Business Support Officer

The SEND Service has a vacancy for an experienced Business Support Officer due to internal promotion to join a small team responsible for coordinating the Statutory SEND system for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments. This is not a normal BSO role; the work is very interesting and extremely varied; no two days are ever the same. The role is very busy and fast paced, you will need to be able to juggle priorities, deadlines & phone calls whilst maintaining accuracy & professionalism.

The SEND Team oversees and co-ordinates the Council's responsibilities for SEND. This includes the casework management for over 6,000 children and young adults who have Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) and over 1500 new requests each year for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments. This role will be to provide a range of business support activities to enable the service to meet its statutory obligations specifically with regards to Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments and provide timely and effective services to children, young people, their families, and carers.

The SEND Service carries out the Local Authority's statutory responsibilities to:

• Manage the statutory SEND system for EHC assessment.


• Prepare and issue EHC Plans.


• Determine educational placement and support.


• To Monitor arrangements and provision for individual children and young people with EHC Plans.


We are seeking a Business Support Officer to assist us in meeting our statutory responsibilities, providing a range of administrative and business support. This will include managing all forms of contact e.g. telephone, face to face, email, and internet, as well as providing support, advice and guidance and accurately recording information.

You will also be providing frontline support, including giving some advice and guidance, to schools, parents/carers and professionals. As well as providing casework and/or administrative support to the team with the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

You will be managing and entering data and information regarding children and young people undergoing statutory Education, Health and Care Assessments onto databases. It will need to be entered quickly and accurately to ensure the information being used is as up to date as possible and the relevant data for key reports is quickly available.

You should be a good communicator who is self-motivated, solution focused with the ability to liaise and communicate in person/and or in writing a variety of information, including dealing with anxious/apprehensive individuals in a sensitive manner.

Good attention to detail and producing work to a high standard is required as is the ability to maintain confidentiality and comply with data protection requirements. The successful candidate should also have experience in administration, with excellent IT skills, especially in the use of software packages of MS Office including the use of spreadsheets and SharePoint as well as management information databases. Experience of Liquid Logic is desirable.

As well as considerable experience of office systems including the production of correspondence and reports, filing, arranging, and minuting meetings, dealing with incoming enquiries, document copying & scanning, and keeping accurate records.

You'll find an overview of the benefits Worcestershire County Council have to offer on our webpage Why work for us? | Worcestershire County Council, so do take a look! Some of these offers include:

• Great Holiday Entitlement: As well as bank holidays, you'll get 26 days paid holiday (pro rata for part-time staff). This goes up to 31 days when you have been with us for 5 years. If you get more than 26 days where you work now, don't worry because if you join us without a break, we'll match your holiday up to 31 days. If you're successful and want to take advantage of this do let us know!


• Brilliant Pension Scheme: The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a nationwide, career average pension scheme and is a valuable part of the pay and reward package for employees working in local government.


• Professional Learning & Development: We actively encourage learning and development for all our staff should they want to progress further or explore other areas within the organisation.


• Flexible Working: We are proud to offer hybrid working to provide a better work/life balance where possible.


Equality & Diversity
The County Council is committed to equality of opportunity for all citizens and celebrates the diversity of all its residents.

Disclosure Barring Service (DBS)
This post is exempt under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of criminal records via the Disclosure and Barring Service before the appointment is confirmed. This will include details of cautions, reprimands, or final warnings, as well as convictions. The County Council has a commitment to safeguarding service users in our care.