About the role
We are currently seeking an internal candidate to join our team as a Court Officer.
The role involves the administration, billing, and recovery of Council Tax and Business Rates, ensuring all activity is carried out in accordance with current legislation. Duties will include completing all related tasks, responding to customer enquiries, and managing accounts through the recovery process.
A key part of the role is representing the Council at Magistrates’ Court in proceedings to recover Council Tax and Business Rates debt, ensuring the Council’s interests are professionally and accurately represented.
This opportunity would suit someone with experience in revenues or debt recovery who is confident working with legislation, handling customer enquiries, and managing sensitive cases.
What will you be doing?
To undertake the administration, billing, and recovery of Council Tax and Business Rates, ensuring all activity is carried out in accordance with current legislation, including completing all associated tasks and responding to customer enquiries.
Duties will include:
1. Monitor and review Accounts, process changes, make payment arrangements and process payments
2. Update and maintain accounts and respond to customer queries, on the telephone, email and letter
3. Identify most appropriate recovery actions
4. Prepare complaint list and summonses for council tax and business rates and submit to court
5. Prepare evidence for the Liability Order hearings and represent the council as an advocate in court.
6. Ensure that processes are undertaken to inform debtors that Liability Orders have been obtained and move the debt to an appropriate enforcement action i.e. distraint or attachment of benefit/earnings.
7. Prepare accounts for enforcement agents and reconcile enforcement agent payments and invoices.
8. Liaise with and monitor external agency performance e.g. enforcement and tracing agents.
9. Deal with all requests relating to Bankruptcies, Debt Relief Orders and Individual Voluntary Arrangements, following procedure notes.
About you
For this role you will need:
10. English and Maths GCSE grade C or above or equivalent
11. Experience in administration of council tax and business rates (recovery)
12. Demonstrate ability to understand, interpret and explain complicated government legislation and the ability to keep up to date with frequent legislative and procedural changes.
13. Experience of presenting at court.
14. Good verbal (fluent English) and written communication skills with the ability to support and negotiate with customers, landlords and stakeholders in a calm, sensitive way in difficult situations.
15. Proven ability to work on own initiative with the minimum of supervision and to use own discretion and judgement.
16. Good presentation skills
17. Ability to demonstrate awareness and understanding of equal opportunities
18. Computer literate
19. Ability to work to deadlines and targets
Our benefits
Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.
You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!
Why choose us?
We offer a vibrant working environment with:
20. a competitive salary
21. a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
22. lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
23. generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
24. hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.
We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.
About us
Our Values and Behaviours
Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:
Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy
Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.
Disability Confident Employer
We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.
Our Employment and Disability Service provides bespoke support to individuals facing barriers to employment, helping them work towards their goals to start, stay and succeed in employment. For further information please click here The Employment and Disability Service (EADS) | North Northamptonshire Council
Armed Forces Community
The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).
Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)