Executive Member - Presentation
There will be a presentation from the Executive Member of Development Management and Council Support on Complaints and Customer feedback.
Minutes:
The Executive Member for Development Management and Council Support gave a presentation summarising the results of the Mystery Shopping exercise which had been carried out towards the end of last year. The Executive Member provided an overview of the feedback received.
Councillor N Symonds thanked the Executive Member for her presentation and queried whether the mystery shopping was done before the need to refer to the requirements of the GDPR. It was her view that the dialogue on phone message was too long and that other Councils included an option to opt out by pressing the keypad.
Councillor M Stevenson queried whether the customer services staff taking calls, were permanent and whether training had been given. The Executive Member explained that it was a mixture of staff.
The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy explained that the point of the exercise was to deliberately ask complicated questions to establish where weaknesses lay and to make sure everyone was equipped to answer questions. He added that the feedback had been very helpful and overall, the results had been positive, but that further work was needed in relation to a uniform and more professional approach.
In response to a query from Councillor B Deering, the Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy explained that over the years, there had been a move from a federated customer service model dealing with service specific questions, to a central customer services approach.
In response to a comment by Councillor G Cutting on call monitoring, the Head explained that it was possible to cut in and listen in on calls but that the Council did not record. Councillor N Symonds explained that it should be borne in mind that answering Council Tax benefits calls could take longer to answer. Councillor J Jones hoped that customer services did not read from a crib sheet and spoke of the need to maintain a friendly approach.
The Chairman, on behalf of Members, thanked the Executive Member of Development Management and Council Support for her presentation.
RESOLVED – that the presentation be received.