Agenda item

Report of the Head of Customer Services

A presentation was given by the Head of Customer Services, Corporate Property and Assets updating Members on the performance and progress of the Customer Services Team.

Councillor M B Wyatt questioned whether it was possible to make links with other organisations, particularly the County Council, to allow customers to report issues once to the District Council and then the matter be referred on.  In his experience, customers who made contact to report an issue that was not the Council’s responsibility was unlikely to make a further call to report it to the correct organisation.  The Head of Customer Services, Corporate Property and Assets explained that this was something that had been discussed in the past with his County Council equivalent and he was happy to open discussions again to see what was possible for the future.

At the request of Councillor A Bridgen, the Head of Customer Services, Corporate Property and Assets agreed to provide information on the percentage of customers that currently completed a satisfaction survey once they had made contact with the Council.

In response to a question from Councillor V Richichi, it was confirmed that customer satisfaction was measured and was consistently good.  However, it was acknowledged that improvements could be made in the way the data was collected and work was underway to move to digital data collection to encourage an honest response.  It was also confirmed that customer satisfaction in relation to housing repairs was measured and issues were followed up by officers.

At the request of Councillor S Sheahan, it was explained how the new telephony system would work and that overall would be more efficient with the ability to measure the quality of service.  In addition, it would allow officers to use telephony wherever they were, therefore allowing for a more agile way of working.

In response to a question from Councillor S Sheahan in relation to the plans for the redesign of the buildings reception area, the Head of Customer Services, Corporate Property and Assets reported that the environment for the reception area was not fit for purpose and changes would be considered.  He added that the council building was being looked at as a whole as part of the accommodation review and this would be considered by the newly established cross party working group to help give the project some direction.

Councillor E Allman commented on the high number of calls customer services officers were dealing with daily and acknowledged the busier times throughout the year.  He asked how the service coped at peak times and whether leave was restricted during these times.  The Head of Customer Services, Corporate Property and Assets explained that arrangements were in place to stagger the distribution of letters that resulted in more calls, for example, council tax letters to all households.  He confirmed that leave was restricted during peak times but there would also be less training so that more officers were able to concentrate on taking calls.  He added that agency staff were not usually used, as it did not generally provide the best quality of service.

It was moved by Councillor E Allman, seconded by Councillor V Richichi and

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be noted.