Help completing your application form

South Tyneside Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

The following guidance notes are provided for your information to ensure we have sufficient information to process your application and to help us meet our safeguarding obligations.

Please ensure you complete all parts of the application form. If they are not relevant to you, please mark them as 'not applicable', or 'n/a'. Incomplete application forms will not be considered for shortlisting.

Education and employment

We need you to tell us about your education and employment history together in full starting with the secondary school you attended.

We are asking for the information in this way to help identify any gaps where you were not in education or employment, as part of our commitment to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults.

We would like you to start with the secondary school, along with the exams and qualifications you obtained. You should follow this with your first job or college attended, and so on, to bring you up to date. If you were unemployed for a period of time, please state this, giving the dates (to the nearest month) and a reason.

Personal statement

With your personal statement, please ensure you provide specific examples of how you meet the criteria set out on the person specification.

If you need to continue on a separate sheet please do so, however please remember to put your name and the post applied for and the office ID number on the top.

References

You must supply the names of two referees from whom we can obtain references.

Please ensure you tell us whether you want us to contact them prior to interview. If you leave the box unticked we will assume it is fine to contact them. If they have a work e-mail address, please provide this.

One of your referees must be your current or most recent employer. If your role you are applying for will involve contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults you will be asked to supply a referee who can provide a reference based on when you have previously worked with children, young people and/or vulnerable adults.

References will be taken up prior to interview wherever possible and the authenticity will be checked before any offer of employment is made. Open references will not be accepted.

Your referees will be asked to provide details on any disciplinary offences relating to you, including those which have expired. Additional information will be sought on any concerns or allegations that have been made against you relating to the safety and welfare of children, young people and/or vulnerable adults or behaviour towards them, along with the outcome of any concerns.

For successful candidates South Tyneside Council will verify your reference by telephoning the referee to ensure that the information received is genuine.

South Tyneside Council reserves the right to contact your current employer and any previous employer.

Pre employment checks

Confirmation of your identity will be undertaken by checking appropriate documents including a form of photographic ID.

You will also be required to supply your original qualification certificates and for relevant posts, proof of registration with any relevant bodies eg GSCC or GTC. This will be done at the interview stage.

Employment with South Tyneside Council will only be confirmed when all pre employment checks are completed and satisfactory. No unsupervised access to children, young people and vulnerable adults will be permitted until all checks are complete.

If the position for which you are applying involves contact with children, young people and/or vulnerable adults, the Council has decided that the successful applicant will require an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). 

You are required to complete the declaration and provide relevant details of any convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings that are not "protected" as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013) by SI 2013 1198'. 

Having a criminal record or information provided through the disclosure may not exclude you from employment.

Any individual disqualified from working with children through any of the various means available is guilty of an offence if he or she knowingly applies for or accepts any work in a regulated position i.e. classified as working with children. (Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000).

Any offer of employment will include a six month probationary period for new appointments to Local Government.

Equality and diversity

The equality & diversity monitoring form is important to us. We have a duty to monitor our recruitment process, and this information helps us to do that. The information you provide on this form will be kept confidential and does not form any part of the recruitment process itself.

Candidates who have a disability are guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential requirements of the post. We can only do this where such candidates indicate they have a disability. If you feel you cannot meet the essential requirements of the post because of your disability please advise us of the nature of this disadvantage.

Sending us your application form

Your completed application form must be signed. If you apply online and are invited for interview you will be asked to sign your application form at the interview. Completed forms should be returned to the Recruitment Team in Operational Services of BT South Tyneside, unless otherwise stated. 

Our postal address is:

HR Services
Hawthorne
Rolling Mill Road
Viking Industrial Park
Jarrow
NE32 3DP

Or email it to jobs@southtyneside.gov.uk

Please ensure your application is returned by the time and date specified in the advert to ensure it is considered. We cannot guarantee to consider applications received after the closing date and time. Please ensure you pay the correct postage on your application as unpaid postage items are not collected.

Data protection

South Tyneside Council is responsible for protecting the public funds it manages.

To do this we may use the information you give us or the information we hold about you to detect and prevent crime and fraud.

We may also share this information with other organisations that inspect and manage public funds.

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, South Tyneside Council is the data controller (the user and processor of data). We will ensure all information is kept safe and secure.

If you would like to know more about what information we hold about you, or the way we use your information please contact the Recruitment Team on telephone number 0800 169 3454, or if you wish to make a subject access request then please write to the Records Management Team at the following address:

Records Management Team
Town Hall & Civic Offices
Westoe Road
South Shields
Tyne and Wear
NE33 2RL