Agenda item

Members considered the Annual Voice of the Customer Report, which summarised customer feedback from the year 2022/23 and analysed customer contact and the demand data. 2022/23 saw an increase in customer feedback and customer demand when compared to the previous year. The 2022/23 period started in April 2022 when council operations were back to business as usual following the Covid-19 pandemic when changes to our ways of working were required. 

Customer demand had increased dramatically across all channels during the first few months of the 2022/23 period due to the implementation of the new recycling service that started in April 2022. This increase in customer contact had been expected as residents got used to the new recycling arrangements which included the introduction of the new purple lidded bin for paper and card collections, new rules on what would be accepted in the blue recycling bins and a new no side waste policy. The tagging and rejection of contaminated purple lidded and blue bins also commenced in April 2022.

As with customer demand, it had been expected to see fluctuations in customer satisfaction and feedback during the roll out of the new recycling service and changes to policy. Complaints increased in May 2022 and customer satisfaction decreased before improving from August 2022 onwards.

Debate ensued, and Members made multiple queries about waste collection and bins complaints and the contents of the report. In response to a question about reporting missed bin collections, Members learned that the Authority recorded missed bins, which were reported and forwarded to the Waste Services team but not as formal complaints. The Officer explained further, the circumstances that would lead to an investigation into such a matter when the action would be recorded as a complaint. A first-time tag response would not automatically be pushed as a complaint unless requested.  Missed bins, as measure in their own right, were reported through Performance and Delivery   Some questioned whether this was correct.

In response to further questions on waste and side waste, Members learned that if the refuse collectors failed to return to a missed bin five days after it was meant to be collected, then the issue become a recorded complaint and could be subsequently reviewed. It was subsequently suggested that missed bin numbers could be reported to the Committee in the future. In a later set of queries, Members learned the same processes were applied for missed sack collections.

In a query about planning enforcement knowledge and the publishing of responsibilities of the team to the general public, the Chairman suggested that further work be facilitated with the Planning Enforcement team to publicise the work of enforcement actions to promote good governance activity.

In response to a question about a complaint against the Homelessness team and the newly implemented charter, the Customer Experience Officer explained that the Charter set out what participants could expect, the timeframes, and the expected customer behaviour. The protocol included a step for the team to contact the homeless individual.

Having been proposed and seconded, upon taking the vote, it was unanimously

RESOLVED that the contents of the Annual Voice of the Customer Report for 2022-23 be welcomed and the progress made by the Council in improving the customer experience over the last 12 months be noted.