our ref
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01473 432766
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recruitment@ipswich.gov.uk
Grafton House
15-17 Russell Road
Ipswich Suffolk
IP1 2DE
Dear Applicant
www.ipswich.gov.uk
RE: Bereavement Officer
Post Ref: 1634
Thank you for your interest in the above post. Please find enclosed in this application pack the following
documents:
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Application Form and Guidance Notes
Job Description
Person Specification
Structure Chart
Service Overview
Application Form:
The application form plays a key part in our selection process. We use the information you
provide to shortlist for interview.
You are urged to ensure that all the information contained in your application is relevant and
that you demonstrate how you meet the criteria on the person specification. Please use the
person specification for guidance when filling in the application form.
References: If successful at interview, Ipswich Borough Council will seek to obtain two employment
references. Wherever possible the name of your first referee must be from current
employment/education and the second from either current or former employment/education. If you
cannot provide an “employment” reference please contact the HR Team at Ipswich Borough Council for
further assistance.
For your information, the salary for this post is: £19,826 pro rata.
The closing date is 10:00hrs 19th October 2015. Please send your completed application form to
Human Resources, 2nd Floor – West, Grafton House, 15-17 Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1
2DE or email it to recruitment@ipswich.gov.uk.
If you have any recruitment queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01473 433402.
Yours faithfully
Recruitment Team
Human Resources
Ipswich Borough Council
Job description: E18a
BEREAVEMENT SERVICES OFFICER
MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB
To carry out the full range of administrative duties relating to burials, cremations and
memorials and provide advice to the public and the profession on all aspects of
service delivery.
MAIN DUTIES
1.
Receive instructions from funeral directors, members of the public,
stonemasons or other relevant departments to the bookings of cremations and
burials and the erection of memorials, responsible for receiving and checking
the statutory paperwork is correct, recording these instructions on computer
and manual registers, allowing authorised signatories to take place. Issue
relevant instructions relating to the above to service area staff.
2.
Assist, advise and support bereaved families and friends both on the phone
and in person with issues arising daily, including advice on choices of
memorials, disposal of human and cremated remains, ownership of rights of
burial which advice on wills, grants of probate, statutory declarations and other
relevant legislation.
3.
Amend statutory registers and other records with new and/or updated
information as prescribed by service area legislation.
4.
Calculate accounts for funeral directors, the public and medical referee's
receive and account for money paid at the cemetery office, process weekly
accounts via debtors system, calculate and collect money owed for personal
telephone calls.
5.
Receive and process applications for all memorials schemes on offer,
checking accuracy of paperwork and pursue non-compliance with Cemeteries
Regulations. Administer renewals for memorials schemes, graves and urn
plots, and issue instructions for removal or destruction as appropriate. Work
with stonemason on the safety of all cemetery memorials, input data and
follow through any action undertaken with legal owner.
6.
Carry out general administrative duties within the realms of office
responsibilities including data input, registration, filing, copying and renewing
systems. Take minutes of professional dialogue staff meetings and convert to
meaning records.
7.
Record and provide annual, six monthly, monthly and daily statistics as
required by the Service Manager for use in performance management.
8.
Monitor the storage of cremated remains left 'on hold' and awaiting further
instructions. Pursue and administer new instructions and make changes as
necessary.
Such variations as may be required from time to time without changing the general
character of the duties shown above or the level of responsibility entailed.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
BEREAVEMENT SERVICES OFFICER
ATTRIBUTES
ESSENTIAL
DESIRABLE
Maths and English GCSEs or
equivalent skills/qualifications
Knowledge/Qualifications
METHOD OF
ASSESSMENT
Application form.
Certificate
production.
Proven experience in administrative/
office procedures
Experience of inputting and retrieving Experience of maintaining records,
data on a computer
checking and filing in paperwork and
cash handling
Ability to work to a high degree of
Work related experience, skills
accuracy including data inputting
Application form/
Interview/Test
and competencies
Ability to produce statistics using a
computer
Good customer care skills – dealing Previous experience of dealing with
with the public in person and over the recently bereaved or emotionally
phone
stressed customers
Resilience to emotionally demanding Ability to establish rapport with
pressures from customers
customers
Personal skills
Ability to work sympathetically with
customers who may be very
distressed
Deal with people in a respectful and
positive manner at all times
Previous experience of working in an
environment that requires meeting
deadlines whilst working under
pressure
Application Form/
Interview/Test
Ability to receive and relay
instructions accurately
Ability to work in a small team with
limited supervision in a customer
facing environment
Ability to provide a high quality front
line service whilst operating under
pressure to meet deadlines
Application/Interview
Ability to change hours of work at
short notice
Special working conditions
Ability to cover other duties/absences
as and when required, sometimes at
short notice
Ipswich Borough Council
Bereavement Services
Ipswich Cemeteries & Crematorium is located to the North of the town centre and comprises of approximately 100 acres of
managed burial grounds with a Crematorium nestled in the centre of the cemeteries.
The Cemeteries were established in 1855 by the town, and later became a Burial Authority. The town was growing fast and a place
for the deceased to be laid to rest was required, churchyards were at capacity so Ipswich Cemetery was created.
In 1928 the Crematorium was established, this was a new process and initially did not sit well with people all over the country,
Crematoriums were used sparingly as burials were far more popular. Today cremation is the most common with burials second.
In 1999 a new cemetery was opened on Tuddenham Road in Ipswich and was named The Millennium Cemetery, this will supply
the town with adequate burial space for approximately 40 years and also has adequate space for the disposal of cremated
remains.
The Cemetery employs 11 Full Time positions with some of these roles shared as Part-Time.
The office is manned by four staff and manages the daily operation of the Cemetery & Crematorium; this includes all statutory
paperwork for Cremations and Burials which take place on weekdays. The office also has a reception area open to the public for all
enquires related to the deceased, this can include: family research, memorials, self-arranged funerals, grave purchase and general
queries and questions about death and all its mysteries.
The crematorium has three staff that take care of the complex and its daily functions, this includes operation of the state of the art
cremators that were installed in 2012 and meet all the requirements of a modern crematorium. The West Chapel which can have
eight services a day and in these modern times a funeral can now take a much different form than in say the Victorian era. It is now
common to have live performances, modern music and large attendances for this once taboo form of disposal of the deceased.
The staff also maintain and care for the very unique Temple of Remembrance which houses Niche Caskets containing loved ones
ashes, these are a very unique form of memorial. The walls of the Temple are made up of Panels & Tablets; these hand cut
memorials are very traditional and have existed in the building since the 1930’s. Finally the Temple houses the Book of
Remembrance, a hand drawn book with inscription and drawings chosen by individual families.
The final team in the Cemetery are the Stonemason and his assistants, this team act as Caretakers for the Cemeteries performing
general repairs and maintenance where possible. The main role for them is to provide masonry services to the public; this includes
cleaning and renovation of existing memorials within the Cemetery which could be Victorian through to a modern memorial. They
have a very varied role and also a very good knowledge of all the plots and locations within the Cemetery.
The grounds are maintained by Ipswich Borough Councils Parks & Landscapes team who care for the grass, trees and general
appearance of the 100 acres we manage, they also undertake all grave digging duties with a small but dedicated team.