New strategy to improve council's customer service (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

New strategy to improve council's customer service

September 30, 2008 12:00 AM

The Liberal Democrat-led Council is setting out a new strategy to make its services more customer focused and efficient for customers, designed around their needs. The Customer Service Strategy aims to build on work already started in this area with the easy@york programme which improved communication channels for customers with the York Customer Centre, joined up council services to provide better access for customers, and made services faster, more efficient and cost effective.

The Customer Service Strategy will be used to deliver a high quality, customer-focused service across all council services from the Customer Centre which is planned for the Council's new headquarters.

The strategy will aim to provide services that are

- Easy to access

- High quality and efficient

- Effectively managed

- Designed for you (the customer)

A summarised, customer friendly version of the strategy is also planned, so customers can find out what they can expect from the council's customer services.

The strategy is still in its draft phase, but the following aims have been highlighted:

§ Demonstrate what the council is committed to delivering for its customers

§ Set out plans for transformation and improvement of services

§ Update the council's complaints policy to reflect the importance of using customer feedback, and use it constructively to improve services for the future

§ Improve satisfaction with the council as a whole (building on fact that customers are satisfied with individual services)

§ Make services more direct for the customer

§ Broaden the scope of the work carried out by York Customer Centre by handling more services in depth

§ Make services accessible to hard to reach, disadvantaged groups by using public buildings such as schools and libraries and working with voluntary and community groups

§ Improve the council's website

§ Extend opening hours for phone and face-to-face contact

§ Provide a single location for face-to-face contact (and phone contact) for all services

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Corporate Services, Richard Moore, said:

"City of York Council is committed to providing a high standard of customer care, with ongoing training of staff and the recognised success of the easy@york programme. Whilst the Council has a good track record when providing customer service, it is important the we set future plans to build on our record and that we continue to monitor and respond to feedback to help us improve further. With the help of residents providing feedback generally, and particularly during this consultation, we can design a strategy that best meets the needs of York residents and provides accessible services across all council departments.

"The focus of the strategy moves away from primarily improving access, as a lot of progress has already been made in this area, to developing larger objectives for improving the delivery of services. The strategy will be updated when necessary to reflect new requirements and progress being made."

The draft version of the strategy will be discussed by members of the Liberal Democrat Executive at its meeting on 7th October. It will then go to consultation with York residents over the Autumn, using a range of methods such as postal surveys, face-to-face interviews, online surveys, focus groups and workshops. The strategy will be finalised in December.