Job application guidance notes

Please read all notes before completing your application.

You can use the links below to jump to the relevant information you require, or you may scroll down this page to view this information in order.

General Guidance Notes
Person Specification
Jobs Working with Children and/or Vunerable Adults
Data Protection Act
Guaranteed Interview Scheme for Applicants with a Disability
Equalities Statement
Equality in Employment
Equality Monitoring Form
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
Job Share
The Recruitment Process - What Happens Next?
Contact Details

General Guidance Notes

Decisions about who will be selected for interview will be based ONLY on the information you give in your application form. Therefore, application forms should be filled in as completely and as clearly as possible.
Please ensure that this form is returned by the closing date to ensure consideration.
Copies of references and qualification certificates should not be enclosed with this application.
Pre-prepared Curriculum Vitae will NOT be accepted, either in full or in part, with this application

Person Specification

Look carefully through the person specification. This document will be used throughout the selection procedure.
You will need to DEMONSTRATE that you have the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to do the job. Please note you will not be shortlisted unless you meet all the essential criteria listed in the person specification. It will not be sufficient simply to state that you fulfil certain criteria and unsupported statements will not be accepted. You should describe how you meet the person specification giving examples. The shortlisting panel will be looking for evidence which illustrates relevant skills, knowledge and experience.

If you have any general enquiries about your application please contact the person whose name appears on the job advertisement.

Jobs Working with Children and/or Vulnerable Adults

If the job for which you are applying involves substantial opportunity for access to children and/or vulnerable adults, your application will be subject to rigorous pre-employment checks. This is in order to ensure the safety of these groups. These checks will include a check by the Criminal Records Bureau on Police Records for all criminal convictions, cautions and any impending cases.

Data Protection Act

The information or data which you have supplied on this application form will be processed and held on computer and held on your personal records if you are appointed. The data may be processed by Oswestry Borough Council for the purposes of equality monitoring, compiling statistics and for the keeping of other employment records.

By signing and returning this application form you will be deemed to be giving your explicit consent to the processing of data contained on it, including any information which may be considered to be sensitive personal data.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme for Applicants with a Disability

Oswestry Borough Council is positive about people with disabilities and our Equal Opportunities policy states that any applicant who has a disability and meets the essential criteria for a job, will be guaranteed an interview. You will be asked to tell us of any special requirements you may have, e.g.

Car Parking to be made available nearby
Someone to meet you at the entrance of the building
A sign language interpreter to be present
A friend to be present at the interview
Preferred type of seating, etc.

Oswestry Borough Council is proud to display the Disability Symbol - a recognition given by Jobcentre Plus to employers based in Great Britain who have agreed to take action to meet five commitments regarding the employment, retention, training and career development of disabled employees. You can find out more by clicking this link to the Jobcentre Plus website.

The Disability Symbol awarded to Oswestry Borough Council

Equalities Statement

Oswestry Borough Council acknowledges its obligations under legislation concerned with combating discrimination and promoting equality, e.g. The Race Relations Act (Amendment) Act 2000, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Disability Discrimination Act 1995. In particular, the Council recognises the obligations placed upon it by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 to:-

Eliminate unlawful discrimination;
Promote equality of opportunity; and
Promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

Oswestry Borough Council is committed to equality of opportunity in all aspects of its activities. The Borough recognises that people suffer discrimination, disadvantage and exclusion, both in employment and in the delivery of services, for many reasons, including race; colour; ethnic origin; gender; marital status; sexuality; poverty; social class; age; disability and religious beliefs etc.

Equality in Employment

Oswestry Borough Council is striving towards the provision of equality of opportunity for all. The Council is committed to the implementation and maintenance of employment practices which will ensure that no potential or current employee is treated less favourably on the grounds of gender, marital status, disability, age, race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin or religion, nor is disadvantaged by the application of any rule, condition or requirement which cannot be justified in either job-related terms or as a requirement of law.

Oswestry Borough Council's policy is that all existing and potential employees will be treated with equal fairness, respect and dignity. As employers we will:-

Publicise our commitment to equality to all of our employees and within the community at large;
Encourage job applications from all Sections of the community and ensure that only relevant and justifiable factors are taken into account during the recruitment process;
Ensure that our employees receive appropriate training so that they can both understand and actively promote the Council's equal opportunities policies. Everyone who takes part in the recruitment and selection process will first receive the necessary training;
Guarantee an interview to applicants with disabilities who meet the essential requirements of the post and do everything reasonably practical to adapt jobs and premises to meet employees' needs;
Measure the effectiveness of its our policies by regular monitoring of existing employees and new job applicants.

Equality Monitoring Form

So that we can measure the effectiveness of our Policy, we need to collect information about our job applicants. For this reason we ask that you complete our Equality Monitoring Form and return it in a separate envelope marked Confidential - Equal Opportunities. When your application is received, this form will be removed before the application goes to the manager involved in shortlisting for interviews. Those involved in shortlisting will not know what information is on the Monitoring Form.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Spent Convictions

If you have been convicted of an offence and have not been convicted again during a specified rehabilitation period, then your conviction could become spent. This means that after a certain period of time (which will depend on the seriousness of the offence and the length and severity of the punishment) the person concerned is to be assessed as if the conviction had never taken place. She or he may omit to give details to a prospective employer and this must not be counted against her or him in selection.

The types of sentence and rehabilitation period are specified below.

Sentence	Rehabilitation Period
For a sentence of imprisonment; or youth custody or detention in a young offenders' institution; or corrective training for a term of over six months but nor more than 30 months.	10 YEARS
For a sentence of imprisonment; or youth custody or detention in a young offenders' institution; or corrective training for a term of 6 months or less.	7 YEARS
Fine or other sentence (e.g. a community service order) for which no other rehabilitation period is prescribed.	5 YEARS
All the above periods are halved if the offender was under 17 at the time the offence was committed.
Absolute discharge.	6 MONTHS
For a sentence of borstal training.	7 YEARS
For a detention by direction of the Home Secretary;
from 6 months to 2½ years (30 months) 5 YEARS
from 6 months or less 3 YEARS
For a probation order, conditional discharge or bind over; and for fit person orders, supervision orders and care orders under the Children and Young Persons Acts (and their equivalents in Scotland)	1 YEAR or until the order expires (whichever is the longer)
For a detention centre order not exceeding 6 months.	3 YEARS
For a remand home order, an approved school order or an attendance centre order.	The period of the order and a further year after the order expires

Exceptions

IF ANYONE IS SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 2½ YEARS (30 MONTHS) IN PRISON THEIR CONVICTION CAN NEVER BECOME SPENT. IT IS THE SENTENCE IMPOSED BY THE COURT THAT COUNTS (EVEN IF IT IS A SUSPENDED SENTENCE) NOT THE TIME ACTUALLY SPENT IN PRISON

Offences committed whilst serving in the armed forces are treated as set out above. The following rehabilitation periods are for specific types of military punishment with these rehabilitation periods being halved for offenders under the age of 17 at the time of conviction.

Period	Rehabilitation Period
For cashiering, discharge with ignominy or dismissal with disgrace	10 YEARS
For simple dismissal from the service	7 YEARS
For detention	5 YEARS

Exempt Posts

If you are applying for a post with the Council, you need only disclose "unspent convictions" unless you are applying for a post listed as an exception below. If it is listed below you must also declare "spent convictions".

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1875 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order 1986, provides that in certain circumstances, all convictions both "spent" and "unspent" must be disclosed.

This includes the following:-

All posts requiring a chartered or certified Accountant

All posts requiring a qualified Solicitor

Any employment:

concerned with the provision of leisure and recreational facilities to persons aged under 18, where the employment is of such a kind to enable the postholder to have access, in the course of their duties, to such people; and
the normal duties of which takes place wholly or partly on the premises where leisure and recreation facilities are provided.

Residential Wardens (Sheltered Housing)

Peripatetic Wardens

Failure To Disclose

If you take up employment with Oswestry Borough Council, failure to disclose convictions could result in disciplinary action or dismissal.

Confidentiality

Any information you give will be treated as strictly confidential and will only be used in relation to your application.

Job Share

If you wish to be considered for a post on a job-share basis please indicate this at Section 1 of the application form.

The Recruitment Process - What will happen next ?

Due to the number of applications received by Oswestry Borough Council, it is not possible for us to acknowledge individual applications and if you have not heard from us by the interview date as stated on the job advertisement you can assume that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.
If you have any questions or require any assistance with any aspect of the recruitment process, please do not hesitate to contact the Personnel Unit.