Purpose of the post
•Ensure that the people of Gwynedd are at the heart of everything we do.
•Contribute towards providing effective support to the residents as identified through their support plans. Contribute towards the running of the hostel in accordance with the policies and procedures of the organisation.
Responsibility for functions
•Resources: Inspect and monitor fire alarm systems weekly, manage and monitor lights and heating and CCTV equipment
•Furniture and bedding
•Kitchen utensils, e.g. crockery, etc.
Main duties
•Ensure that housekeeping and cleaning tasks are carried out regularly at the hostel and, where needed, provide support and practical guidance to residents and maintain good standards of cleanliness and hygiene at all times.
•Provide day-to-day support to service users within their Support Plans and work independently and make firm decisions without supervision.
•Assist service users with their housing and associated benefit claims, under the guidance of the Project Workers.
•Accurately maintain hostel records, residents' files and the association's records.
•Respond to incidents and deal with them appropriately; contact the association's staff (on call - out of hours, etc.), the emergency services, voluntary and statutory support providers, etc., to maintain the hostel's safety at all times.
•Be on duty to receive any homelessness enquiry and undertake and record initial information about the individual and their situation. Also ensure that this information is transferred to a housing options case worker without delay.
•Organise suitable interim/temporary accommodation as required in accordance with the relevant legislation and the individual risk assessments.
•Organise transport to temporary accommodation when required.
•Undertake regular and effective handover procedures at the start/end of shifts, to ensure that the hostel is run safely, as required by the senior officer.
•Assist service users to plan and prepare to move on to more permanent accommodation.
•Ensure safe and effective day-to-day management of the hostel in the absence of Project Workers and the Hostel's Senior Officer - in accordance with all relevant policies and procedures.
•Assist service users to obtain key skills, e.g. budgeting, IT literacy, where needed, in line with their individual Support Plans, through effective internal activities.
•Contact the Housing Options team regularly, to ensure that information is reported efficiently and provide and prepare incident reports and relevant file notes.
•Undertake training to maintain and improve the skills required to undertake this role.
•Assist the Project Workers to provide a range of support in relation to houses for service users, with the aim of enabling them manage their own individual tenancies with less support, and possibly without support in the longer term, on a timetable agreed with the Team Leader.
•Assist project workers and service users with plans to move on to more permanent accommodation - where relevant - by maintaining close contact with the relevant staff of the Housing Association, local authority Housing Departments and other providers as needed.
•Respond to incidents and deal with them appropriately; contact case workers, emergency services, voluntary and statutory agencies, etc., to maintain the safety of staff, service users and the accommodation at all times.
•Make effective contact with the authorities' Asset Management Department along with private contractors and allow access to the building as needed.
•Responsible for providing comprehensive reports relating to any health and safety matters, including reporting on accidents and compliance with Health and Safety authority regulations.
•Ensure that any damage caused to the authority's property is kept to the minimum possible.
•Support senior officers and the Team Leader by ensuring that Health and Safety standards are maintained in the hostel, e.g. carry out room checks.
•Prepare rooms to be re-let.
•Arrange and manage a range of engagement and involvement activities to promote social inclusion amongst the service users.
•Work independently where needed and as a member of a team that is established in the area.
•Safeguard the emotional and physical health and well-being of the service users.
•Provide reports and statistics as needed, including being a part of the management and performance monitoring processes and ensuring that staff reach departmental and corporate performance targets.
•Responsibility for self-development.
•Ensure compliance with Health and Safety rules in the workplace in accordance with the responsibilities noted in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Council’s Health and Safety Policy.
•Operate within the Council’s policies in relation to equal opportunities and equality.
•Responsible for managing information in accordance with the Council’s information management guidelines. Ensure that personal information is treated in accordance with Data Protection legislation.
•Commitment to reducing the Council’s carbon emissions in accordance with the Carbon Management Plan, and to encourage others to act positively towards reducing the Council’s Carbon Footprint.
•Undertake any other reasonable duty which corresponds to the salary level and responsibility level of the job.
•Responsibility to report any concern or suspicion that a child or vulnerable adult is being abused.
Special circumstances
•The post-holder may be required to attend meetings, sub-committees and working groups, some outside normal working hours.
•The post-holder may be required to respond to requests to work unsociable hours, as required.
•This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Therefore, if your application is successful, you will need to ask the Criminal Records Office for a disclosure. The Council will provide the appropriate form to this end and will pay the associated fee. Further details will be provided regarding the process as required.