Application form guidance notes

Thank you for the interest you have shown in working for the council. These notes are provided to help you complete your application form. If you require any additional help please do not hesitate to contact the HR admin team on 01282 878897 or via email at vacancies@burnley.gov.uk

Methods of applying for a job with the council

You can apply for a job by completing an online application form via our jobs page.

CVs will not be accepted unless specified nor will applications submitted after the closing date.

Help with completing the application form

We appreciate the time and effort involved in applying for jobs and we want to try and help you as much as we can. Please consider the following guidance before completing and submitting your application form.

When you apply for a job with the council, selection for interview is based on the information that you provide on the application form.  You will be able to access the job description/person specification for the role online:

The job description gives you details about the job. It lists all the main duties and responsibilities that you will be required to carry out.

The person specification tells you about the qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience you must have to do the job. These are listed as essential or desirable criteria. To be invited to attend for interview you must be able show that you meet all the essential and ideally all the desirable criteria. You may still be invited for interview if you do not meet all of the desirable criteria.

Try and make sure that your application stands out by providing a fully completed, informative and interesting form.

Do make sure that:

• all information that you provide is honest and accurate
• all relevant parts of the application are completed clearly and concisely
• all information is relevant to the job as detailed in the job description
• your application meets the requirements of the person specification
• you provide evidence of how your previous experience, skills and knowledge meet the essential or desirable criteria for the job. You can use examples from different areas of your life and not just employment
• you provide a full and continuous history of your education or training and work or unemployment
• you check for any spelling or grammatical errors. Do not rely on the computer spell check
• any attachments are relevant and add value to your application and do not duplicate information already provided
• you structure your application around the criteria needed for the job. This will make your application more relevant and easier to assess.

Do not:

• merely confirm that you meet the criteria in the person specification. You need to provide evidence of how you meet the criteria by giving examples from work, education or other interests
• cut and paste information from other applications
• exaggerate your achievements or abilities.

The application form

Personal details – make sure that your full name, preferred title, address, home, work and mobile telephone numbers are legible. Please include an email address.

Equality Monitoring – completing this part of the form helps us to find out if our Equality Policy is effective when we are recruiting.

Every job applicant’s suitability for the job will be judged on the basis of their skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications.

Qualifications – list here all the relevant academic qualifications you have achieved. You will need to list your membership body, type of membership and the title of the qualification if the vacancy requires a professional qualification as essential criteria.

You will be required to bring your original certificates or other documentary evidence of qualifications to the interview if you are invited. We will require copies to keep on file.

Present or most recent job – give details of your present job if you are currently employed or your most recent job if you are not presently working.

References – you must give the name, address, job title and email address if possible of referees who can comment on the last three years of your employment history or full-time education. One of your referees must be your current employer or most recent employer if you are unemployed.

If you have never had a job, you must give the name of a teacher or lecturer who knows you well enough to be able to comment on your ability to do the job.

If you have recently entered the country or the company that you worked for has closed down, a reference from your doctor, solicitor or former teacher may be acceptable.

References from relatives or partners are not acceptable. The council does not accept references prepared by current elected members.

If you are an internal candidate you should provide the name and contact details of your Head of Service.

Special training – give details here of any other training that you have had that may be relevant to the post that you are applying for.

Past work – starting with your most recent employer, give your job title, employer and the dates that you have worked for them.

Additional information – This is the most important part of your application. The information that you supply in this section may determine whether you are invited to attend for interview. The decision about inviting you to take part in the next stage of the selection process will be made by the recruitment panel based to a significant degree on the evidence you provide in this section.

Try and match your relevant skills, knowledge and experience to the essential and desirable requirements in the person specification. It is not acceptable just to say that you have done something. You must qualify this by giving details of how you did it and what was involved.

Additional information

Relatives of Council employees or serving Councillors

You must declare any relationship with a current employee of the Council or with any of its elected members. You must not use any such relationship to support any appointment with the Council. If you are in any doubt as to whether a relationship should be declared it is best to declare it.

If you have a disability

The council welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for the job are guaranteed an interview under the Interview Guarantee Scheme – please complete this area of the form if you wish to be included in this scheme. You can also use this section if you would require any reasonable adjustments to be made at the interview stage.

If your disability requires you to have the job information in a different format please contact us at vacancies@burnley.gov.uk

Eligibility to work

We are legally obliged to confirm for all employment that you are eligible to work in the United Kingdom before you start working for us. When you apply for a job with the council it is important that you are aware of and understand your eligibility status. Government restrictions apply to the employment of migrant workers. All successful applicants will have to provide documentary evidence before they start work that they are legally entitled to do so.

Criminal records

Please see below for information about the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Some of the jobs that we advertise are subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. This will be clearly stated in the vacancy specification if applicable.

Acknowledgements

All online applicants will receive an acknowledgement confirming receipt.

Interview

Details of when the interviews will be held are normally included in the vacancy advert. You can assume that you have not been selected to attend for interview if you have not received an invitation within 21 days of the closing date.

If you are invited to attend an interview please read the instructions carefully as you will be required to bring evidence of your qualifications and eligibility to work with you.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback to help us with the development of our recruitment and selection process. Please send any comments or suggestions to vacancies@burnley.gov.uk

Complaints procedure

The council aims to treat all applicants fairly at every stage of the recruitment process. We have a duty to ensure that everyone is treated in a non-discriminatory way. We monitor the recruitment and selection process.

We hope that you feel that you have been treated fairly even if you do not get the job. Please contact the service unit concerned if you wish to discuss why you have not been successful and they will give you some feedback.

Any applicant who considers that they have been treated unfairly at any stage of the recruitment and selection process can submit a complaint in writing for the attention of the Strategic HR Manager, either at vacancies@burnley.gov.uk or posted to Burnley Town Hall, Manchester Road, Burnley BB11 9SA.

All applicants will be treated sensitively and with courtesy at every stage of the recruitment and selection process. They will not be subject to any unfair discrimination at any time.

Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 Amendment to Document Checks 06 April 2022

Document Checks

List A – acceptable documents to establish a continuous statutory excuse

1.  A passport (current or expired) showing the holder is a British citizen or a citizen of the UK and Colonies having the right of abode in the UK.
2. A passport or passport card (in either case, whether current or expired) showing that the holder is an Irish citizen.
3. A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man, which has been verified as valid by the Home Office Employer Checking Service, showing that the holder has been granted unlimited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU(J) to the Jersey Immigration Rules, Appendix EU to the Immigration (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008 or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules.
4. A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is exempt from immigration control, is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK, has the right of abode in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay in the UK.
5. A current Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the named person is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay in the UK, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer.
6. A birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer
7. A birth or adoption certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer¹.
8. A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer.

¹Definition includes a full birth certificate issued by a UK diplomatic mission (British Embassy or British High Commission.

List B Group 1 – documents where a time-limited statutory excuse lasts until the expiry date of permission to enter or permission to stay

1. A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is currently allowed to do the type of work in question.¹
2. A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man, which has been verified as valid by the Home Office Employer Checking Service, showing that the holder has been granted limited leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU(J) to the Jersey Immigration Rules, Appendix EU to the Immigration (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008 or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules.
3. A current Immigration Status Document containing a photograph issued by the Home Office to the holder with a valid endorsement indicating that the named person may stay in the UK, and is allowed to do the type of work in question, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer.

¹This includes a current passport endorsed with a stamp showing an individual has been granted leave to enter and there are no work-related conditions attached. If, under the conditions of the individual’s leave, work was restricted or prohibited the endorsement placed in the individual’s passport would explicitly set that out as a condition.

List B Group 2 – documents where a time-limited statutory excuse lasts for six months

1. A document issued by the Home Office showing that the holder has made an application for leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU to the immigration rules (known as the EU Settlement Scheme) on or before 30 June 2021 together with a Positive Verification Notice from the Home Office Employer Checking Service.
2. A Certificate of Application (digital or non-digital) issued by the Home Office showing that the holder has made an application for leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU to the immigration rules (known as the EU Settlement Scheme), on or after 1 July 2021, together with a Positive Verification Notice from the Home Office Employer Checking Service.
3. A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man showing that the holder has made an application for leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU(J) to the Jersey Immigration Rules or Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Rules 2008, or Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules together with a Positive Verification Notice from the Home Office Employer Checking Service.
4. An Application Registration Card issued by the Home Office stating that the holder is permitted to take the employment in question, together with a Positive Verification Notice from the Home Office Employer Checking Service.
5. A Positive Verification Notice issued by the Home Office Employer Checking Service to the employer or prospective employer, which indicates that the named person may stay in the UK and is permitted to do the work in question.

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 replaces previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act and covers nine equality strands known as Protected Characteristics. The Council aims to ensure that no one receives less favourable treatment for reasons relating to all recognised protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010.

The Equality Act 2010 states that everyone has the right to be treated fairly and equally. It brings together and simplifies all of the previous existing discrimination law and strengthens the law to further support progress on equality.

Equality in our employment practices

The Council will ensure that its employment policies and procedures follow the requirements of legislation and that best practice is applied to prevent any discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in recruitment, selection, pay, promotion, training and development, grievance and exit from employment.

The Council will:

• strive to ensure that its workforce reflects the diversity of the communities it serves
• ensure its employment policies, procedures and practices are applied fairly and consistently
• ensure employees and Councillors treat one another with dignity and respect
• take appropriate and immediate action to challenge and address any inappropriate or unacceptable use of language, behaviour or discrimination
• ensure that all managers include discussion about the Council’s values in employee Performance and Development Reviews

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

This Act allows an offender to be rehabilitated when his or her conviction becomes spent after the following periods of time:

NOTE: In the following table, Prison (including suspended prison sentences)  
*Full sentence plus time period indicated.  Sentence length includes time spent on licence

If you have been sentenced for any offence and the above periods of time have not passed, you must declare the offence.  If the period of time has passed, you do not need to mention it on your application form.

August 2023