Braintree District Council has been awarded the prestigious Customer Service Excellence Standard for the sixth year.
The Customer Service Excellence Standard is nationally recognised and designed to drive customer-focused change. It aims to make a difference to customers by encouraging organisations to focus on their individual needs and preferences. This year it looked at year 1 of a 3 year rolling programme of continuous improvement, with a focus on how the council have been doing things differently during the pandemic along with what has worked well.
The assessor applauded Braintree District Council for its approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and the work to ensure services continued to be delivered and meet the needs of its customers, with high customer satisfaction rates.
The assessor found that the council is fully compliant with the Customer Service Excellence Standard and it can also demonstrate compliance plus in 7 areas.
Councillor John McKee, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Customer Services, said: “Our residents and businesses are at the heart of all we do so I am thrilled we have been recognised for this.Taking time to understand the needs of our residents helps us deliver better services that meet their needs. It is a testament to the hard work of our staff, management team and councillors during the pandemic that we have had such a positive assessment and have achieved the Customer Service Excellence Standard.”
The assessor emphasised the positive partnership working the council has developed, stating it is “a strength especially in engaging and supporting disadvantaged and communities throughout the pandemic and in business development activity.”
The assessor commended the council’s communications with residents and businesses, as well as the culture of the whole organisation, and was described as being higher compared to other organisations.
The assessor also praised the council for good insight into commercial and business areas.