Revenues Enforcement Officer

About the Borough

Found in zone 6 with good transport links in and out of London, Kingston is a vibrant and diverse university town which creates the rich sense of community shared across the borough and its Residents. Kingston boasts an idyllic riverside location, good shopping and great restaurants, as well as a mix of modern and historic town centre. Kingston has lots of open parklands and cycle routes that help connect the district town centres into an enjoyable place to live and work.

We are passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

About the Service and Team

The Revenues & Benefits Service includes the collection of Council Tax, National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR), Business Improvement District (BIDs). The Service plays a fundamental role in the financial well being of the Authority. The efficient collection of Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates (under the retention scheme) maximises income available to the authority to meet its strategic aims and objectives. The Service maintains an accurate database of liable persons, reviews and decides discounts and exemptions and undertakes a debt recovery procedure through the Magistrates Court, County Court (bankruptcies and charging orders), Fines and Enforcement Agent action.

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Being a key member of the Revenue Team, the postholder will be an expert on Council Tax & Business Rates enforcement processes and the regulations. They will undertake enforcement action to maximise collection rates and in so doing manage difficult situations including hard to reach debtors and debtors who are experiencing hardship.

The successful candidate will be expected to;

• Carry out enforcement duties in relation to revenue debts (including council tax, business rates, business improvement district and housing benefit overpayments) in accordance with Ministry of Justice enforcement regulations regarding taking control of goods and any other relevant legislation.
• Undertake the full range of enforcement duties, calling on debtors at their address to obtain payment, execute enforcement notices, seize goods, organise the removal of goods, liaise with removal and storage companies and auction houses and where necessary make enquiries to trace the whereabouts of absconders and serve warrants.
• Make on the spot decisions about proceeding with enforcement and any other action posed by the individual circumstances eg volatile customers, vulnerable customers, illegal activity etc
• Manage the risk associated with enforcement work to ensure personal safety including assessing the risk at each stage of the enforcement process when calling on individual debtors.
• Where vulnerability is identified liaise with safeguarding (Adults and Children) to improve the debtors position.

About you

As a certificated Enforcement Agent you will have experience in levying distress or similar. Experience of dealing with debtors enquiries in an Enforcement Agent collection environment or similar and of discussing debt repayment solutions with customers. Ideally the successful candidate will possess the following attributes;

• Able to communicate effectively
• Able to manage risk to prevent escalation and deterioration of situations whilst dealing with debtors
• Ability to deal with difficult and challenging people and diffuse situations
• Ability to work to targets (minimum number of calls)
• A commitment to customer care and quality issues
• Possess a high level of self-motivation and able to work unsociable hours (between 6am –and 9 pm)

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Hybrid working (dependent on the role)
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.
Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are in the process of updating our payscales in line with the pay award for NJC, Chief Officers and Chief Executives for April 2025 therefore please take this into account when viewing the salary on this position.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.