Enforcement Officer (Littering)

Overview

Passionate about driving change? Do you want to make an unprecedented difference to Buckinghamshire, ensuring it is thriving, attractive and welcoming to all? Look no further.

This is an exciting opportunity for an Enforcement Officer to join our Team. The Enforcement Officer will be responsible for driving behavioural change in Buckinghamshire through educational work, promoting responsible waste disposal, the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to offenders caught littering, both on street (when necessary) and through CCTV-led investigations to manage littering from vehicle offending.

The successful applicant will, in proportionate circumstances, undertake PACE compliant interviews taking forward prosecutions with attendance at court hearings.

We are looking to build a strong team with a ‘Can do’ attitude with an ethos of being ‘better’ - where improving the environment is our key vision. We welcome applicants who enjoy working collaboratively to offer a proactive, innovative and customer-focused response to tackling waste crime.

This is an exciting time to join us, as we grow and develop our service. The Communities directorate is at the heart of our organisation and the Enforcement Team have a key role to play in safeguarding our environment for our residents.

This role is for internal candidates only.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. v

The Enforcement Team is a small team of highly effective professionals who are looking for a confident individual to join at an exciting time of expansion within the Strategic Waste Management & Enforcement Service. The legacy council’s powers now form part of the new Unitary Authority, which has presented a real opportunity to review our position around the management of waste crime.

About the role

The role sits within the Strategic Waste Management and Enforcement team (SWME). The team are friendly, approachable and enjoy working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to offer proactive, innovative and customer-focussed solutions. Reporting to the Lead Enforcement Officer you will be part of a newly established team area. You will be responsible for co-ordinating strategies to reduce littering in Buckinghamshire, undertaking proportionate littering enforcement investigations, providing authoritative professional advice on enforcement matters, and meet organisational customer requirements. You will need to be able to work autonomously and drive behavioural change in an area that has really come under the spotlight in recent years. You will be responsible for advising senior officers and members in respect of the Council’s approach to Litter Enforcement in a proactive and politically sensitive manner in line with the Buckinghamshire Council’s vision, values and strategic objectives.

Key Accountabilities

Reporting to the Lead Enforcement Officer, you will be part of a growing team of 12 officers. Knowledge and an understanding of relevant legislation and guidance relating to Littering and (ideally) Fly-tipping is required.  We are looking for self-motivated and enthusiastic people who are able to:

• Deliver both enforcement and communications activities as part of a wider ‘team’ seeking a prevention strategy to reduce both the dropping of litter in Buckinghamshire.
• Undertake proportionate littering investigations on behalf of the Council, in accordance with relevant legislation and guidance. This will require the preparation of legal case files, the issuing of fixed penalty notices and providing authoritative advice to elected members, senior colleagues, partners and stakeholders on areas of expertise.
• Prepare technical evidence and expert witness statements, ensuring that appeal and/or prosecution/court evidence is provided to professional standards within agreed timescales, and where appropriate represent the Council at Court Cases.
• Deal with people from all backgrounds in a calm but assertive manner and possess the ability to be both professional and diplomatic.
• Be observational with good organisational skills and excellent attention to detail.
• Be effective verbal and written communicators

For full details, please see the attached job summary.

About you

The successful post holder will need to possess: 

• Knowledge and understanding of enforcement principles, legislation, experience in collaborative working and problem solving
• A sound knowledge of regulatory and technical aspects of Littering enforcement
• Knowledge and understanding of statutory frameworks and local authority governance
• Ability to write concise reports and have excellent verbal communication skills.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills, to manage a range of complex activities and to achieve given targets and objectives

Other information

The closing date for applications is at midnight on Sunday 7th September 

Interviews could occur throughout the advertised period. Interviews will be either in-person or via MS Teams.

For an informal chat about this role, please contact Gary Slee on 01296 382398 or email [email protected]

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Our Communities directorate works across the county to deliver a number of the key customer-facing services that our residents, businesses and visitors rely on every day. 

This directorate includes a wide range of services, including:

• collecting and disposing of waste and recycling
• maintaining our roads and Rights of Way network and parking
• ensuring the delivery of school transport, and supporting sustainable travel including public bus services and School Crossing Patrollers
• managing Country Parks
• leisure facilities, museums, theatres and libraries, as well as developing our Cultural Strategy
• Licensing, Environmental Health and Trading Standards
• Cemeteries and Crematoria

The customer is central to how we develop and deliver all of these services, which help promote our rich and vibrant culture and special environment. 

We are looking for enthusiastic, ambitious and committed individuals to join our team and help us to continue to make Buckinghamshire a great place to live, work and visit. This is an exciting time for us as we bring together the services previously run by five separate councils before Buckinghamshire Council was created. Whilst making major changes to contracts affecting residents across Bucks, we continue to focus on delivering great customer service. You will join us on our journey of continuous improvement - whether that’s through developing strategies and ways of working or delivering services on the ground, every person in Communities is a valued member of the team.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/