An IRC is a secure building that holds detained individuals (residents) who are held prior to their removal from the United Kingd.....
An IRC is a secure building that holds detained individuals (residents) who are held prior to their removal from the United Kingdom or for nationality and identification purposes.
There are currently 6 IRCs in England and 1 in Scotland, with 2 more IRCs planned to open in England in the near future.
All IRCs are overseen by the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement directorate and are contracted out to private companies known as IRC Suppliers who ensure all aspects of the IRC are run safely and securely within rules and legislation.
The role of the Detention Engagement Team based onsite is to interact with residents face-to-face on behalf of Home Office caseworkers. They focus on communicating and engaging with residents, helping them to understand their cases and detention.
The Heathrow IRCs are made up of two sites, Colnbrook IRC and Harmondsworth IRC both located on the Colnbrook Bypass close to Heathrow airport.
• Harmondsworth can hold up to 658 male residents. It is one of the most secure IRCs in the UK and is built similarly to a prison has a regime that provides as much freedom as possible.
• Colnbrook can hold 312 male residents. Within Colnbrook is a female accommodation unit. This facility provides accommodation of 6 rooms for females prior to their removal from the UK, with facilities separate to the male population of Colnbrook.
The Detention Engagement Team operate within the IRCs. We use face-to-face interaction to build relationships with residents and provide an important on-site link between residents and their case working teams. We engage with on-site healthcare suppliers and the IRC Supplier, to ensure that vulnerability issues are identified and managed effectively at the earliest opportunity.
Key responsibilities
Duties include (but are not limited to):
• Conducting face-to-face engagements with residents, this includes a Home Office induction, service of official paperwork, follow up engagement, conducting assessments related to modern slavery and asylum screening interviews.
• Discussing options with residents, including returning to their country of origin and outlining the consequences of non-compliance.
• Identifying indicators of vulnerability, ensuring that they are recorded and managed in-line with policy and attend case conference meetings.
• Engaging with IRC suppliers on a regular basis.
• Giving case updates to residents and managing your own portfolio of residents and associated workflow.
• Flagging issues appropriately and in a timely manner to management or appropriate department.
• Recording all interactions on Home Office IT systems in an accurate and timely manner and providing feedback to caseworkers.
• Actively contributing towards the compiling of management reports.
• Undertaking general office administration duties as part of your role and to assist in the successful running of the DET. This includes inbox management and answering phone calls.
As these roles include working on weekends, public holidays, your contract will benefit from Home Office’s Annualised Hours Agreement (AHA).
This means you will receive an additional payment each month based the hours that fall under this agreement and your monthly pay will be the same each month unless your AHA changes.
**This role may potentially move to include nights shifts, and you would be required to then work night shifts if required, at which point the AHW allowance would increase**.
The AHA is reviewed annually and may increase or decrease depending on the needs of the department.
Working hours
The Detention Engagement Team (DET) work on a roster system to cover hours of DET operation which is based on site at Heathrow IRCs.
Part time AHW shift working patterns are available, which will cover a full range of shifts including weekends, nights and bank holidays.
The hours of operation where team members are on site are:
• Weekdays 07.30 to 19:30 and 21:30 where required.
• Weekends and public holidays 09.00 to 17.00.
• Please expect some night shift as this is currently under review
To find more about the organisation, the role and obtain guidance on your application and preparation candidates are encouraged to log onto either of the 2 On-line events below.
Event 1, 6 Nov at 10:30am
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ 740745639147
Event 2, 11 Nov at 10:30am
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ 740751837687
Person specification
For this role you will require excellent interpersonal skills to deal with different, and sometimes difficult situations. Self-confidence, organisation skills and personal integrity are also required within this challenging environment.
Essential criteria
Successful candidates must be able to demonstrate:
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Good attention to detail, work effectively in a pressurised environment and be resilient in the face of challenge.
• Being proactive, adaptable and motivated, taking responsibility for your own work.
• Having good IT skills with experience of using Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel.
Desirable criteria:
• Experience of operating in a secure or custodial setting.
• Experience of working in a customer facing role.
• Experience of building and maintaining stakeholder relations.
