Bundle Officer Legal Team Assistant - North Somerset

Salary: Up To £30,151 per year

Hours: 37 Hours
Working Schedule: Monday to Friday
Contract Length: Permanent Role
Location: Clevedon and Weston

Job Details

JOB PURPOSE

The postholder will assist the Childcare Legal Team to provide legal advice to the Council in accordance with the service requirements of each of the Council's directorates.

As a Bundle Officer, assist the Solicitors, Barristers and Legal Practitioners within the Childcare Legal Team to provide legal advice to the People and Communities Directorate in relation to its duty to safeguard children in the area of North Somerset and provide support and services to children in need.

The post holder will be responsible for the care and conduct of their own work (as set out under section 3: Duties and Responsibilities) with little support and with only the requisite supervision. However, it is envisaged that the post holder will require a greater amount of assistance, support, training and supervision within the first 3 months of the appointment.

DIMENSIONS
The post holder will form part of a team responsible for the legal advice and work needed to deliver services to all directorates if required but principally to People and Communities Directorate to ensure the safeguarding of children in the geographical area for which North Somerset Council has responsibility.

The post holder will, by assisting the Solicitors, Barristers and Legal Practitioners within the Childcare Legal Team, have a direct effect on the Council's ability to carry out its statutory duty to ensure that children are protected and services delivered to those in need.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
To work under the instruction of and under the supervision of a Solicitor/Barrister/Legal Practitioner with conduct of a case on any aspect of the case relating to the gathering of evidence.

To have a thorough understanding and apply the knowledge to comply with Practice Direction 27A (Family Procedure Rules 2010) in relation to court bundles.

To be responsible for the electronic court bundling system to include:

• produce and maintain bundles containing highly confidential sensitive information;

• analyse documents for inclusion in the bundle and identify relevant sections of the bundle;

• ensure the distribution of bundles and/or updates (including ensuring that front sheets of files and distribution lists are accurate and regularly updated);

• create and maintain bundle spreadsheets reflecting court directions to ensure only evidence directed is included in bundles;

• monitor for accuracy the Bundle Logs for location of bundles to comply with information security;

• prepare final bundle for archiving.

To develop and maintain the system in relation to birth certificates to include:

• identifying birth certificates required in each case;

• apply for and monitor receipt of birth certificates;

• log and hold birth certificates received to the team's requirements;

• ensure any discrepancies are corrected on the child's file and bundle and inform the court and client department if required.

To develop and maintain new systems as identified as being necessary (for example future case management system and 'safedrop' bundle distribution system etc) and implement any changes to ensure team efficiency and improve service delivery.

Overseeing the support team (JG4) in the creation and updating of court bundles and providing guidance when required.

Deal with any queries relating to the provision of court bundles and resolve any disputes, referring the more serious to line manager.

SUPERVISION AND WORK PLANNING
The post holder will be directly supervised by the Childcare Legal Team Leader (or a member of the team as delegated by the Team Leader) and regular supervision sessions will take place. The other Solicitors, Barristers and Legal Practitioners will be responsible for overseeing the post holder when they allocate tasks to the post holder.

Training will be provided on every aspect of the role. Thereafter, support will only be required as and when necessary and it will be envisaged that the post holder will be able to work with minimum support and supervision.

It is expected that assessment of the post holder's work will be against the following criteria:

A random selection of court bundles will be examined and these will be 95% correct based in according with Practice Direction 27A.

Competent handling of day to day issues will be assessed not only by court bundle review but also through supervision sessions where there will be a question and answer session to determine underlying knowledge and ability to demonstrate effective knowledge of systems, processes and procedures.

Understanding of the nature of the work, communication skills, and effectiveness will be assessed by means of feedback received by the team manager from clients on work done and from the Solicitors, Barristers and Legal Practitioners in the Childcare Legal Team.

If you to wish to discuss this position further, please send over an up-to-date CV and give me a call on (phone number removed)