We are committed to providing excellent customer service to everyone who contacts us. Our service standards set out what you can expect from us.
Delivering high performing council services
When you contact us we aim to:
- respond to requests for services promptly and efficiently
- listen to what you tell us and use this, alongside supporting data, to make decisions
- ensure all council decisions, policies and services are transparent
- respect your rights to confidentiality, privacy and safety
- make our services accessible to everyone, regardless of your background or circumstances
- use plain language and not jargon
- give you an opportunity to comment on the services we provide and the things that are important to you
Contacting us online
You can access most of our services online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through our website and self-serve.
You can also find a vast amount of information about your local area by visiting My Town.
When you use our website and self-serve we aim to:
- make sure all information on our website is up to date
- ensure our website and online processes are clear, quick and easy to use
- provide you with information on how long it will take to resolve your query
- use your feedback to improve our website
If you contact us using social media, will always try and reply as quickly as possible. You can find more information on our social media page.
Contacting us by email or letter
You can access most of our services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, however if you do write to us, we aim to:
- provide an acknowledgement within 3 working days
- give you details of who is dealing with your enquiry
- respond to your enquiry within 10 working days
- tell you when we cannot respond fully and tell you when can expect a reply
Contacting us by phone
You can access most of our services online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, if you need to contact us by phone, we aim to answer your call within 3 minutes. We will aim to resolve your enquiry or service request the first time you contact us. When this is not possible, we will inform you of the service that will help you and how long it will take to resolve your query.
We are always busier on Mondays so, if possible, try later in the week.
We record some calls for training and monitoring purposes.
Contacting us in person
You can access most of our services online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, if you visit the Civic Centre, we will deal with you as quickly as possible. We will always try to resolve your enquiry straight away, but if we do need to look into it further and reply at a later date, we will keep you informed on progress at all times.
When we visit you in your home, we will keep to pre-arranged appointments and show you our identification.
How you can help us
We are committed to providing excellent customer service and meeting your expectations. There are many ways you can help us to achieve this by:
- using our online services - this the quickest and easiest way to access our services to quickly resolve your query
- making payments online or by using our automated payment line 01279 446600
- having your reference number to hand and if you are visiting our offices, bringing with you all the correct documentation and information so we can deal with enquiry as efficiently as possible
- keeping us updated with any changes that may affect the services we provide to you
- telling us of if you wish to cancel an appointment
- letting us know if we exceed your expectations or don’t deliver a service to your satisfaction
- treating our staff with courtesy and respect - we will not deal with any rude or disruptive customers or tolerate any physical or verbal abuse towards our staff
Exceptions
Some of our services have timescales that are set out by either law or an alternative policy which might be different from those above. If this is the case then we will tell you this and let you know when you will receive a response.