Would you like to be a hero and protect your country on a daily basis? Our public require police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, prison officers and the armed forces to protect them.
Choosing a career in this industry is a life-long dedication to protecting, serving and enforcing what is right to protect the public. Our course will provide you with the skills, knowledge, experience and confidence that is required to pursue a career in the Public Services. Students will discover what career opportunities they have, as well as developing their skills that are relevant to seeking employment in a range of public service organisations, outdoor activities, law or fitness training.
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Public Services at West Lancashire College
What can I do with a career in Public Services?
Daily tasks:
- Directs and co-ordinates the operation of record keeping systems and the preparation of reports.
- Establishes contacts and sources of information concerning crimes planned or committed.
- Directs and monitors the work of subordinate officers.
- Plans, directs and co-ordinates general policing for an area or functional unit.
- Liaises with senior officers to determine staff, financial and other short- and long-term needs.
Daily tasks:
- Revenue and customs, excise and immigration officers advise on the interpretation of regulations concerning taxes, duties and immigration requirements and enforce these regulations through monitoring of premises, examining goods entering the country to ensure correct duty is paid and establishing that passengers have the necessary authorisation for crossing national borders.
- Prison officers interview prisoners on arrival and discharge/departure, receive reports on disciplinary problems and decide on appropriate action, make periodic checks on internal and external security, and provide care and support to prisoners in custody.
- Ambulance officers plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the activities of ambulance personnel and control room assistants, for the provision of ambulance services for emergency and non-emergency cases.
- Fire officers plan, direct and co-ordinate an operational plan for one or more fire stations, attend fires and other emergencies to minimise danger to property and people, arrange for the salvaging of goods, immediate temporary repairs and security measures for fire damaged premises as necessary.
- Advises on the recruitment, training and monitoring of staff.
- Prepares reports for insurance companies, the Home Office, Scottish Home and Health Department, and other bodies as necessary.
- Liaises with other senior officials and/or government departments to determine staffing, financial and other short- and long-term needs.
Daily tasks:
- Keeps accurate and comprehensive records.
- Works with prisoners in giving advice on problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, addressing training needs, finding work and getting accommodation.
- Draws up probation plans with offenders and helps them follow it, advises them on any work and helps them with any family or social problems.
- Enforces court orders and serves the public by providing a wide range of supervision programmes for those in receipt of a community sentence.
- Produces pre-sentence reports to the court about an individual.
Daily tasks:
- Leads and trains new recruits and lower ranks, looks after their discipline and welfare.
- Patrols areas of possible military activity.
- Undertakes specialist activities such as operating communications equipment, driving military vehicles.
- Trains and exercises using various military equipment and tactics.
- Stands watch and guards military establishments and other buildings.
- Engages in peacekeeping operations and enforces ceasefire agreements.
- Takes part in military operations in situations of conflict and provides aid if required in emergency situations such as civil disorder, natural disasters and major accidents.
- Monitors, operates, services and repairs military equipment.
- Receives and responds to commands from senior officers.
Daily tasks:
- Gives evidence in court cases.
- Works on station reception desk and or in communications room.
- Prepares briefs or reports for senior officers.
- Attends accidents.
- Interviews suspects, takes statements from witnesses and stops, searches and/or arrests suspects.
- Investigates complaints, crimes, accidents, any suspicious activities or other incidents.
- Directs and controls traffic or crowds at demonstrations and large public events.
- Receives instructions from senior officers and patrols an assigned area on foot, horseback, motorcycle, motor car or boat to check security and enforce regulations.
Daily tasks:
- Supervises a watch.
- Advises on fire safety measures in new buildings.
- Attends and deals with bomb alerts and accidents involving spillage of hazardous substances.
- Removes goods from fire damaged premises, clears excess water, makes safe any structural hazards and takes any other necessary steps to reduce damage to property.
- Rescues people or animals trapped by fire and administers first aid.
- Operates hose pipes, ladders, chemical, foam, gas or powder fire extinguishing appliances.
- Travels to fire or other emergency by vehicle and locates water mains if necessary.
- Arranges fire drills and tests alarm systems and equipment.
- Inspects premises to identify potential fire hazards and to check that fire fighting equipment is available and in working order and that statutory fire safety regulations are met.
Daily tasks:
- Reports on prisoners.
- Trains and supervises prison staff.
- Provides care and support to prisoners in custody including prevention of self harm.
- Runs prisoner rehabilitation and support programmes.
- Escorts prisoners transferred from one institution to another.
- Investigates disturbances or any other unusual occurrences.
- Guards entrances and perimeter walls.
- Watches for any infringements of regulations and searches prisoners and cells for weapons, drugs and other contraband items.
- Escorts prisoners to and from cells and supervises them during meals, recreation and visiting periods.
Daily tasks:
- Writes, edits and arranges for the distribution of press releases and other public relations material, addresses target groups through meetings, presentations, the media and other events to enhance the public image of the organisation, and monitors and evaluates its effectiveness.
- Discusses business strategy, products, services and target client base with management to identify public relations requirements.
- Advises the public or companies on general tax problems and arranges for the issue, receipt and examination of tax forms, assessment of PAYE codes and the computation of tax arrears and rebates.
- Undertakes supervisory duties specific to the operation of Revenue and Customs offices, Job Centres, Benefits Agency offices and other local offices of national government.
- Authorises the payment of social security benefits, assesses the financial circumstances of claimants and investigates any state insurance contribution problems.
- Organises resources for the acceptance and recording of vacancy details, the selection of suitable applicants and other Job Centre activities.
- Supervises a variety of administrative functions in government departments such as recruitment and training, the negotiation and arrangement of contracts, building and capital management, monitoring and authorising department expenditure etc..
- Assists senior government officers with policy work, external liaison or general administrative work.
- Manages the activities of government office staff, assigns tasks and responsibilities and makes changes in procedures to deal with variations in workload.
Daily tasks:
- Performs miscellaneous clerical tasks such as proof reading printed material, drafting letters, taking minutes etc.
- Responds to telephone enquiries and other forms of correspondence.
- Classifies, sorts and files publications, correspondence etc. in offices and libraries.
- Maintains and updates correspondence, documents, data and other records for storage in files or on computer.
- Undertakes administrative duties specific to the operation of HM Revenue and Customs offices, Job Centres, Benefits Agency offices and other local offices of national government.
- Assists senior government officers with policy work, external liaison or general administrative work.
Daily tasks:
- Performs other clerical duties not elsewhere classified including preparing financial information for management, proof reading printed material and drafting letters in reply to correspondence or telephone enquiries.
- Arranges, classifies and indexes publications, correspondence and other material in libraries and offices.
- Updates and maintains data, correspondence and other records for storage or despatch.
- Receives and pays out cash and cheques and performs closely related clerical duties.
- Prepares and checks invoices and verifies accuracy of records.
- Computes cost of product/services and maintains and balances records of financial transactions.
Meet our students and tutors
Diana
Public Services StudentWest Lancashire College has provided me with a stable foundation, as it does for all of its students, enabling them to venture into any career or field of study that they wish to pursue.
Jonathon Marlow
Public Services LecturerI have worked at West Lancashire College for 10 years, teaching on a variety of programmes and now, I teach Level 2 and Level 3 Public Services. I have a passion to help young people reach their potential and aim to develop their skills and qualities to move onto further education or employment. I like to encourage learners to develop their teamwork, communication and leadership skills, as well as offer further support to learners through enrichment activities, gym sessions and work experience.
Mike Cooney
Public Services LecturerI have a wealth of educational experience at West Lancashire College. I have helped hundreds of students gain experience on the course, in order to achieve their goals in the Fire, Police or Armed Forces. I have extensive Mountain Rescue and Outdoor Activity knowledge, as well as being Expedition Leader qualified. I teach across all Public Services courses, specialising in Outdoor Activities, navigation, search and rescue skills; along with law and legal system, leadership and teamwork activities and how Public Services deal with major incidents, such as terrorism, health diseases and flooding.
Rebeca
Public Services StudentI decided to attend West Lancashire College as I had heard from a friend that it’s a good college. As I’ve always wanted to join the police force, I decided to choose Public Services, which has helped me to gain skills, knowledge and the correct behaviour into pursing my future career. The Army training and navigation walks that have been organised for the course have really helped me to understand that this is the right path for me. My next steps are attending John Moores University to study Professional Policing.
Ryan Smith
Public Services LecturerI’ve had the pleasure of working at West Lancashire College for over 10 years, after studying my degree in Sports Coaching and playing semi-professional sport. I thoroughly enjoy organising an array of trips and visits for the students to succeed and develop in both practical environments, as well as in the classroom. With my key links to employers in the Public Services industry, I can offer our students a variety of knowledge and introduce them to their potential future role.
Wendy Bennett
Assistant PrincipalI am an Assistant Principal for the 16-18 provision at WLC, overseeing Health, Education and Digital, Creative and Service Industries, Construction and Advanced Engineering. I have extensive experience as a leader and college manager and have been working in education for 21 years. My background is health, education and care. I'm the college strategic lead for T Levels and curriculum development and I'm passionate about the development of new Study Programmes that enhances progression to higher education or employment for young people. As a leader and manager, I support both colleagues, across all departments and learners, creating opportunities that support the development of the required knowledge, skills and behaviours to become successful members of our community and our wider society by being prepared to make positive personal and professional contributions.
Contact our team
Upcoming events
Open Event
West Lancashire College
Thursday 25th April 2024
4:30pm - 7:00pm
Apprenticeship Information Event
West Lancashire College
Wednesday 1st May 2024
4:30pm - 6:00pm
Trade Fair
West Lancashire College
Tuesday 14th May 2024
4:30pm - 6:00pm
