Appeals Officer - #1697468

Job Title: Appeals Officer

Salary: C1 £27,711 to £30,060

Hours: 37

Contract: Permanent

Location: Knowsthorpe Gate (Or any Leeds City Council building)

About You

Are you looking to join a busy team that responds to appeals received after a Penalty Charge Notice is issued?

Are you looking for a new challenge? If the answer is yes, then we have an exciting role as an Appeals Officer within Parking Services for you.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions .

About The Role

The Appeals team deals with all matters relating to parking legislation. To ensure appeals and notices are issued within the time frame set out by legislation.

The role is varied and you will be trained in all aspects of the process

What We Offer You

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays.
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions.
• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements.
• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities.
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further.
  
  
  

How To Apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role contact Karen Edwardes-Correya Call 0113 3789795.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £38,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Purpose of the role:

To provide administrative support to the Parking Services team.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Possess the knowledge and experience of the procedures and legislation:
• Traffic Management Act 2004.
• Transport Act 2000 bus lane contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005)
• Traffic Management Act 2004. The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022.
• Recovery Process: Practice Direction - Traffic Enforcement. Practice Direction supplements CPR Part 75, to enable to process Penalty Charge Notice appeals/representations received.
• Review and analyse correspondence received by letter, email and webmail and to make decisions regarding the progression / cancellation of cases relating to penalty charge notices at various stages of the process, in line with the relevant legislation and Leeds City Council policies.
• Ability to investigate representations received at the Notice to Owner stage. Identify the precise location of the contravention in order to obtain the correct traffic order details relevant to the case.
• Possess the necessary skills and knowledge to review and comprehend Traffic Regulations Orders. Applying the skills to extract the relevant information (Schedule and Article) in order to make a decision on the required progression of the case.
• Collating documentation and evidence to be submitted to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and providing statements, maps and site visit photographs.
• Have the ability to keep up to date with knowledge of new contraventions that are being enforced and new issuing methods, such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition and static enforcement cameras.
• Possess the required knowledge to analyse video footage captured by CCTV and ANPR devices to determine if contraventions have taken place.
• Prepare reports for senior members of staff when required such as history of a vehicle where numerous PCNs have been issued and Subject Access Report (SARS) requests that are received from motorists.
• Possess the knowledge of the Traffic Enforcement Centre process for Recovery legislation: Practice Direction - Traffic Enforcement. Practice Direction supplements CPR Part 75. Preparing/processing legal documents such as Witness Statements and documentation for when a N244 application has been filed and the cases go to court.
• Liaise with external bodies and Enforcement agents to adhere to the debt recovery process and inform them of any information that we have received from the courts (Out of time)
• Process payments received from enforcement agencies to cases accurately and rejecting payments received when cases have progressed to bailiffs and notifying the payee.
  
  
  

The range of duties also includes:

• Have the skills and ability to use numerous computer systems and applications/programs. Eg; Microsoft office (word and excel), 3Sixty, Financial Management System, Paris and Permit Gateway etc.
• Have the knowledge and experience of adhering to legislative business, financial, audit and operational requirements of the service and the impact on its day to day work, such as raising invoices on the Financial Management System for paying refunds and taking PCN/FPN payments over the telephone.
• Possess the knowledge and experience of dealing with sensitive and confidential information such as financial and personal information received from motorists to support an appeal.
• Have the commitment to the continuous improvement of quality standards, business procedures and processes through continuous review and development.
• The ability to adhere to and maintain the Council's values when responding to appeals and speaking to members of the public.
• Have the experience of managing your own workload and meeting targets whilst maintaining quality as part of a team to ensure that the work allocated is completed within the time frame given so that we as a team can attain the Keep Performance Indicators set.
• Speaking face to face with members of the public when required regarding Penalty Charge Notices and clamped vehicles, and taking payments made by debit/credit card and cash.
• In addition to the above, possess the skills and knowledge do all the administration tasks;
• Printing of the notices to be issued (daily).
• Scanning and uploading documents to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC), Northampton.
• Emailing Out of Time Opposed cases to TEC.
• Logging on and off correspondence received and replied to.
• Printing letterhead paper for our letters that are posted.
  
  
  

The job description includes a wide range of duties which are compatible with the grade of the post. The extent to which the full range of duties is undertaken will vary from time to time in accordance with the requirements of management for the organisation and allocation of work.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: It is essential that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate on the application form that they meet all the essential requirements

Skills Required

• Good organisational and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to mediate and negotiate in difficult circumstances.
• Good communication skills in dealing with a wide range of people.
• Sensitivity in dealing with stressful and difficult situations.
• Ability to develop administrative systems.
• Ability to use own initiative and work independently.
• Working as a member of a team.
• Ability to plan own workload and meet deadlines.
• Excellent IT skills including Word and Excel.
  
  
  

Knowledge Required

• Ability to explain the complexities of the appeals process to a wide range of people.
• Knowledge of the relevant legislation e.g. Traffic Management Act 2004, Transport Act 2000, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.
• Knowledge of Traffic Enforcement Centre process for recovery legislation.
• Ensure extensive process knowledge is maintained and kept up to date.
• An understanding of principles of good customer service.
  
  
  

Behavioural & Other Related Characteristics Required

• Willing to abide by the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy in the duties of the post and as an employee of the Council.
• Willing to take personal responsibility under and abide by the Council’s Health and Safety policy.
• Awareness of an ability to respect the sensitive and confidential nature of the work.
• Conscientious and committed approach towards completing tasks accurately and to deadlines to achieve directorate objectives.
• Commitment to own personal development and learning.
  
  
  

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS: It is desirable that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role. Candidates are not required to meet all the Desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between acceptable candidates.

Desirable Skills

• Previous experience in a customer facing environment.
• Skills in written communication e.g. effective letter writing.
• Working knowledge of Tribunal / Traffic Enforcement Court system.
  
  
  

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