Warwickshire out-performs other councils on e-comms
A national survey that compares Warwickshire County Council with over 40 other local authorities has revealed that it is performing much better than most when it comes to replying to emails and having a user-friendly website.
The national Mystery Shopper Benchmarking Survey compares the findings of ‘mystery shoppers’ – people whose mission it is to check out standards of customer service – at more than 40 county, borough, district and town councils across the UK.
The most recent results, gathered together following a series of ‘mystery shopping’ exercises that took place across the councils in autumn last year, have now been published.
The survey reveals that Warwickshire County Council is performing above the national average when it comes to responding to emails from residents, scoring 81% compared to the UK average of 71%.
The score is an improvement on the last national benchmarking survey that was published in spring 2007, when the county council scored 76%.
Warwickshire County Council is also out-performing other councils when it comes to having a user-friendly website. Its website, http://www.warwickshire.go.uk, scored 90% in the national benchmarking survey, whereas the average score for other councils’ websites was just 85%.
Last year around eight million people visited the Warwickshire County Council website, a huge 21% increase on the previous year.
Eric Britton, Warwickshire County Council’s Head of Communications, said: “The web is part of a number of communication channels we offer as a way of making sure the people of Warwickshire have access to the information they want.
“The site is far more interactive than it has ever been, and with the majority of people now having internet access at home or at work, it provides an excellent way of helping people to find the information they want quickly and efficiently.”
The county council regularly invites ‘mystery shoppers’ to check up on its staff and procedures to make sure that people in Warwickshire are getting a good service.
The national survey also reveals that the council is doing well when it comes to responding to telephone calls, scoring 82% in the survey, and when receiving visits from residents, for which it receives a score of 80%.
However, the survey shows that there is still room for improvement in these areas, as the national average for responding to telephone calls is 89% and for dealing with visitors is 85%.
Councillor Alan Farnell, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “The ‘mystery shopper’ results reveal that, in general, the county council is performing well to lift standards of customer service, however we’ll be looking closely at areas where we can get better.”