Our Service Standards
An Introduction by David McNulty - Chief Executive
We are committed to raising the standards of service and customer care delivered by Trafford Council. We have produced this information to make you aware of the standards you can expect.
We aim to ensure that whenever you have contact with us you will receive consistently excellent standards of customer service and that all areas of service delivery will be accessible to the community as a whole.
We are committed to ensuring that customer service excellence is integral to the planning and delivery of all Council services.
Our Customer Care Promise - We will ...
- Be approachable, professional and polite and always put our customers first;
- Provide access to services for all our customers;
- Deal with your request at the first point of contact or make an appointment for you with a person who can deal with it;
- Ensure that you are advised of all relevant timescales;
- Be fair, objective and sensitive to our customers' needs;
- Aim to meet our deadlines, and keep you informed of progress when handling complex enquiries or complaints;
- Apologise if things go wrong and do our best to put them right;
- Always use clear language when writing to you;
- Continually improve our service and performance standards;
- Listen to your feedback, act on it and respond appropriately.
Customer Service - Our Commitments
1. When You Contact the Council in person:
- You can expect our Customer Services staff to be smartly dressed and wear an identity pass or name badge;
- They will greet you in a friendly, courteous and professional manner and give you their full attention at all times;
- They will be helpful and aim, wherever possible, to resolve your enquiry;
- In cases where English is not your first language we will where possible, provide an interpretation service;
- Where necessary we will provide private interview facilities;
- All customers will be treated as individuals and if necessary services tailored to suit your needs e.g.
- If you have a hearing impairment we will try to locate Interview rooms with a loop system;
- If you have sight impairment you will be provided with clear verbal directions or information in Braille or large print as required; - Our Reception points will not be left unattended during the advertised opening hours;
- Our Reception points will be welcoming, clean and tidy and display details of the services available;
- Our main Contact Points provide disabled access;
- Designated core locations and access points will where possible provide appropriate multi-lingual external signage;
- Where necessary, services will provide out of hours/emergency contact details.
2. Waiting Times
- Scheduled - If you visit us for an appointment you will be greeted on arrival and the person you are meeting will be notified. We aim to start the appointment at the time agreed;
- Unscheduled - You are not usually expected to wait longer than 30 minutes before being seen by an appropriate person or offered an appointment at a later date;
- Appointment - Occasionally during extremely busy periods waiting times are likely to exceed these targets and you should be informed at the first point of contact and advised what the waiting time is likely to be, or offered an appointment at a later date.
3. When You Telephone Us
- In our Call Centre we aim to answer 80% of telephone calls within 20 seconds;
- Phone calls to our offices will be answered within 8 rings during opening hours;
- We will greet you in a polite and courteous manner and give the Service name and our own name;
- We will be helpful and aim, wherever possible, to resolve your enquiry satisfactorily;
- If your call needs to be transferred, we will give a proper hand-over, detailing your name and nature of your call;
- We will identify and address your needs with sensitivity, tact, diplomacy and complete confidentiality;
- If you ask us to call you back at a certain time we will aim to do so;
- If you call us and we are not available we will ensure that either another member of staff answers your call or as a last resort you are put through to voice mail;
- Access to a text phone will be made available.
4. When you write to us
- If you write to us - we aim to respond to you within 7 working days;
- If you send an email enquiry to a service email address we will respond within 1 working day - with automated messages used only where appropriate;
- Our written correspondence, including email will be clear, easy to understand and include a contact name, direct dial telephone number and email address;
- Issues you raise will be acknowledged and responded to within our return correspondence. If this is not possible we will acknowledge receipt of your correspondence and tell you when the full response is will be;
- In cases where English is not your first language we will provide an interpretation service where possible;
- If you need the response to be in another format please tell us - e.g. Braille, Audio cassette.
5. Customer Safety
It is Trafford Council's responsibility to ensure all visitors to Council buildings are provided with a safe and accessible environment.
6. Information/Communication
- Our published information will be up-to-date and written in plain English and available for translation into another language or format;
- Forms are available in hard copy and some in an electronic format;
- Information displayed in reception areas will be uniform throughout the Borough. Contact methods will be advertised;
- We treat all information received in the strictest confidence (Data Protection Act 1998) and allow access to information (Freedom of Information Act 2000);
- To access information email: trafford.direct@trafford.gov.uk or ring 0161 912 2000.
7. Keeping you Informed
We will give you information in the following ways:
- In the Council newspaper 'Trafford Today';
- On the Trafford Website - www.trafford.gov.uk;
- Press releases to the media;
- Information leaflets, displays and Road Shows;
- Through our A-Z of local services (online and printed booklet);
- Service consultation events & documentation across Trafford.
8. Consideration
Customers must offer Council staff the same courtesy and respect that they themselves would wish to be offered. We will not accept aggressive, intimidating behaviour or discriminatory comments made towards our staff.
9. Customer Feedback and Opinion
To take part in our public consultation or satisfaction surveys contact us at trafford.direct@trafford.gov.uk
We aim to continuously improve our services for Customers and welcome your feedback.
10. Customer Complaints and Compliments
We work hard to meet these standards but accept that occasionally we may fail due to exceptional circumstances. If you experience this and are dissatisfied please let us know. Equally, if we do something well - please tell us! Please see our Comments, Compliments and Complaints page for further information
