Correspondence Drafter

Job summary

Would you like to be part of a busy team, working on issues that affect peoples’ everyday lives, including housing, spreading opportunity around the country and creating communities where we are proud to live?

Do you want to work at the heart of a Government department, writing on behalf of Ministers as part of our conversation with the public?

If so, we can offer you an exciting opportunity to join the fast-paced and welcoming correspondence team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. Citizens are at the heart of MHCLG’s agenda, which attracts strong interest from across Parliament, the corporate and third sector and the public.

We are looking for two Correspondence Drafters, based in Bristol to handle enquiries from Parliamentarians and stakeholders. We have ambitions to become the best-performing and most innovative correspondence team in Government. The successful candidate will play a vital role in helping us achieve our target of responding to more than 80% of correspondence within 20 working days. This will require rapid commissioning of information from policy teams and drafting fast and concisely written replies.

The ideal candidate will pride themselves on their writing and case management capabilities: an interest in policy development, as well as attention to detail and keen organisation skills are all useful qualities. A role in correspondence is an excellent base for developing detailed knowledge of the Department’s work, and a great entry-level opportunity for individuals who want to develop their career in the Civil Service.

Our Bristol office is one of MHCLG’s most vibrant and welcoming hubs — a modern, flexible workspace right in the heart of the city. It’s a sociable and supportive place to work, where you’ll quickly build connections across teams and have the chance to network with colleagues from other government departments who share the same office.

Our Bristol office provides strong development opportunities, such as being encouraged to attend Bristol 'town hall' meetings, giving everyone a genuine voice in shaping the culture and future of the office. It also offers a friendly, collaborative atmosphere, where you can thrive professionally while making a meaningful impact through the work you do.

Job description

Responsibilities will include:

• Drafting high-quality and timely replies to correspondence from Parliamentarians and stakeholders on behalf of the Department’s Ministers;
• Managing and prioritising casework so that replies to correspondence are sent within 20 working days;
• Ensuring that casework is accurately processed, and tracked via our casework management system;
• Supporting the completion of in-office tasks such as printing responses to be boxed for Ministers, scanning signed responses and opening hard copy post to ensure cases are processed in a timely manner.
• Developing and maintaining knowledge of MHCLG policy areas in order to draft accurate and detailed responses.

Person specification

Successful candidates will be:

• Confident writers with a keen eye for detail; able to strike the right tone depending on subject matter and respondent;
• Proactive and able to manage their time effectively;
• Able to manage multiple competing priorities;
• Interested in policy developments across Government, current affairs and how Parliament works;
• Confident about building positive working relationships with a wide range of teams ;
• Experienced users of Office365, and willing to learn how to use our case management systems;
• Able to work Full Time and be based in Bristol.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,622, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £8,291 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application and Selection
The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Strengths

Stage 1: Sift

• Behaviour: Managing A Quality Service (Lead Behaviour)
• Behaviour: Delivering at Pace
• Experience: Describe a time when you had to explain complex information in writing to someone unfamiliar with the topic. How did you ensure clarity and understanding?

There is a 250-word limit per question.

When writing your application, remember:

• the assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially

• do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers

• if talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!)

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Managing A Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Working Together
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.

Candidates will be expected to complete a written exercise at interview stage, details of which would be shared upon invitation.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 23/02/2026

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

• Applying

• Sifting

• Interview

• Interview Results & Feedback

• Reserve List

• Near Miss

• Civil Service Grades

• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer

• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Artificial Intelligence

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Fixed Term Contracts

• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register

• Appeals and Complaints

• Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office:

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Ciara Carter
• Email : ciara.carter@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

a procedural irregularity

an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy

exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

1a. MHCLG Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 834kB)1b. Candidate Guidance Opens in new window (pdf, 355kB)1c. Success Profiles Candidate information Opens in new window (pdf, 936kB)