This is a remote position. Term: Temporary (until 31st December 2024) Hours: Full Time Rate: £25.00ph (umbrella) Location: Basildon/Remote The Opportunity The temporary Revenues Officer will be working within the Council Tax Recovery team, predominantly taking all incoming recovery calls from Council Tax charge payers, taking payments and setting up special payment arrangements. The ideal candidate will need experience working within a busy Council Tax Recovery department and advanced use of Civica Open Revenues. Accountabilities Communicate with taxpayers and other interested persons, predominantly by telephone, to identify occupiers, owners for liabilities, discounts and disregards. To facilitate payment of Council Tax by ensuring that demand notices and other documentation are issued to tax payers as appropriate. Implement methods of payment, refunds and other transactions as necessary. Serve various legal notices and invoices for all debt types, implementing payment agreements and take appropriate action for collection and recovery in accordance with guidelines, taking ownership of monitoring accounts and payment arrangements. Ensure that appropriate methods of enforcement and sanctions are pursued, having regard to the means and circumstances of debtors, ensuring that due regard is taken in vulnerable cases. Ensure that appropriate methods of enforcement and sanctions are pursued, having regard to the means and circumstances of debtors, ensuring that due regard is taken in vulnerable cases. Maintain knowledge of Council Tax and Benefits legislation, including debt collection, enforcement and insolvency law, ensuring that processes and decisions apply in accordance with law and policy guidelines. To represent the council in court hearings for all debt types. Ensure that communications with DWP through the Customer Information System (CIS) or its equivalent are properly implemented and undertaken by the relevant staff in accordance with agreed procedures. To identify cases of hardship or other circumstances where a debt may be irrecoverable and to make recommendations for write-offs, referring debtors to local welfare benefits and debt counselling groups where appropriate. Liaise with other staff as appropriate in relation to the collection and enforcement of all debt types owed to the Council. Liaise with enforcement agents, the Police, Courts and with other external collection and enforcement agents to seek to obtain prompt and correct settlement of debts. To liaise with all internal and external partners as required. Requirements The Experience You Will Bring Demonstrable experience of working in a recovery section or in a similar environment dealing with the collection of various debt types A good working knowledge of Council Tax and NNDR law and procedures Experience of customer/public contact demonstrating good communication and interpersonal skills Experience of accurately maintaining and interpreting personal and financial data Experience of using office information systems, specifically Civica Open Revenues Pre-Compliance Checks for Successful Applicants: At BSS, we uphold the highest standards of screening and trust for every role. Successful applicants will undergo a comprehensive pre-compliance process in line with the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). This includes: Identity Verification: Confirming the authenticity of your identity documents. Employment History Checks: Reviewing your occupation history for the past 3-5 years (depending on client requirement). Right to Work Verification: Ensuring you have the legal right to work in the UK. Unspent Conviction Check: Conducting a Basic DBS Check to reveal any unspent convictions. These checks are crucial in ensuring a secure and trustworthy work collaboration, aligning with best practices used in government and public sectors. While primarily standard in these sectors, our adoption of pre-compliance checks across all roles reflects our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and trust in our recruitment process. Benefits What we offer We believe employee benefits should go beyond just a free drink or fruit bowl. What’s more, we believe you should get to choose perks that suit your lifestyle. That’s why we’ve partnered up with the global benefits and rewards provider Perkbox, to offer something for all of our people. Here’s what you can look forward to: Perks Hub Hundreds of global and local perks, available online 24/7 Free monthly lifestyle perks; such as free coffees, breakfasts, cinema tickets, etc Shopping discounts from the biggest brands, all year round Save money on everything from the supermarket shop to summer holidays Wellness Hub Easy to follow videos for everything from yoga exercises, to strength training and HIIT workouts Mindfulness, meditation and sleep resources, available on all your devices Guides to help with everything from anxiety to stopping smoking Confidential mental health helpline, 24/7 access to a qualified counsellor Celebration hub Working with us means you're always part of Team BSS - celebrate and recognise fellow contractors, whether they're across the desk or across the world Company polls where everybody can vote for the winners Culture Hub A single place to find company updates, photos, benefits information and lots more Stay in the loop with what’s happening by accessing Culture hub anywhere, at any time Equal Opportunities Business Smart Solutions are a Recruitment Agency - We hire talented and passionate people from a variety of backgrounds because we want our global worker base to represent the wide diversity of our clients. If you’re excited about a role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every bullet point listed in the job description, we still encourage you to apply. If you're passionate about working for a role in local government and share our company values, we encourage you to apply. BSS is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. BSS considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable UK law. If you need assistance or an accommodation made due to a disability, please let your recruiter know. Armed Forces Covenant We endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are: No member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen In some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.