Introduction

Our Customer Service Standards have been developed to support the commitments we have made to you in our Customer Promise.

We aim for a positive outcome for any contact experience, across our new council. We will be working behind the scenes to combine the services of our previous councils and we are committed to review these standards with you, our customers, in our first year.

We will measure and publish our results every 3 months.

Complaints

We will:

• Acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days. You will be told who is investigating and responding to your complaint.
• Respond to complaints within 10 working days, where possible.
• Where issues are more complex, we will aim to respond within 20 working days.
• You can make a complaint here. For more information, please see our Complaints Policy [399KB PDF]

Website

We will:

• Aim to have the council website available for 24 hours a day all year round.
• Ensure our online services are accessible, are simple to use and our information is kept
  up to date.
• Be clear about timescales and next steps when you submit an enquiry.

Phones

We will:

• Aim to keep average wait times under 5 minutes.
• Do our best to resolve your enquiry the first time you contact us. If we are unable to do this, we will transfer you to the right person or we will take your details and ask someone to contact you.

Face-to-face

We will:

• Make sure our customer service buildings are welcoming, safe, fully accessible and
  designed to make it easy to get the help you need.
• Aim to greet you within 5 minutes of arrival and see you on average within 20 minutes.
  At busier times, we will aim to let you know how long you may have to wait.
• Do our best to resolve your enquiry the first time you visit us

Letter and E-mail

We will:

• Acknowledge e-mails within one working day. Wherever possible, our Contact Centre will
  aim to resolve your enquiry at the first point of contact.
• Prioritise correspondence relating to welfare and vulnerability, to support early
  intervention.
• Aim to respond fully to written contact within 10 working days. Where a different or
  statutory timescale exists for an enquiry or service (for example, a Freedom of
  Information request), then the associated timescale applies.
• Let you know the steps we are taking to provide a more detailed response and the timescales involved when it is not possible to respond within 10 working days.

Social Media

We will:

• Respond to all direct messages received on Facebook within 3 working days. On
  other platforms we will do our best to read all direct messages, but they are not
  continuously monitored so response times will vary.
• Be clear about the times when our social media channels are monitored and the level of
  response you can expect.
• Do our best to read all messages and comments we receive, although we may not be
  able to reply to every comment. Please remember that social media channels are not
  monitored 24/7 so should not be relied upon to raise a concern, particularly in an
  emergency.
• Signpost you to the best place to resolve your query as quickly as possible – for
  example, an online form or website, or via a direct message.
• Never ask you to share your personal details publicly.

Operational Service Standards

You can find details of service standards for specific services here