Assessment Officer

Cheshire West and Chester; Ellesmere Port; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Cheshire West and Chester Council is seeking an experienced Assessment Officer to join the Local Authorities Revenues and Assessment service on a full-time permanent basis. You will handle Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, and Free School Meals claims, ensuring accurate processing, responding to enquiries, and complying with legislation and internal procedures.

The role requires expertise in welfare benefits assessments and familiarity with processing systems (Academy/Civica).

Qualifications

• Experience in assessing and processing Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.
• Ability to manage a diverse caseload and explain decisions to residents.
• Excellent knowledge of welfare benefits legislation and systems (Academy/Civica).

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and related claims.
• Process new claims and changes in circumstances; calculate entitlements.
• Provide explanations of decisions to residents and maintain case records.
• Respond to customer enquiries and ensure compliance with regulations.

Skills

Housing Benefit

Council Tax Reduction

Customer service

Regulatory knowledge

Welfare benefits

Tools

Academy

Civica

Job description

We are looking for an exceptional and experienced candidate to join the Local Authorities Revenues and Assessment service as a full time Assessment Officer on a permanent basis

You will be responsible for managing a varied caseload of financial support claims such as Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and Free School Meals. This will include processing of applications accurately, responding to customer enquiries and ensuring that all work is completed in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations and internal procedures.

We are looking for candidates with experience in the assessment and processing of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction claims in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations and local procedures.

The successful candidate will be responsible for maintaining an allocated caseload, processing new claims and changes in circumstances, calculating relevant entitlements and issuing appropriate explanations of decisions to residents whilst maintain accurate case records.

Candidates should have an excellent knowledge of welfare benefits assessments, sound understanding of relevant legislation, experience in the processing of Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction and relevant processing systems (preferably Academy/Civica).

This role is Agile and this means that the role will be working from a home base with occasional visits to a Council office

For an informal discussion, please contact the Senior Officer over the Assessment Service Matthew Edwards at [e-mail]