Guidance on completing your online application form

Your contact details

The contact details you give on this form will be used for all correspondence regarding the post/work for which you have applied, therefore it is vital that you give the most up to date information and complete all relevant fields. Our primary method for contacting you will be by email.

Details of Education

Ideally, you should list details of education from secondary school, starting with the most recent and working backwards in date order, ensuring that you provide dates.

Details of qualifications should be those which are relevant to the work you’re applying for.

Before applying you should ensure that you have gained any qualification which is listed as an essential criterion on the person specification.

Please note that if your application is successful you will be asked to provide documentary evidence of all qualifications and grades listed in this section of the application form.

Training

Provide details of any training course(s) you have attended, which is relevant to the job/work applied for.

Outside Interests (Relevant to the Job/Work Applied for)

Please list here any outside interests which are relevant to the job/work you are applying for, particularly where the work involves contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults.

Statement In Support of your Application

Prior to completing your application form you should carefully read the job description which lists the key tasks and duties that you would be expected to carry out and the person specification that details the skills, experience, qualifications and aptitude that the selection panel are looking for.

The interview panel will shortlist applicants for interview based on their ability to demonstrate that they meet these criteria.

It is therefore important that you provide us with the written evidence of your experience, qualifications, knowledge, skills and abilities, etc., that matches the requirements of the person specification.

You should provide evidence of how your education, training, experience, attitude, skills and knowledge meet the criteria, giving specific examples where possible, to enable the selection panel to gauge your levels of experience, etc.

Do not leave out any relevant experience, skills or knowledge gained, wherever or however it was gained e.g. voluntary or unpaid work can be important.

Employment, Voluntary Work and Education History

Please list all your previous employment, voluntary work and education since leaving school, starting with the most recent and working backwards in date order. Full names and addresses should be provided, as well as the dates you attended, were employed or volunteered.

If there are any periods of time that have not been accounted for, please comment upon them in this section, i.e., travelling, unemployment, career breaks etc., again giving dates. You should aim to have a full chronological account, leaving no gaps.

References

As part of your application you will be asked to provide the name, address and email address of two referees.

One of your referees must be your present employer, or last employer if unemployed; the second referee should preferably be a previous employer or someone who can comment on your suitability for the job you have applied for. Please check with your referees that they are happy to provide a reference on your behalf.

References are not accepted from relatives (including in-laws and step relations), friends and immediate work colleagues.

If the duties of the post involve working with children, young people or vulnerable adults and you are not currently working with these groups, the second referee should be the employer who most recently employed you in a role working with children, young people or vulnerable adults.

Referees will be asked about disciplinary offences, including any for which the penalty is time expired for posts working with children, young people and vulnerable adults and whether you have been the subject of any child protection or vulnerable adult abuse allegation or concern, and if so, the outcome of these.

The Council reserves the right to approach current and previous employers.

Open references addressed “To whom it may concern” or testimonial type references will not be accepted.

Fluency Duty

Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 relating to English language requirements for the public sector came into effect in November 2016.

As a public authority, Halton Borough Council has a statutory duty to ensure that each person working in a customer-facing role speaks fluent English.

This duty means that the Council needs to:

  • Identify those roles which are considered to be customer-facing and
  • Determine the level of fluency necessary for the role.
  • Ensure that those recruited meet the level of fluency necessary for the role.

As such, all Job Description/Person Specifications for customer-facing roles will set out the fluency level required and these will be assessed as part of the selection process.

Personal Relationships

If you have any personal relationship to any Halton Borough Council Elected Member, member of a Committee of the Council, Governor or employee of the Council, please give their name and state relationship in this section.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act

You are required to disclose any ‘unspent’ convictions in line with The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

This Act allows for a person who has been convicted of a criminal offence involving a sentence of not more than two and a half years imprisonment and who has since lived trouble free for a specified period of time (related to the severity of the offence) to be treated as if the offence, conviction or sentence had never occurred. This is known as a spent conviction.

If the job for which you are applying is one of those to which the provisions of the above Act in relation to spent convictions, do not apply, you must disclose whether you have ANY previous convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings, whether or not they are spent and any other information that has a bearing on your suitability for the position applied for.

However, the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 (2013) provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’ and are not subject to disclosure to employers, and cannot be taken into account. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found at the Disclosure and Barring Service website – www.gov.uk/dbs

Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working for the Council. Consideration will be given to the type of work and the circumstances and background of offences.

For further information on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-guidance-on-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974

Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006

In order to meet the requirements of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 , all successful applicants will be required to produce proof of identity and eligibility to work in the UK.

Disability Confident

Halton Borough Council is a Disability Confident employer.

Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with health conditions. The Disability Confident scheme has taken over from the previous Two Ticks Positive about Disabled People scheme.

As part of the scheme the Council will commit to:

  • Interviewing all applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria on a person specification and consider them on their abilities;
  • Providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process;
  • Being flexible when assessing people, so disabled job applicants have the best opportunity to demonstrate that they can do the job and;
  • Making workplace adjustments (also known as reasonable adjustments) as required.
Declaration

By completing and submitting the online application form you are agreeing to the terms and conditions set out in the declaration.

If you have submitted a paper application, by signing the declaration you are agreeing to the Council uploading your application details on to the Council’s Applicant Tracking System. In the interests of efficiency and reduced staffing resourcing, all recruitment processes will be managed via the electronic system. We regret that we are unable to accept any paper applications where such consent is not given.

Applications for multiple posts

If you are applying for more than one job, you must complete a separate application form for each job/casual post. Selection panels will be looking for different things for each job, so when completing your application form, gear your application to those specific duties, as stated on the person specification.

Acknowledgement of Application

As part of the online application process you will receive an automated acknowledgement of your application for.

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by email within 4 weeks of the closing date.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

In order to measure the effectiveness of our equal opportunities policies, the Council collects information about applicants for employment/work. Although this information is voluntary, it would be helpful if you would complete the monitoring form. The details you give will not be available to the hiring manager and therefore will not be referred to during the shortlisting or interview process.