Apprentice Private Housing Standard Officer Sheffield City Council

What you will do in your working day

• It is a requirement of this role to undertake and complete the Environmental Health Practitioners Degree Apprenticeship 4-year study course at Leeds Becket University.
• To meet the attendance requirements of the course, the time scales for submission of course work, including assignments.
• To achieve the required standard and successfully complete each year of the course and the end point course assessment leading to the awarding of the degree.
• It is a responsibility to regularly update the team manager on progress with course work/exam results and to attend and assist in meetings with tutors and mentors/ line manager.

As an apprentice, it is not expected that you are fully able to undertake all work-based duties initially. But it is expected that you are willing and able to move positively towards undertaking all roles by the end of the
apprenticeship, with the help and assistance of the wider team.

Detailed below are the expectations of the team you will be working in and the roles you will be expected to undertake, given the training and experience you will receive:

General expectations and service culture and behaviours:

• We expect everyone who works within the service to reflect the values and behaviours of the Place Portfolio.

We want our staff to:

• Value diversity and treat people with respect - operating in a way that takes account of the diverse needs and aspirations of Sheffield’s neighbourhoods and communities and actively challenging discrimination and prejudice
• Have pride in themselves, our services, neighbourhoods and Sheffield – actively promoting the contribution of the service to supporting successful neighbourhoods and communities throughout the city
• Listen and learn so we can improve – reviewing and improving our approach, ensuring that we learn as much from our failures as we do from success, creating opportunities and seeking creative solutions to problems, even when this involves challenging traditional ways of working
• Be professional and business like
• Be forward thinking with a ‘can do’ approach – adopting innovative ways to solve problems and bringing together ideas, people and resources to instigate change
• Be ambitious to improve, with high expectations of ourselves and our partners - responding to problems with clear outcomes in mind, evaluating the effectiveness of our activity
• Value, support and develop staff and partners

Private housing standards officers are expected to carry out duties appropriate to the role and commensurate with the grade.

This will include, but not be restricted to the following:

General and technical duties:

• To provide good quality regulatory advice and efficient and effective action across the range of the city’s private rented housing stock
• To be responsible for an allocated case load of a wide range of properties either in a designated geographical area of the city or in a particular regulatory role, carrying out reactive, proactive and programmed inspections of vacant and occupied residential housing
• To assist in the delivery of any legislative programmes of enforcement such as mandatory licensing schemes so they are monitored and carried out effectively
• To accurately carry out full property inspections in accordance with the Housing Act 2004 Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) (or later legislation as appropriate)
• To ensure that the city’s housing conditions are monitored and addressed by making accurate standard diagnoses of disrepair, defects and deficiencies recommendations for action and by creating referrals to other agencies where appropriate

The training you will be getting

• You will study at Leeds Beckett University on their Environmental Health Practitioners (Apprenticeship) BSc course commencing in September 2024.
• On and off the job training and location of this training to be confirmed.

What to expect at the end of your apprenticeship

• Opportunity to move into a full-time position upon completion of apprenticeship.