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Between April 2010 and March 2011, we phoned 570 Housing Benefits and Council Tax Benefits customers. We asked their opinion on the service offered by our Benefits Team. 131 agreed to share their views. 118 said that they were either 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with the service they received. That's 90% of everyone who answered.
Changes we have made:
Some of our customers found our 14-day reminder letters confusing, as they did not show what information we still needed from them to process their claim. We now send the original request letters as well, so that it is clear what they still need to provide.
Some of our survey responses concerned waiting times, either on the telephone, or in person at our offices. The average waiting time at Thanet’s Gateway Plus has reduced from 12 minutes 1 second to 4 minutes 2 seconds.
The average waiting time for telephone customers has reduced from 1 minute 10 seconds to 31 seconds.
Following on from the comments in previous years about the lack of Plain English in some of our letters, we have recently started reviewing every Revenues and Benefits letter and form to ensure that they are in Plain English.
Between April 2009 and March 2010, we phoned 659 Housing Benefits and Council Tax Benefits customers. We asked their opinion on the service offered by our Benefits Team. 163 agreed to share their views. 148 said that they were either 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with the service they received. That's 91% of everyone who answered.
Changes we have made:Since making changes to our notification letters last year, customers are happier with them. However, one customer did highlight being told about multiple changes, in a single letter. Where this happens now, we will send a summary sheet with the letter explaining the main changes in entitlement.
Several issues brought up by customers have been dealt with while the survey was taking place. For example, if a customer said that they have difficulty reading notification letters, because of the size of the writing, we have changed them for that customer, so that any future letters they receive are in large print.
Also, if a customer has had a problem with their claim, their query is passed to the team that can deal with that particular issue; this is followed up so that we know how the service can be improved.
Between April 2008 and March 2009, we phoned 562 Housing Benefits and Council Tax Benefits customers. We asked their opinion on the service offered by our Benefits Team. 196 agreed to share their views. 179 said that they were either 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with the service they received. That's 91% of everyone who answered.
Changes we have made: The issues that were most frequently highlighted were the lack of Plain English in our letters, and the quality and length of our notification letters.
We began a process of looking through all of our outgoing letters, making sure that they don’t use jargon and comply with Plain English principles.
A new style of notification letter was developed after we received positive feedback from community groups.
Some of our survey responses concerned waiting times, either on the telephone, or in person at our offices.
During 2008/2009 the average waiting time for telephone customers was reduced from 1 minute 24 seconds to 1 minute 10 seconds.
In the same period, the average waiting time for Thanet’s Gateway Plus customers was reduced from 16 minutes 15 seconds to 12 minutes 1 second.
Thanet’s Gateway Plus has also extended opening hours until 8pm on Thursdays and from 9am to 5pm on Saturdays to enable customers to access services when it is convenient for them.
Letters do not always clearly ask for information, or incomplete information was asked for. We have made our procedures clearer, so that we explain clearly what specific information customers must provide.
Customers felt that the person handling their query was not as polite as they should have been. These issues have been raised with the Customer Services Manager. All Customer Services staff complete rigorous Customer Care training to ensure that customers are dealt with efficiently and with respect at all times.
Comments were made about people with visual difficulties reading the notification letters. Notifications can be produced in a larger text size, or where necessary we are happy to enlarge them onto bigger paper. Customers can contact us to request this service. As a result of these comments, we have highlighted this service on our website.
Some customers commented on the amount of paperwork they need to fill in. We are currently developing an electronic application form that can be filled in and submitted directly to us over the Internet. This form will only ask the questions that are relevant to each individual customer’s circumstances – reducing the time taken to claim.
If you have a comment about our service or an idea that could improve our service, please contact us at benefits@thanet.gov.uk.
We are proud of the service we offer, but recognise that sometimes we could do better, so please let us know!
E-mail:
Benefits@thanet.gov.uk
Tel: 01843 577552
from 9am to 5.30pm
Fax: 01843 577532
or Visit our offices