Best Interest Assesser

Job Description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: Leicestershire County Council, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8RA

Salary: £43,860 - £47,829 per annum (pro rata for part-time) (Pay award pending)

Working Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 26/05/26

Interview Date(s): To be arranged.

Do you have a strong commitment to the safeguarding of human rights?.

About the Role

We are looking for positive, flexible and enthusiastic Best Interest Assessors (BIA's) to join our core DOLS service. The team is supportive, welcoming and knowledgeable and we’re keen to recruit people who will contribute to this dynamic as well as being independently confident in their practice.

Working in a large core team of BIA’s, you will be completing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Assessments (DOLS) assessments for the people of Leicestershire and Rutland. Skilled in assessing mental capacity and best interests in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2008 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards 2009, you will be able to work in partnership with people, their families and across our interagency colleagues to complete comprehensive assessments and reports in line with legal requirements and best practice. You will also be able to provide specialist support and advice to colleagues and peers across Leicestershire County Council as needed within the scope of your role.

The vast majority of work will be within the Leicestershire and Rutland area, although rarely there may be times when we may negotiate with you about completing assessments in other parts of the country. We are aware of the challenging nature of working in adult social care and encourage a flexible working pattern that promotes resilience and a positive work/ life balance for our core staff across a Monday- Friday working week. The nature of the work requires mobile working and we are happy to discuss this further with the right candidate.

Ideally you will be an experienced BIA however we are happy to encourage applications from all levels of BIA experience from both diverse backgrounds and core professions. We encourage applications from all core BIA disciplines of Social Work, Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Psychology.

Other additional tasks will include supporting our duty and triage function on a rota basis or as agreed with the DOLS managers, and supporting students as appropriate. Ongoing training and support relevant to this role (including Safeguarding Adults) will be given.

An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

• Core professional qualification in Social Work, Occupational Therapy, Nursing or as a registered Psychologist. Current professional registration with your professional body, i.e. HCPC/ NMC etc).
• Best Interest Assessor Professional qualification.
• Significant experience in multidisciplinary working for Adult Social or Health services assessing complex needs in the fields of mental health and/or learning disability, and/or brain injury and/or older and disabled adults.
• You should have ability knowledge to work with partner agencies and have highly developed analytical and report writing skills providing person-centred solutions and outcomes with effective assessment and risk management skills.
• Self motivated with good organisational skills and able to prioritise work effectively managing to meet tight deadlines.
• Thorough knowledge of the relevant legislation including DOLS legislation/guidance, the Care Act, the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act. You should have extensive knowledge of relevant local and national issues in health and social care.
• Knowledge and understanding of commissioning services to meet need whilst understanding the issues and needs of different citizens including minority ethnic, disability, and age related issues.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Andrew MacTaggart (DOLS Team Manager

Telephone: 0116 3052011.

Email: andrew.mactaggart@leics.gov.uk

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support.

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About us

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone.

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us