MI Officer (Ref: 78247)

Be a super hero, prevent crime and save lives – come and work for CFO! We may not wear capes (although they are optional), but the HMPPS Creating Future Opportunities (CFO) team has a proven record of reducing crime and saving lives. You will be working as an MI Officer based at our main office in Daresbury, Warrington, as a key member of this innovative and forward-thinking team working to reduce re-offending and helping offenders turn their back on crime to lead positive and productive lives. This is an exciting environment to work in, where you are constantly rewarded by the knowledge that you have helped improve the lives of many.

In addition to the satisfaction that you have truly made a difference, the role has excellent pay, pension, holiday entitlement, flexi hours and a great office environment to work in. Being part of the wider the MoJ, training and progression opportunities are abound and you will have the support of your manager and colleagues if you wish to up-skill in any areas you would like.

Until December 2023, this post will be funded by the European Social Fund. From January 2024, it will continue to be funded (and will deliver against) HMPPS objectives.

National Security Clearance will be required for this post.  PLEASE NOTE – Applicants for National Security Clearance at SC Level must have been a resident in the UK continuously for a minimum of 5 years (immediately before National Security Clearance is requested). We may not be able to progress your application if you do not meet this criterion.

Overview of the job  

HMPPS Co-Financing Programme is a large-scale national employability programme working across all Prisons and Probation areas. The joint funding structure of the programme necessitates dual governance arrangements to satisfy requirements of both HMPPS and the European Union (EU). The programme combines activity, funding and governance across all programme delivery areas for HMPPS and as such the post holder requires detailed knowledge of and effective links to the majority of departments across HMPPS and MoJ. The EU element requires the post holder to have effective links to policymakers and delivery agencies across other Government Departments.

The post holder will be required to collate information and then distribute it to make match funding claims to support externally funded programmes, but to ensure that the information contained in the contracts is correct and confirm the eligibility of the match participants and associated management information is accurate to limit risks around approximately £260 million of Contracts and Match Funding.

There are no line management responsibilities.

The post reports to the Research Statistician, and through them to the Research & Statistics Lead Manager.

This is a HQ post based in the Northwest (Daresbury Park, Warrington). The post is non-operational.

To work 100% on ESF and other externally funded projects.

Summary    

The match funding requirement currently for the HMPPS CFO programme and other externally funded projects currently exceeds £260 million between 2014 and 2024. In order to evidence the match funding, a large amount of invoices relating to provision must be collated. Details of the offenders in prisons or community who have accessed these contracts must also be collected (these are known as match participants). This equates to over approximately 85% of the prison and community populations.

The details of these invoices and the supporting management information are required in quarterly submissions to the Managing Authority.

The role is required to not only collate the information and then distribute it to make match funding claims to the Managing Authority, but to ensure that the information contained in the contracts is correct and confirm the eligibility of the match participants and associated management information is accurate. Claims to the Managing Authority are made on a regular basis dependant on the source if the external funding.

Currently, Management Information (personal data) is collated from Pnomis, LIDS, Offloc, HDC data and nDelius. However, data in the future will also need to be collected from community and other possible sources of match funding in HMPPS.
 
Responsibilities, Activities and Duties   

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

•    Assist with the calculation of the Match Funding for externally funded programmes for projects in England.
•    Run database changes for the Match Funding and Management Information databases using SQL queries.
•    Locate and collate the appropriate MI required for Match Funding claims from a variety of prison service, probation and third party datasets. Ensure that the data collected is all correct and present in the required format.
•    Ensure that the MI collated is accurate and will withstand frequent and rigorous external ESF audits as failure to disclose correct and sufficient evidence will result in large financial penalties for HMPPS. Ensure the MI is not double counted on other ESF projects by liaising with other CFO/ESF programmes and their respective MI managers.
•    Lead in the location of eligible match funding contracts, ensure MI is present and correct and develop/produce reports to show the match funding both for claims to ESF and for stringent audits by ESF and the European Court of Auditors.
•    Supporting business areas in the provision and interpretation of management information; to ensure HMPPS Business Areas make effective use of the MI and reporting in their business planning.
•    Work with stakeholders to understand and agree business requirements. This will require you to develop strong working relationships, working closely with non-specialist colleagues to understand their requirements.
•    Lead in the production of the required reports and ensure that the reports are correctly sent and pass ESF data validation checks.
•    Assist in the qualitative and quantitative aspects of audits, ensuring that the needs of the auditors are met in a timely manner with 0% errors.
•    Produce ad hoc reports on the HMPPS cohort and the other external programme subsets, as requested by HMPPS CFO staff, internal and external partners, providers/contractors, senior HMPPS managers and ministers.
•    Support the production of information and reports for HMPPS clients such as DOMS, Governors, HMPPS Board, Heads of Group etc. This includes the Assist with the development of data repositories for clients to draw off their own standard and appropriate reports. Ensure appropriate security and access requirements and provide end user support and any underpinning manuals and documentation.
•    Complete regular statistical returns for HMPPS, the European Union, and the Civil Service in general such as the Office of National Statistics, Public Sector quarterly employer survey, Civil Service annual employee staff survey, Cabinet Office quarterly sickness returns etc.
•    Use the formal document management systems available and ensure appropriate security, version control and archiving of data used and statistical analysis produced.
•    Undertake simple modelling and forecasting for HMPPS such as that on workforce planning. This may involve designing the base model.
•    Draft responses to parliamentary questions / provide information in response to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act as required, where they are non-complex and statistically based or provide data and analysis to supplement answers produced by others. Coordinate the administrative aspect of the submission e.g., getting it in on time. Keep an overall record and analysis of PQs and the responses provided.
•    Respond to ad hoc requests for information in an appropriate format and a timely manner. For example, reports to the succession planning committee, data for the HMPPS annual report and accounts. This information may need to be signed off by others.
•    Analyse standard data such as that from SSCL or Probation Service HR platform using appropriate packages such as Excel, Business Objects etc. Provide initial commentary and recommendations for further investigation / action. (Both qualitative and quantitative work).
•    May be involved in the training of others to successfully input data or undertake basic analysis work using specific packages such as Excel, Access or Business Objects etc.
•    Undertake data integrity checking, cleansing and migration work as required.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
• Telephone : 0845 241 5358

Recruitment team

• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com