Zoe Taylor

I assist, support and deputise for the Town Clerk when appropriate to ensure that the instructions of the Town Council in connection with its functions as a Local Authority are carried out. In particular to produce all information required to assist the Council to make effective decisions. I am involved in the implementation of all Council decisions and account to the Council for the effective management of resources. Part of my role is to rake overall responsibility for the smooth running of the Council offices including managing all resources and activities of the Council. I undertake specific projects and identify areas for improvement in liaison with the local business community. I take responsibility for the efficient operation of the Lace Hill Community and Sports Centre, maximising bookings and profitability, as well as liaise with the market traders, the Youth Council and other community/voluntary groups. I prepare agendas and reports for meetings of the Council and support Town Councillors in carrying out their role and maintain all records relating to the Council and its committees and comply with all statutory requirements. I assist with the calculation of the budget requirements and the annual Precept as well as the preparation of statutory and other accounts. I undertake research analysis (eg policy and resources implication and costs) and report/advise the Town Clerk accordingly and work alongside the Town Clerk to monitor the implemented policies of the Council to ensure they are achieving the desired objectives

Senior Activities Manager at Oakhill Secure Training Centre,
is a secure environment for 12-18 year old children going through the Criminal Justice System or have been sentenced to a period of detention. My role primarily is to manage the Enrichment and Activities department, which fundamentally involves looking at what the young people do when they are not in education. This can take many forms, and I aim to work dynamically with the children, looking at their skill sets and interests, as well as ensuring that the business need and security of the Centre is considered at all times. My aim is that
activities should assist with social development, soft skills and appropriate interactions bearing in mind that these are children who also need to develop socially, learn to trust pro social decisions and peers, and rehabilitate. I work alongside all departments within the custody setting, from resettlement through to substance misuse and education, however, I must also always have a mind to safeguarding and security in every aspect of the role. I have a team of coordinators,
and I undertake all aspects of line management and personnel for my
team. As part of this role we also have to consider “mobilities”, where the child leaves the Centre for enrichment and resettlement purposes. All of these contacts and opportunities are also managed by my team. I am currently working with a number of third party agencies to see what they can bring to the centre with regards to enrichment.

Delivery Manager at Aylesbury Crown Court covering both Crown Court trials and Employment Tribunals. I was responsible for 5 Court rooms. I directly managed all staff, with regards to HR and training such as appraisals and performance at all grades. I had to make operational decisions quickly and often to ensure the Court ran efficiently. I also dealt with all the key performance targets that the Court is required to achieve as well as internal Court audits. I managed all jury panels and persons involved in jury service. I was often taken out of the area to deal with disciplinary and grievance matters and was seen as the “go to” person for my peers if they had an HR query. The role involved co working with Judges managing their requests and expectations as well balancing the same against reality and limitations on a day to day basis in such a way to not impact on the working relationship between the two organisations. Finally, I also managed and monitored all third party contracts at my Courts from third party providers, such as Mitie, Engie, Geoamey and other such companies. I had to complete regular feedback, returns and audits on the service given, against the service level agreement, expectations, and manage the deficits in delivery as per policy.

Head of Learning and Skills across two prison sites. This essentially meant that I managed the OLASS contract and curriculum as well as managing a number of other external contracts, such as library services, NCS, virtual campus, Oxford Brookes University, the Open University and Milton Keynes College. Internally, I also managed various departments including the gym, library and activities department. It was the activities department's fundamental role to ensure that all prisoners spent their time wisely in custody and completed their sentence plan
objectives, but also to engage those prisoners that were not using facilities to the fullest. It was to assist them to use their time in custody productively, so considering all aspects of behaviour, from therapy and accredited behaviour courses through to employment and educational opportunities both internally and externally. The role meant that I managed how every prisoner within the two prison sites under my lead did with his time on a day to day basis. The two sites had very different criteria, one being a Cat D open prison, and the other being a Cat B therapeutic community. I had to be able to juggle many different tasks and needs at all times, to ensure the smooth running and maximum efficiency of all allocations in both prisons. I am proud to say that in this post I was able to put HMP Springhill in the top spot for the region for education attendance and more than double the amount of prisoners attending outside work. To enable this I had to drive and
motivate my team, and give them clear and consistent support and guidance, create realistic action plans and encourage the teams through dramatic times of change.

Hub Manager of the Activities department. I managed the department that dealt with the movements of all prisoners and how they spent their time whilst in custody, as well as monitoring, finding, auditing and supporting all external placements for release on licence. However I was identified and asked to be Hub Manager for OMU whilst it was going through a state of change. I was asked to troubleshoot a failing department due to the implementation of the new ROTL policy and legislation. I was tasked in rebuilding the team, in rolling out the new process as well as creating KPTs and audit markers for management and ongoing success. The current management team were unable to find a way to solve some of the issues they were facing. I worked very closely with the other Snr Managers to identify a clear goal, and then wrote an action plan that would achieve the objectives. I developed best practice guidance, which I monitored and audited. Within 3 months the changes were implemented and within 6 months were entrenched practice. The positives were seen almost instantly and our ROTL figures increased from 10-15 a day through to upwards of 100-150. I then returned to my role in the Activities Department and continued to manage the change and impact on them. The impact was dramatic, as the Activities department handled all the external stakeholders such as employers, education providers, apprenticeships or any other organisation the prisoners may be attending. We focused on finding more good quality and useful placements for prisoners to attend, working with the community and private companies to give prisoners valuable and positive routes to employment on release.

I was initially employed as an unpaid work officer, which ultimately involved finding placements for offenders to complete their unpaid work orders. Whilst undertaking this role I would also complete sessional work for the service at an Approved Premises, as a hostel keyworker, and additionally as an unpaid work supervisor managing groups of offenders whilst on the work groups. I then trained to become a Probation Service Officer and completed the relevant NVQ (level 3). This meant that I progressed to managing Community Orders that could have various requirements attached with offenders in the community, as well as managing prisoners released on licence. This role then progressed to my holding a caseload and being the Breach Officer in Court for offenders who had failed under their Order for whatever reason. I would cover all breaches for the area and prosecute in Breach Court on behalf of the service. I then chose to take up a seconded probation post within Aylesbury YOI, and was in this role from 2009. I was an Offender Manager to young men aged 18-21 who were held at Aylesbury YOI. I would work on a one to one basis with all of the prisoners on my caseload for the duration of their stay at AYOI managing all aspects connected to reducing their reoffending, as well as preparing for release or move on to the adult estate. I was involved in all MAPPA arrangements and meetings and the writing of licence conditions as relevant for the individual, liaising with the external agencies to manage any risks.