HM Inspectorate of Prisons - Inspector (Ref: 15624)

Job summary

These positions are based Nationally or at 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4BB

Job description

Who we are:

We are an independent inspectorate led by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. We scrutinise the conditions and treatment of prisoners and other detainees and report on our findings.

We help to make sure that detention is humane, safe, respectful and helps to prepare people for release ahead of their return to the community. We do that by carrying out independent inspections of prisons, young offender institutions, secure training centres and courts in England and Wales and places of immigration detention across the UK.

Find out about our expectations for different types of detention.

We publish reports to let people know about our findings and hold the government, and those running places of detention, to account. We also identify and share examples of good practice to support leaders in learning from other, comparable institutions.

Our role is to shine a light on what needs to change, but we cannot enforce it. It is up to prison leaders to consider the best way to respond to our concerns and use their resources and expertise to find solutions. HM Prison and Probation Service or the Home Office should work with the establishment to support this progress.

Find out more about our mandate.

About the role:

HM Inspectorate of Prisons are looking for Inspectors to inspect prison and other forms of custody. The inspector is the pivotal role within our organisation, inspecting the conditions and treatment prisoners and detainees experience whilst they are held in custody. They do these using criteria we call Expectations, which describe the standards establishments should achieve.

Inspectors must be confident and be able to interact in the field with detainees, staff and leaders during an inspection. They must be able to analyse complex information from a range of sources and determine accurate and objective judgements under time pressure. They also need the ability to write up key findings in a clear, concise and evidence-based way. These roles require excellent team players who can support colleagues when working as part of an inspection team but are also able to spend long periods inspecting and working alone.

Most inspections take place over two weeks, so the role of an inspector requires a considerable amount of time working away from home. For example, if you are coordinating an inspection for your team, you might be away for two nights on the first week, and then four or five nights on the following week. This will sometimes include leaving on Sunday afternoon to start work early on a Monday. If you are just attending the full inspection week, rather than coordinating, you will only be required to attend the second week. It is essential that inspectors are very flexible, but the Inspectorate will offer a balanced workload that provides time at home between inspections. Across the year, you are likely to complete on average 18 or 20 weeks away on inspection. When not inspecting, time will be used for report writing, project work and other tasks as required.

Frequent travel within the UK (and possibly abroad) will be required, and you will spend at least one week in three away on inspection, as well as travelling for meetings and other events. You will also need to be available to come to London for internal and external meetings on a regular basis. A preparedness to travel and work away from home is a key requirement of the role.

Responsibilities:

You will:

• Inspect the conditions and treatment of prisoners and detainees, using HMIP’s own Expectations inspection criteria.
• Interact with detainees and staff throughout inspections, seeking their views.
• Work under significant time pressure during inspections.
• Spend a lot of your time working on your own each day in the custodial environment (you will be trained in jail-craft and carrying keys).
• Work at speed, interpret complex information and draw accurate and objective conclusions from a range of evidence sources.
• Draft key findings in a clear, defensible and evidence-based way.
• Discuss, evaluate and debate findings with the team leader and other team members.
• Need to be an excellent team player throughout the inspection weeks, Support colleagues and constructively contribute to on-site discussions and judgements.
• Brief senior managers in the establishment about your developing findings and participate in the debrief at the end of the inspection.
• Write up your evidence-based findings clearly and concisely the week after an inspection, to tight timescales and wordcounts (and using information technology).
• Monitor policy and practice in relation to those in custody and help make sure that your team, and the Inspectorate in general keeps up to date on these developments.
• Attend meetings and conferences, where required, on behalf of the Inspectorate.
• Assist with policy papers, briefings and thematic reviews as required.

Essential knowledge, experience and skills:

All candidates will need to have:

• Experience of working with people at senior levels.
• Experience of developing or influencing policy.
• An interest in working across the range of custodial environments but mainly in prisons.
• Experience that demonstrates support for and understanding of the Inspectorate’s work and values.
• Experience that demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to write high-quality evidence-based reports at pace.
• Sound interpersonal, communication and relationship building skills.
• The ability to thrive working as part of the inspection team, but also able to spend long periods inspecting and working alone.

You will be working in difficult and challenging environments; The best candidates will offer a combination of the following skills:

• Think in an objective and analytical manner with the ability to analyse a range of oral, written and statistical evidence.
• Make accurate judgements under pressure and support their findings with evidence.
• Be committed to continuous improvement, in an environment where performance matters.
• Adhere to HMIP’s code of conduct and core values at all times.
• Be flexible, adaptive and creative in solving problems and dealing with change.
• Be resilient in the field and meet tight deadlines.
• Deliver difficult messages in a constructive manner.
• Be able to manage confidently potentially difficult and challenging situations.
• Be able to engage constructively with prisoners and other detainees.
• Be extremely flexible and supportive to colleagues.
• Work closely with colleagues, custodial staff and detainees throughout inspections.

Desirable:

• Understanding of policy, debates associated with detention and custodial environments.
• A background in inspection or investigation.

More information:

Why become a prison inspector, please view the below video to gain an insight on current inspector’s experiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG9cX1g-k5c

To find out more, listen to the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, and Inspection Team Leader, Hindpal Singh Bhui, discuss how inspection findings lead to action: from real‑time feedback to governors, to published reports that inform ministers, practitioners, the media and families, and help drive scrutiny and improvement across the estate.

https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/our-purpose-process-and-impact/

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,511, Ministry of Justice contributes £16,950 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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 employer contribution of 28.97%
• 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

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).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

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Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/15624?entityId=15624