Adults Social Worker - Forensic Mental Health

Essex County Council; Wickford; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working options

Lease Car scheme

LGPS

Job summary

Essex County Council is looking for a Newly Qualified Social Worker to join the Forensic Mental Health Team at Brockfield House in Wickford. You will work within a section 75 partnership, collaborating with fellow social workers, the MDT, and external agencies to support adults with mental health needs.

The role requires Social Work England registration, experience in mental health, and a driving licence or suitable mobility.

Qualifications

• Social Worker registered with Social Work England
• Experience in mental health
• Full driving licence or mobility suitable arrangement

Responsibilities

• Provide reports for the Mental Health Review Tribunal
• Liaise with external agencies such as the MoJ and MAPPA
• Support patients across seven wards with discharge planning and community integration

Job description

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

This position is open to Newly Qualified Social Worker's (NQSW) with relevant experience in Mental Health. The starting salary for NQSW's is £36,124 per annum, rising to £38,487 per annum upon successful completion of the ASYE programme.

The Team

This is an exciting opportunity to join our Forensic Mental Health Team based at Brockfield House in Wickford, which is a medium/low secure unit. This is an essential role under the Section 75 partnership agreement providing specialist mental health support as a Social Worker within our partnership organisation.

Working collaboratively with fellow social workers, the wider MDT within Brockfield House, other agencies and community teams, you will be expected to provide reports for the Mental Health Review Tribunal and liaise with external agencies such as the MoJ and MAPPA.

The role will involve working with the patients both male and female across the seven wards, assisting with debts, benefits, and any other practical issues they may have to ensure that they are equipped for discharge and integration back into the community.

About the Role

We're an adult social care service that wants to see citizens of Essex have as much choice and control over the way they live their lives as possible. We think everyone should have the chance to live a full and fulfilling life with people they love and care about, doing things that matter to them and living in a place they can call home. We're determined that with the right support, everyone can maintain or achieve some independence and we're proud to be working to make these ambitions a reality.

Our Social Workers work alongside people and their families and carers to help them think through what might help them get on with their lives in the way that works best for them. We do this within the framework of our statutory Care Act requirements. This means many of our conversations are framed as 'assessments', 'reviews', 'support planning' and 'safeguarding'. But our aim is always to listen and understand what matters to the person and then to work with them to think through how this might be achieved.

Take a look at our short video here to get a glimpse into the role and what it's like to be a Social Worker at Essex County Council.

About You

If you share our vision, enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories you might be interested to find out more about what we do.

If you're also a Social Worker registered with Social Work England and experience in mental health, with that winning combination of creative thought, reliability and practical ability to get things done, we'd really love to hear from you!

You'll have a broad understanding of our statutory responsibilities and a commitment to meeting these in a person-centred way.

You may have experience of chairing meetings, and you'll have an ability to develop strong relationships with partner agencies and the local community to provide a supportive framework.

Our Social Worker roles involve travelling around Essex. A driving licence and car - or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means - is essential.

Why Join Us?

In June 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated our Adult Social Care services as "Good" with a score of 73%

The local authority had a good structure and processes in place to enable people to be supported successfully, and support people to remain independent and live healthy lives. The workforce was passionate about supporting people to achieve these outcomes and the local authority had good knowledge of their area, the people living there and the demographics.

You can read the full report on the CQC website here.

Our teams are busy but warm, friendly and supportive. Our fabulous team managers will help you manage your workload and develop your practice.

We take your career just as seriously as you do, and we have a continuing professional development offer that's second to none.

We welcome diversity because it makes us grow and we're determined to become a fully inclusive and an anti-racist organisation.

What We Offer

We'll support you to be your best and will offer:

• Ongoing opportunities for continuing professional development
• Flexible working options
• Employee wellbeing and counselling
• Lease Car scheme
• Life assurance of three times annual salary
• Local Government Pension Scheme. View Key Factsand FAQ's about the LGPS.
• Volunteering leave
• Generous annual leave allowance, rising with service
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - access to free and confidential information, support, and guidance from a team of highly qualified professionals.
• Employee Networks - communities to support you, connect you and help influence change at ECC
• Payment of your Social Work England registration fees!

Whatever you want to achieve in your social work career, you can do it here.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we're committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, Greater Essex was accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We're committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We're also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you've secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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