Corporate standards

The Council's Mission Statement

The mission of Broxbourne Council is to serve the public and to meet our statutory responsibilities with economy, effectiveness and efficiency.

We will do this with integrity, common sense and sound judgement. We will be courteous and patient and act in a professional and caring manner.

We will strive to meet the needs of the public and to reflect the priorities of the community in a balanced and fair way. We will respond to well-founded criticism with a willingness to listen, learn, do better and change if necessary.

Telephone

The Council's switchboard has a target of answering all calls within three rings.  Staff should answer the telephone promptly - by the third ring.

Written correspondence

Staff should reply to all correspondence within seven days of receipt by a department.

If staff can't give a full reply within seven days they will send an acknowledgement explaining what is happening and a timescale for a full reply.  In the case of complaints, staff should reply within 10 days.

Responses to external written correspondence and Council members should be by typed letter and may be delivered by hand, post, fax or email as appropriate.

Recording a complaint

Complaints will be logged on a departmental basis by that part of the organisation responsible for the services or staff in question.  The computerised systems will be used where these are available, eg Broxbourne Helpline (extension 5577).

In other instances the corporate form, 'Record of Customer Contact', should be used unless the department has developed its own paperwork system.

Responses

The complaint will be investigated as a matter of priority and a response made to the complainant within a maximum of 10 calendar days from date of receipt. (NB. some departments operate to a shorter timescale which is determined locally).

Occasionally it will not be responsible to give a definite response within this timescale, in which case the customer will be contacted with details of how far the investigation has progressed.

Report to Scrutiny Committee

The Council's performance on achieving its standards on telephone and written correspondence is monitored and reported annually to the July Scrutiny Committee.