Description Local Democracy Assistant Salary: Band 6: £26,073 - £29,777 per annum Contract: Permanent Hours: 37 hours per week (Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, flexible) Closing date: Sunday 17 November 2024, 23:59 Interviews week commencing Monday 25 November 2024 This is a politically restricted post under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. Why come to live and work in Portsmouth? Portsmouth is a great waterfront city and a vibrant place to live and work. It is an island city with an “inner city” feel, a seaside location packed with attractions and events, and the advantage of fantastic countryside on its doorstep. With fast road and rail links to London, Brighton and major airports, and ferry links to Europe, it is the perfect place to live and work. Portsmouth has a strong history of partnership working and has successfully integrated several local services. At Portsmouth City Council we’re all about developing our staff, because we want to build a bigger and better city but we need the best employees to do so. With a little over 208,000 residents and 7,000 businesses throughout this city, this unitary authority’s main goal is to ensure the best care and development of all those within the city. From customer service to multi-million pound projects, our residents are at the heart of everything we do. The Service Democratic Services are a small team of professional officers who work at the heart of the council and the council's decision-making process. As a service we take pride in our work by valuing others, focusing on what's important so that we make a real and positive difference. Our values are outlined in our Ways of Working and our Guiding Principles. Your new role Reporting to the Senior Local Democracy Officer you will be joining a small professional team at the centre of the Council providing support to elected members and the democratic process. You will use your excellent written and oral communication skills to provide effective and proactive support to the team. The work is varied, but at its core is providing administrative support to Democratic Services and to lead on the administration around schools' admissions appeal hearings. Other duties will include undertaking research as required for scrutiny reviews and publishing agendas, supporting and minuting joint working and advisory bodies of the council, specifically the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) and the Twinning Advisory Group. You will need to be flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of the service and meetings are sometimes held outside core hours, so you must have the flexibility to work outside of usual office hours occasionally. Please read the job profile for the full details of this role. What you'll need to succeed You will use your personable but professional approach to communicate effectively to diverse audiences, whilst being politically sensitive and ensuring that the appropriate level of confidentiality is maintained. Your organisational skills will be required to set up meetings and to oversee the Council's petition scheme, FOI requests that the service receives and work around the annual councillor appointments to outside bodies. Your IT skills will be required to update the Council's Modern.Gov committee system database, along with the council's Appeals Pro software in respect of school admissions appeals. Your keen eye for detail and ability to work to deadlines will be required in supporting the schools' admissions appeal hearings process, the publication of meeting agendas and when writing minutes. You will also provide administrative support to scrutiny panels, in respect of undertaking research and arranging for witnesses to attend meetings where required. Please read the job profile for the full details of this role. You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it. What you'll get in return: We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards: Generous annual leave (27 days per year rising to 31, pro rata for part time hours) with the potential to purchase additional leave. A fantastic pension which allows you the opportunity to pay in more for that greater return. Flexible working options including hybrid working with a minimum of two days office based per week pro rata, giving you the flexibility to work up to three days at home every week. Hybrid working is dependent on the role and service needs, exact details will be discussed with you at interview. Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships. Extensive wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme Discount on travel, travel loans and the bike loan scheme Discounts on a wide range of goods and services – access a range of discounts and offers from thousands of restaurants, shops and more. Staff rewards: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/working-for-the-council/ Additional Information: The full job profile is attached here. Contact Details for an Informal Discussion: James Harris, Senior Local Democracy Officer, james.harrisportsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 606 065 A commitment to our values: We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours. Application process: How to complete your application: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/how-to-apply/ We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society. Please submit both a CV and a cover letter/personal statement. Remember to demonstrate in your cover letter/personal statement why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' section of the full Job Profile, using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. If you upload a CV without a cover letter/personal statement, it is unlikely that your application will be successful. We will email applicants from time to time; please ensure you check e-mail folders as sometimes our e-mails may go into spam/junk folders. Please note that we may shortlist as we receive applications, so this advert may close earlier than the given date. We look forward to speaking with you soon. Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruitportsmouthcc.gov.uk .