Licensing Officer

The post we are advertising for is for a Permanant Licensing Officer Inspector role working an afternoon shift of 1:15pm - 9:15pm daily Monday to Friday at our Licensing Depot in Chapel Street, Bilston. You will inspect the vehicles to ensure compliance to be issued with their Private Hire/Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence.

Our Council licences more drivers than any other in the country and these drivers require safe compliant vehicles. We are at the forefront of licensing, using state-of-the-art technology to ensure public safety through checks on drivers, vehicles and operators., Our green car salary sacrifice scheme, provided by Tusker, gives you access to a brand-new car of your choice, insured and maintained for a fixed monthly payment. It takes the hassle out of motoring as all you need to do is keep it topped up with fuel. Everything else is taken care of; servicing and maintenance, insurance, road tax, roadside assistance and even replacement tyres.

As a Council employee you can access free, confidential and independent support 24/7 through Care First, the Council's Employee Assistance Programme.

Through the National Express corporate scheme, you can manage the cost of your daily commute by purchasing a range of annual travel cards for use on the bus, train or metro and pay monthly via direct debit.

Free eye tests are available for all roles involving regular visual display equipment.

Our working arrangements

Do you want to help protect the public, defend the reputation of an industry and restore the country's public transport infrastructure?, You will be helping to stop dangerous vehicles being issued a licence, to keep our roads safe. As such, we're looking for people who are good with personnel skills/customer service and have excellent attention to detail.

We are committed to building a workforce that is reflective of the diverse community we serve. We want to attract the best applications from people of all backgrounds and underrepresented groups because we strongly believe in adding value through diversity, inclusion, and equality. Our employees enable us to deliver services that are accessible, inclusive, and reflective of Wolverhampton residents.

Our status as a Disability Confident Employer showcases our commitment to people with disabilities or health conditions, advocating for their opportunities and potential. We've received the Stonewall Silver Award, emphasising our dedication to the LGBT+ community by nurturing an inspiring, inclusive, and equal workplace. As of March 2023, the RACE Code Quality Mark signifies our active engagement with racial equality. These recognitions validate our continuous efforts towards fostering an inclusive work environment that respects and values our diverse employees.

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the essential criteria for the post.

We encourage, inspire and value an inclusive culture here at the council where employees can flourish, thrive and be themselves. We have four staff equality forums for employees to join. These help to ensure our employees have a voice, they feel empowered to speak up and where everyone is treated with respect - Learn more about the staff equality forums here, From Monday 11th December 2023 an exciting change is happening for us as an organisation - we are implementing a new system which will improve your candidate experience! To access your candidate portal for our new system, head to https://wolverhampton.wm-jobs.co.uk/members/.

If you already have an application in progress with us before the new year, don't worry, this will continue as it normally would and there will be no impact on your application or the process. More information on our new and improved system can be found on the WMJobs help pages!

City of Wolverhampton

There's never been a better time to join the award winning City of Wolverhampton Council to further your career. We are a progressive and future facing organisation, and passionate about making our city better for all who live, work and travel here.

We are an ambitious organisation focused on delivering the best services for people in Wolverhampton; working for us gives you the opportunity to make a difference to their lives.

Our continual drive for improvement led to us winning APSE Overall Council of the Year Service Delivery Award, also achieving Annual Service Award Finalists for our services in Waste and Recycling; Public Protection; Best Housing Regeneration and Homelessness multi-agency work, showing that the City of Wolverhampton Council is truly an organisation striving for daily excellence in all we do.

Equal Opportunities

The City of Wolverhampton Council employs over 5,000 people in more than 600 different trades and professions. We are committed to representing Wolverhampton's diverse community and therefore strongly encourage applications from all applicants meeting the essential criteria. The council operate a guaranteed interview policy for veterans who have served in the military, those who have previously been under our care and are under the age of 25 and disabled candidates, where it is evidenced that the essential criteria of the post is met.

If you're interested in a career in licensing, this role is the perfect place to start. We work in modern ways and there are some roles that enable partial remote working. No prior knowledge of licensing is necessary (although it helps!) as all training will be provided. There are several progression routes for you to take; either becoming a senior officer before entering management, or joining our compliance team to lead on investigations. We work to develop people through professional apprenticeship schemes, where you can learn a new qualification, such as:

• Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship



• Level 3 Team Leader/Supervisor



• Level 4 Business and Professional Administration Apprenticeship



• Level 5 Operations Manager



• Level 6 Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship



• Level 7 Senior Leaders Degree Apprenticeship


Support is available along the way, with access the West Midlands Coaching Pool for professional coaches and mentors, which is in addition to guaranteed professional conversations each quarter to help your development.

Whatever your interests, we can guarantee that no two days are the same and that you'll be making a valuable contribution to your local community by protecting the public from people who should not be transporting fare-paying passengers around.

In addition, you'll be able to access our internal job vacancies. We have no issue with attracting talented employees for them to progress elsewhere within the organisation - we want the best people in the city working at the Council!

The starting salary for a licensing officer is £24,294 rising to £25,979. Pay point Increments are paid on 1st April each year until the maximum of the grade is reached.

Our full-time positions are 37 hours per week.

New employees start with 26 days annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays! If you are working elsewhere in local government, you can maintain your continuous service and qualify for more leave. In addition, all officers are required to take three days mandatory unpaid leave, ordinarily over the Christmas period.

If that's not enough leave, you can top up your annual leave entitlement by up to 10 days' additional annual leave (pro rata) through the Buying Annual Leave salary sacrifice scheme and save on tax and national insurance in the process.

You can benefit from Corporate Membership at WV Active, the Council's leisure facilities which offer gym facilities, exercise classes, swimming, a sauna, steam room and more.

Employees are able to join the defined-contribution Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administered by the West Midlands Pension Fund (WMPF). Each year, 1/49th of your pensionable pay is put into your pension account and the total amount of pension in your account is adjusted in line with changes in the cost of living. You also receive tax relief on the contributions that you pay and have the option to exchange part of your pension for tax-free cash when you take it. You may also arrange an Salary Sacrifice Shared Additional Voluntary Contribution plan, through Prudential, to reduce your pay. In return, your employer will pay an amount equal to the reduction in your pay, into an AVC pot in your name. This will reduce your earnings and you'll pay less income tax and National Insurance, depending on your personal circumstances.

The Council participates in the Cycle2Work salary sacrifice scheme, allowing you to save money and spread the cost of a new bike and accessories. The scheme acts as a tax break, which means you can get a brand-new bike without paying tax and national insurance on it. The cost of your new bike is spread out over a fixed 12-month period, with the Council deducting the money directly from your gross salary.

Council employees are also able to access, Vivup, for employee benefits. The portal provides access to a huge range of discounts to help you save money across hundreds of the UK's favourite high-street and online retailers, as well as access to all the other benefits available to you as a City of Wolverhampton Council employee.

City of Wolverhampton Council is an employer partner with Wolverhampton City Credit Union, which provides employees with access to affordable and ethical loans and savings schemes which can be managed through a payroll deduction scheme., The city has seen rapid developments with major projects like the i54, Way Youth Zone and i10 and more exciting developments are planned for the westside of the city. The leisure-led mixed user scheme includes a multi-screen cinema, restaurants, bars, hotel, multi-storey car park and apartments, all accessible by foot from our city centre.

We benefit from being in a prime location, with excellent transport links at the heart of the UK's high speed rail and motorway networks, making us an employer of choice for people across the West Midlands.

Wolverhampton is rated as one of the top cities in the UK for families. Almost 90 per cent of the city's primary and secondary schools are rated as 'good' or 'outstanding' by Ofsted. The City also offers a wide range of family friendly facilities with stunning parks and green spaces and top entertainment attractions such as Wolverhampton Art Gallery, the Civic and Wulfrun Halls and the Grand Theatre all of which attract top acts such as Jimmy Carr, Gary Barlow, World Darts Competition, upcoming bands and West End productions.

Why Work for City of Wolverhampton Council?

We invest heavily in skills and training for our employees; you will develop and grow with us through your time, benefiting from regular professional development conversations, and varied training opportunities.

We offer a wide range of benefits including competitive salaries that progress within different grades for the variety of jobs on offer. The majority of our positions offer a generous annual leave entitlement of 25 days - this increases with length of service. There is also an added option to buy up to 10 days additional leave in each leave year. New entrants also benefit from 8 days bank holiday entitlement (basic leave entitlement of 33 days).

The council offers an excellent Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with employee and employer contributions based on salary grades and other benefits including:

• Index linked pension


• Option to convert your pension for tax-free cash when you retire


• Retirement on the grounds of ill-health at any age.


The council also offers a wide range of flexible working options to fit in around your commitments including:

• Flexi-time


• Reduced hours working


• Job share


• Homeworking


• Term time only


Other rewards

• Discounted city parking at a number of sites with reduced charges for blue badge holders


• Annual Travel Card Scheme


• Salary Sacrifice scheme for cars - with a wide range of 'green' vehicles, cycles and associated equipment, personal IT equipment and smartphones


• Retail, leisure, legal and ethical savings and loans through our competitive rewards portal