Due to essential maintenance some of our online services will be unavailable on Thursday 21 March from 5pm to 7pm.

We aim to provide customers with a high quality and consistent service. Our customer care charter sets out the targets we work to when delivering services.  

We aim to: 

  • offer a friendly and professional service 
  • make our services and public areas fully accessible 
  • listen carefully to your question and give you an appropriate reply
  • display our opening times
  • offer a range of ways of how you can contact us 
  • treat you politely and fairly 

Answering phone calls and text messages 

We aim to: 

  • answer your call within 6 rings or in 20 seconds.   
  • if your call joins a queue, we aim to put you through within 60 seconds 
  • answer your call giving our name and service 
  • take your number and call you back within 2 working days if we need time to answer your question 
  • respond to your text message or phone message within 2 working days 

Responding to letters, faxes, emails and web forms 

We aim to: 

  • send an acknowledgement within 5 working days 
  • respond within 10 working days 
  • update you regularly if a full response cannot be given 
  • give you contact details of the person dealing with your enquiry  

Responding to you in person 

We aim to: 

  • deal with your questions within 10 minutes
  • explain reasons for any delays
  • be on time for appointments 
  • make sure that the first person you deal with answers your question or passes you onto the right person 
  • make sure private rooms are available in our public offices for private or confidential matters 
  • treat you and your property with respect 

Providing information

We aim to: 

  • produce information about services that is accurate, accessible, useful and up to date 
  • offer information in other languages or formats such as large print or audio tape 
  • hold personal information about you securely in line with the Data Protection Act 

We ask of you

We ask you to: 

  • treat our staff with courtesy and respect 
  • give us relevant paperwork and as much information as possible so that we can deal with your enquiry quickly 
  • arrive on time 
  • let us know beforehand if you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment 
  • give us advance notice if you need a signer, interpreter or translator 
  • be reasonable with your requests and demands 
  • let us know if you are unhappy with the service you have received 

Different timescales apply to correspondence dealt with under the compliments, suggestions and complaints procedure and other legally defined periods for responses, such as Data Protection and Freedom of Information. 

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