Land Based Activities – Specialist Production Instructor (SPI): Commercial Horticulture – HMP Onley

Overview of the job

This is a non-operational instructional job in an establishment. This role has no line management responsibilities.

Summary

The job holder will be responsible for the day‑to‑day maintenance, harvesting and cultivation of the establishment’s gardens, ensuring protected cropping is grown and harvested to the highest standards and assessing accredited vocational qualifications for prisoners.

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties

• Maintain correct field‑scale soil husbandry, ensuring all stages of crop development are followed in accordance with good horticultural practice.
• Maintain the growing plant/crop to ensure optimum development and/or cropping, ensuring that the plant’s needs are fully met.
• Maintain effective biological pest control measures and any necessary chemical crop protection programmes.
• Resolve any prisoner work issues, setting tasks to match their ability while ensuring safety and production is maintained at all times.
• Ensure produce grown on‑site is prepared and packaged appropriately, taking into consideration appropriate labelling, grading and overall presentation.
• Maintain sports fields as per agreed plan with both the Farms and Gardens Manager and PE Department.
• Carry out preventative pest control measures across area of responsibility.
• May participate in the selection process of prisoners for the workshop/area of work.
• Induct prisoners to the workshop/area of work and train them in aspects such as Health and Safety, Control of Substance Hazardous to health (COSHH), machinery and tools usage.
• Provide support for prisoners where required; tailor learning and training requirements to individual needs.
• Set work schedules and manage targets/quality standards, maintaining delivery of contractual arrangements.
• Assess and evaluate skills of prisoners up to national qualification standards.
• Supervise and maintain discipline of prisoners within workshop/area of work, responsible for performance, motivation, discipline, appraisal and development of prisoners.
• Maintain regular communications via radio net in accordance with Local Security Strategy (LSS).
• Open and complete Assessment Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) forms, Violence Reduction Incident Reports (VRIR) and Security Information Reports (SIRs) when required and contribute to Incentive Earned Privileges (IEP) reports.
• Will conduct a metal detector scan or rub‑down search of prisoners attending and leaving their own workshops.
• Provide quality assurance against product specification.
• Log attendance and approve prisoner hours worked and wages including recording piece work where appropriate.
• Carry out fabric and tool checks of workshops and maintain security of areas, logging any tool/equipment faults; undertake planned maintenance programme on machinery.
• Contribute to prisoner reports including parole and sentence planning.
• Complete regime monitoring information and update prisoner training records.
• Contribute to Health and Safety risk assessments relating to the workshop/work of area and specialist areas.
• Request materials and estimate usage in order to meet work targets.
• Initiate product development reviews to maintain workshop/area of work output levels, and to provide variety of work and experience for prisoners.
• Participate in self‑audit and in achieving Service Delivery Indicators (SDIs).
• Complete administration activities to support the smooth running of the workshop.

Behaviours

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Developing Self and Others
• Must have experience in a supervisory role.
• Must be conversant with soil and growing medium husbandry, crop protection, crop production technology, plant protection technology options, preparation of fresh produce for sale, including grading, labelling and presentation.
• Should have experience of using industrial standard machinery and equipment.

Technical Requirements

• Staff must hold a Level 3 qualification in horticulture or a recognised horticultural industry equivalent, or be trained to the appropriate level within two years.
• Holding PA2 and PA6 pesticide qualifications would be a requirement.
• Must have current knowledge of all relevant Health and Safety and Control of Substance Hazardous to health (COSHH) regulations.
• May be required to be an accredited Assessor.
• Must hold a full current United Kingdom (UK) driving licence to enable tractor and other vehicle driving operations in the course of the post holder’s duties, in addition to prisoner instruction duties on farm vehicles.
• When transferring to a Young Persons establishment the job holder will be required to successfully undertake an assessment to demonstrate suitability to work with Young People.

Ability

• IT Skills
• Basic Maths
• Basic English

The role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English or, where specified in Wales, Welsh.

Eligibility

• UK nationals
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre‑settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre‑settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

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