About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF ROCHELLE'S COMPASSION

The Joint Homelessness Team (JHT) in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where kindness is key and community connection comes first.

Our people lead with empathy, always. Nobody lives those values better than Rochelle. Building on her experience from the frontline, she now leads a team, thinking creatively and ensuring they go above and beyond for the local people they work with.

Take Peter, a man struggling to settle into his new flat after a lifetime on the streets. Faced with loneliness, and a distrust of authority, he found it difficult to adjust to his new reality. Rochelle was not only his housing officer; she was a friendly face in good times and bad, and the support system he needed to get him back on his feet. The work she did with him was invaluable. And the change almost immediate. Now she's on a mission to change more lives, and to transform the way that homelessness and mental health is looked at throughout Westminster.

The Role:

The Joint Homelessness Team is a specialist statutory multi-disciplinary mental health service that works with people who sleep rough in Westminster.

As a Social Worker within our Joint Homelessness Team, you can make your own powerful contribution to changing people's lives for the better. As part of this specialist community service, you'll support vulnerable rough sleepers on their path from the street into accommodation and towards improved mental health. Day to day you can expect to conduct street-facing assessment of mental health and social care, as well as working in day centres and hostels. You will also work in partnership with provider agencies to ensure that homeless service users receive the support they need.

You'll be supported by a close-knit, committed, experienced team from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including healthcare. You'll also work at the heart of a large network of organisations providing services for people with mental health problems who sleep rough in the local area.

About You:

A qualified and registered social worker, you'll have a background in working with people with severe and enduring mental health issues in a statutory community mental health service. This should include experience of homelessness and the insecurely housed. A good working knowledge of the Care Act including assessments, reviews and statutory safeguarding is essential. If you have been trained and warranted as an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), so much the better. As you'll be working with some of the city's most vulnerable and disadvantaged people, you'll need a flexible and creative approach.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster.

Westminster City Council's strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city's future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit

As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

Closing date: 14 January 2024

Vetting Requirements: Enhanced DBS Check

Contact details for an informal discussion: Andy Knight, Team Manager (Joint Homelessness Team), via email: