Another Customer Service Accolade for Authority
CHARNWOOD Borough Council’s unblinking focus on customer service has earned it an excellence award for the second year running.
The Neighbourhood and Community Wellbeing Directorate has again received Government-standard Customer Service Excellence (CSE) status following an in-depth assessment by inspectors.
CSE is the national standard which tests the Council on five key areas of customer service including how Charnwood involves the customer, the Council’s customer standards, and how the Council can improve.
Inspector Sue Dowey visited Southfields to check the evidence presented by the Directorate as well as interviewing staff and customers – and she also attended a networking evening where she met many of the authority’s partners.
In her report, Ms Dowey said: “It is worth saying that during these difficult times in local government, the Directorate continues to strive for excellent levels of customer service.
“From the evidence provided for this second-year surveillance, it is evident that the Directorate continues to work to the rigours of the framework.
“I have no hesitation in recommending that the authority meets the full requirements of the Customer Service Excellence standards certification.”
The Directorate was first awarded CSE accreditation in 2010, and the 2011 checks, which included departments not previously assessed, resulted in the Council receiving full compliance against 57 different criteria, as well as two compliance plusses.
Assessors described the result as outstanding and, since then, the authority has been consulted by other councils looking to produce the same results.
Councillor Jenny Bokor, the Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Revenues, Benefits and Customer Service, said: “High-quality customer service is at the very top of our list of priorities and it is another terrific achievement to retain our Excellence status.
“We have had enquiries from a number of other local authorities about our processes and that suggests to me that we are the benchmark when it comes to delivering excellence in customer services.
“However, the work goes on and we will continue to work hard to deliver top-class customer services to our residents.”
Chris Traill, Strategic Director of Community Wellbeing, said: “I could not be more proud as retaining our CSE award justifies all the hard work and customer focus which we strive to achieve on a daily basis.
“All the staff understand the importance of achieving high standards and pulling together to make it happen.”
Lynne Twigg, Business Support Manager within the Directorate, said: “As a team, we found the process valuable and enjoyable and it has given us an in-depth appreciation of what others within our Directorate achieve. It is also rewarding for us to recognise and highlight what we do well, and concentrate on continually improving our customer service.”
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