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Information & Advice/Welfare Benefits First Contact Officer

Information & Advice/Welfare Benefits First Contact Officer

Reporting to: Service Manager

Salary: £25,000 FTE

Terms: Permanent

Hours of work: 20-35 hours per week

Background

Buckinghamshire has a growing older population who are the heart and soul of our communities – for example as employers, workers, volunteers, mentors, carers and child minders. They help make our worlds go round. But when the challenges of older age feel overwhelming, and someone’s own world shrinks, Age UK Bucks is there to support them.


Based in Aylesbury and working across the county, our services support older residents to maintain their independence and well-being, especially when times are difficult. We do this through a range of services, including:

  • Information and Advice service
  • Welfare Benefits service
  • Loneliness and Isolation service which focuses on supporting older people to build and maintain social connection through with local activities and groups, telephone and online peer support groups, and in home befriending for the most vulnerable
  • Home Services team managing referrals to a team of self-employed and verified housekeepers, gardeners and handypeople
  • Hospital Discharge Support Service which features transport home after a hospital stay and short-term community support
  • Dementia Support Bucks Service, providing guidance and support to clients and their families and carers
  • Supporting Buckinghamshire Council’s Healthy Ageing strategy and the Age Friendly Bucks programme

Many older people don’t know where to go for support, especially when their own world shrinks or their circumstances take a turn for the worse. Our Information & Advice and Welfare Benefits services offer clients access to trained advisors for free, confidential and independent information and advice on all matters affecting older people. This includes support to establish awareness of and eligibility to benefits to which they may be entitled. Many older people are unaware of the benefits they are entitled to, and last year the team was able to help secure £2.6m of annualised benefits for older Bucks residents.

The role

This role sits within a small established Information and Advice and Welfare Benefits team. You will be providing information and advice to support and empower older people on a wide variety of issues associated with ageing, this could be signposting to other services, providing deeper support and guidance or helping them maximise their income with benefits eligibility support. Enquiries come directly from older people in Bucks, their families and friends and professional referrers. You will progress and process these enquiries, liaising with colleagues, clients, partners and other organisations to ensure we provide timely, accessible and accurate information and advice so that the individual can make an informed choice regarding their circumstances.


Job purpose


Provide friendly, accurate and timely signposting, guidance and advice to older people in Bucks via telephone, online and email platforms so they can make informed choices and maximise their income through benefits support when eligible. Support partner organisations through targeted outreach and training to ensure long term community impact and reach. Manage, record and protect client data. Champion their needs and stories, as appropriate, internally and externally.


Main tasks and responsibilities

  • Provide friendly, responsive and timely support to clients and their families and advocates
  • Explore the nature of the client enquiry and, where appropriate, their wider circumstances to gain as full an understanding as possible – including any safeguarding or vulnerability concerns
  • Identify and research information relevant to the client’s situation, drawing on all relevant resources
  • Process queries appropriately using our database and other tools
  • Respond to welfare benefits queries, advise on eligibility and carry out benefit calculations
  • Monitor the welfare benefits voicemail inbox and triage calls as necessary
  • Signpost and/or refer to other services, both within and outside of Age UK Bucks, processing internal and external referrals as appropriate
  • Undertake administrative duties to support the work of the team and wider Age UK Bucks services
  • Be confident in identifying own training needs, taking responsibility for own development
  • Develop your role and skills by attending meetings, training sessions and supervision meetings as required
  • Support the team to effectively record and code the types of enquiries we receive
  • Support the team to achieve quality standards and protocols
  • Support our communities by delivering service presentations and information and advice at outreach events
  • Delivering welfare benefits training to partner organisations in order to ensure long term community impact
  • Support events and fundraising activities as appropriate
  • Uphold quality assurance standards and demonstrate commitment to continuous improvement, including Age UK’s QISS and QAS quality signposting and advice accreditation processes


Person specification


Essential requirements

  • Experience of working with the public in an Information & Advice or similar environment
  • Experience of the different welfare benefits available to the elderly and delivering advice and support appropriate to their individual situation
  • Experience of inputting data onto database systems and the ability to retrieve statistical information as required
  • Friendly, personable and calm under pressure
  • Strong telephone and in-person communication skills
  • Sensitivity to older people’s needs and resilience and sensitivity to callers in distress
  • Ability to prioritise tasks and follow data recording processes
  • Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently
  • Willingness to represent AUKB in the community at targeted outreach events

Desirable

  • General administrative experience
  • Safeguarding experience
  • Knowledge of health and social care systems
  • Excellent standards of literacy and numeracy
  • Strong research and information-finding skills
  • Experience working with older people

Our values

Commitment to the aims of the organisation and the ability to demonstrate the following values:

Enabling: We assist older people to live independently and exercise choice
Influential: We listen to older people, represent their interests and ensure their voices are heard Dynamic: We are innovative, driven by results and consistently deliver for older people Caring: We are passionate about what we do and care about each individual Expert: We are authoritative, trusted and quality orientated


This job description may change from time to time according to the needs of the organisation.


Terms and Conditions

  • The position is office-based with some flexibility to work from home and a requirement to work in the community on occasion/as required
  • Employees are entitled to 5 weeks (25 working days) holiday per full time role per calendar year.
    This will be pro-rata for part-time roles.
  • The Charity meets the current legislation by providing a pension scheme. All employees are auto-enrolled and if you wish to opt out you must complete appropriate paperwork.


Equal Opportunities:
Age UK Buckinghamshire wants to become more representative of the community we serve. We encourage equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace and encourage applications from our wonderful rainbow of talent in Bucks and people of all ages.

 

How to apply:

Please send your up-to-date CV to recruitment@ageukbucks.org.uk with a covering letter, detailing the following:

  • Why are you are interested in the role
  • What skills and experience you can bring to the role
  • What areas of development you feel that you may have