Business Rates Apprentice
Qualification: Revenues and Welfare Benefits Level 4
Contract Length: 24 months
Camden Council's Revenue and Contracts team is recruiting a Business Rates Apprentice. The apprentice will play key role in supporting businesses in Camden and ensuring the Council’s financial security through the fair and effective collection of:
- business rates - this is the way that those who occupy commercial property such as shops, offices etc. contribute towards the cost of local services. The money is collected and used to help pay for Council services.
- Business Improvement District levies. The Council collects this Levy on behalf of an independent company running a programme of additional services over and above that provided by the public sector.
The role will support delivery of a service that is customer focused, awards reliefs and exemptions fairly, has proportionate and effective debt collection and delivers a 'right first time' approach to billing.
Duties
- Learn the required technical, legislative, and procedural (including account processing) skills required to develop you into a Council Tax Officer
- Assist the Council Tax team with tasks that will enable the timely and accurate billing and recovery of Council Tax. As your skills, knowledge and experience develop, the complexity of your work you will increase. This will provide you with the right experience to apply for future Council Tax officer vacancies.
- Ensure any lists/reports and written correspondence is dealt with accurately and in a timely fashion. This will ensure bills are issued right first time, including the awarding of eligible discounts and allocation of any missing payments relating to the case being dealt with. This reduces the risk of delays in collection due to incorrect billing.
- Study and complete the apprenticeship qualification. For the duration of your contract, you will be required to ensure any online or in person training is attended, coursework completed, and you comply with the requirements of the course.
- Work with peers across the wider revenues service (such as Council Tax) and assist with tasks or duties that will underpin effective service delivery. This can include project work with the wider customer services division, designed to improve Camden's customer journey for both our business and residential communities.
Essential criteria
- Ability to learn to use a range of IT based systems and interpret the information from them including word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.
- Ability to analyse information and demonstrate good literacy, oral and written communication skills that will enable you to engage with work colleagues and businesses in the borough.
- Enthusiasm and ability to work with minimum supervision.
- Ability to pay attention to detail and using problem solving skills to ensure you balance the requirements of the role itself with your formal apprentice training which may require completion of coursework and exams .
- Ability to show personal resilience when faced with challenges.
- Ability to work flexibly, balancing competing priorities to meet deadlines with an understanding of the impact not doing this has on businesses and the Council.
- Ability to develop an understanding of why data protection compliance and data sharing is key to protecting the interests of our businesses and residents.
Additional information
To apply for this role, you must:
1. Be a Camden resident, former Camden secondary school student or Camden care leaver.
2. Have the right to live and work in the UK.
3. Have lived in the EU or UK for the last 3 years (except if you are an asylum seeker or refugee).
4. NOT already have significant Revenue and Welfare Benefits experience or a level 4 (or higher) Revenue and Welfare Benefits qualification.
5. Be at level 1 standard for English and maths (If you don't have GCSE/equivalent certificates, don't worry. The apprenticeships team can assess you after you apply.)
Important Note - role may close early if we get enough suitable applications – those interested are encouraged to apply ASAP.
Diversity and Inclusion
We want Camden Council to be a great place to work and to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equalities and justice remains at the heart of everything we do.
To discover more about Camden and our commitment towards diversity, equality and safeguarding, please visit our recruitment website:
Asking for Adjustments
Camden is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes, making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neuro-diverse people or people with long-term health conditions. If you have would like us to do anything differently during the application, interview or assessment process, including providing information in an alternative format, please let us know on your registration form in the section about reasonable adjustments. Alternatively, you can email apprenticeships@camden.gov.uk or call 02079748778 to discuss.