Report calls for better service from Scots town halls

19 May 05
Scottish councils need to do more to improve customer services, the Accounts Commission has found.

20 May 2005

Scottish councils need to do more to improve customer services, the Accounts Commission has found.

In a report published this week, the commission says: 'It is clear that councils without a solid strategy in place to manage improvement are unlikely to achieve success.'

The report, Improving customer service through better customer contact, looks at how councils deal with requests for services and information.

Each year, Scotland's 32 councils deal with 35—40 million enquiries and spend at least £40m on customer service.

Commission chair Alastair MacNish said that while the report showed councils had made a start on improvements, it was time to take stock of what remained to be done. 'The ultimate measure of success is customer satisfaction, and councils should set targets for local improvement,' he added.

According to the report, most councils have carried out surveys of customer satisfaction, but there are big differences in survey methods, scope and objectives.

Research suggests that council customers often get what they are looking for but not consistently, with much depending on the individual member of staff contacted.

The study found that, in the past three years, councils have made important changes in how they deal with customers. A total of 24 councils now operate contact centres and/or a network of first-stop shops or similar facilities.

Some councils were found to have used Modernising Government funding to introduce technology-based improvement projects but none of the councils visited had formally reviewed these projects.

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