview, as well as assessing the above behaviours, we will also ask questions to understand your strengths.
If a high number of applications are received, we will sift application forms on the ‘Seeing the big picture’ behaviour.
You can find out more about behaviours and strengths by looking at the Civil Service Success Profiles guidance at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles
During the interview, we will be assessing you on Behaviours and Strengths from the success Profiles framework.
Interviews are expected to take place February 2022.
The MoJ is proud to be Level 3 Disability Confident. Disability Confident is the approach through which we offer guaranteed interviews for all people with disabilities meeting the minimum criteria for the advertised role as set out in the job description.
Contact information
Please do get in touch if you would like to know more about the role or what it is like working in our team.
Piers Barber, Piers.Barber1@justice.gov.uk
Annex A - The STAR method
Using the STAR method can help you give examples of relevant experience that you have. It allows you to set the scene, show what you did, and how you did it, and explain the overall outcome.
Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.
- Where are you?
- Who was there with you?
- What had happened?
Task - The job holder will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.
- What was the task that you had to complete and why?
- What did you have to achieve?
Actions - What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information on what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.
Results - Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures. Explain how the outcome benefitted the organisation or your area. Make the outcomes easily understandable.
- What results did the actions produce?
- What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
- Was it a successful outcome? If not, what did you learn from the experience?
Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.
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