Cemeteries Business Administration Apprentice

Our Story:

Halton is a vibrant local authority with a rich history and heritage, featuring two iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey. Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as close proximity to both Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports.

Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives. It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services.

We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team:

Located within the Cemeteries & Crematorium Services department in Runcorn, our dedicated and efficient office team provides vital administrative support to the local community. We work in a focused, well-organised environment where attention to detail and sensitivity are key. Based in Picow Farm Road, the team operates from a professional office setting with a standard Monday to Friday schedule, and we also benefit from a flexi-time system, offering greater flexibility around start and finish times.

Your Contributions:

As a valued member of our Cemeteries & Crematorium Office team, you will collaborate closely with colleagues to ensure compassionate and efficient service is delivered.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Daily financing - Manage the financing of all burial and crematorium services using our in-house Cemeteries System. Raise invoices weekly for various Funeral Directors and Stonemasons using the financial system ‘Agresso,’ ensuring they are promptly sent to the appropriate parties.
• Communication - Answer incoming phone calls and emails promptly, providing courteous and helpful responses to inquiries from funeral directors, stonemasons, and families. Book burials, scatterings, and cremations using the Cemeteries booking system.
• Grave Ownership Transfers -Facilitate the process of grave ownership transfers. This includes receiving and reviewing applications, determining the appropriate legal route for transfer, and preparing the necessary Statutory Declaration forms or other relevant documentation. Ensure all forms are completed accurately and in compliance with legal requirements, and coordinate with relevant parties to facilitate a smooth and legally compliant transfer process.
• Memorial Permits - Efficiently process grave memorial permits in accordance with our Cemetery Rules & Regulations for each of the four cemetery sites within the borough.
• Notification of Burial or Cremation -Complete the ‘Notification of Burial or Cremation’ for each cremation and full coffin burial daily, ensuring these are promptly returned to the correct corresponding Registrars Office.

Our Offer:

Aside from working with a great team, our employees have access to a fantastic range of benefits, including:

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long service
• Membership of our defined benefit, salary-linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions
• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme
• Investment in your personal development
• Free Car Parking at HBC sites
• Flexible working arrangements
• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme.

Next Steps:

At Halton Borough Council, we want all of our candidates to feel well-informed so if you would like to have an informal chat about this role, please contact Michael Owen Michael.owen@halton.gov.uk 0151 511 7857

Interviews will take place on 06/08/25

At Halton Borough Council we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce and a vital part of this is to encourage diversity in all respects. We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual. This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long-term health conditions. If you require accommodations, please reach out during the recruitment process so that we can make this the best possible experience for you – resourcing@halton.gov.uk

Please refer to the attached Job Profile for further information about the role and our values.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications. If you’re interested, please complete your application as early as possible.

We look forward to receiving your application!