COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (214) issued by The Government News Network
on 26 August 2008
New review team
puts customers at heart of service delivery
Options for redress when council services don't meet
people's expectations - such as offering a high street
voucher where appointments are missed and enabling people to track
their complaints online - are to be considered in a drive to
ensure customers are at the heart of local service delivery.
A new review team, including customer service expertise from
Tesco and the National Consumer Council, will make sure that when
people use council services they are treated as consumers - who
know their rights if commitments are not kept or services fall short.
This review is part of a wider drive to put communities in
control and give people a greater influence over how local
services are delivered in their area. The challenge for councils
is to meet high customer care expectations, and recognise that
dealing with problems is an equal if not greater test of their
ability to deliver excellent services for their local communities.
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:
"There have been tangible improvements in the standard of
council services over the past 10 years. Yet consumer
expectations also continue to rise. The new challenge for
councils is to deliver better community engagement and a real
increase in levels of customer satisfaction.
"Councils need to put people at the heart of service
delivery, and take complaints seriously. Where things go wrong,
people should be able to expect swift and fair redress. Getting
this approach right should also help ensure that there is less
need for redress going forward."
David Cook, Chief Executive of Kettering Borough Council and
Chair of the Redress Review Team, said:
"Councils have become highly attuned to the needs and wants
of their inspectors, but perhaps less so to the demands of their
customers. Now we have an opportunity to put the customer back at
the heart of our business.
"Even the best businesses sometimes give their customers
problems. It is the quality of solutions which truly define
customer care. This is not just about financial redress. The
value of a sincere apology and swift remedy is often overlooked."
David North, Community and Government Director at Tesco, said:
"We put our customers at the very heart of everything we do
and build our business around them.
"People have every right to expect good customer care in the
wide range of services provided by their local authorities, and we
are happy to share our experience."
Notes to Editors
1. The White Paper 'Communities In Control: Real People,
Real Power' (July 2008) announced a review to look across the
public sector, private sector and internationally to consider the
feasibility and practicality of introducing and extending the idea
of redress for citizens where their council services fail to meet
agreed standards. The review will also take a wider look at how
the customer can be put at the heart of local service delivery.
2. The review will be chaired by David Cook (Chief Executive,
Kettering Borough Council). It will consider the evidence and best
practice in this area, make recommendations as to how we can
achieve a step-change and provide a route-map for practitioners
going forward, and consider practical costs and regulatory impacts
as part of a final report to the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government in early 2009.
3. The review group also includes Allen Graham (Chief Executive,
Rushcliffe District Council), David North (Tesco), Alison Hopkins
(National Consumer Council), Ossie Hopkins (Institute of Customer
Services), Ben Page (Ipsos Mori) and Tony Redmond (The Local
Government Ombudsman).
4. The Redress Review will report in early 2009. Contributions
can be sent to redressreview@communities.gsi.gov.uk
News Releases: http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsroom