Response 1006800

Response to request for information

Reference

1006800

Response date

13 February 2023

Request

I am writing to make an open government request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like answers to the questions below to be provided to me via email.

Q1 How many complaints have you received from citizens between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive) about the following:

1. Council tax – e.g., payment, council tax bands, etc.
2. Residential building maintenance – e.g., for council housing and council-owned apartment blocks
3. Facilities maintenance – e.g., leisure facilities, libraries, parks, playgrounds
4. Infrastructure maintenance – e.g., roads, footpaths, etc.
5. Refuse and recycling collection – e.g., late or missed collections

Q2 As per above, how many of these complaints were about poor communication – e.g., citizens receiving letters, emails, phone calls etc. late; relevant departments not responding to queries; no option to communicate over specific channels (e.g., social media, text, etc.); recipients claiming they didn’t receive messages:

1. Council tax – e.g., payment, council tax bands, etc.
2. Residential building maintenance – e.g., for council housing and council-owned apartment blocks
3. Facilities maintenance – e.g., leisure facilities, libraries, parks, playgrounds
4. Infrastructure maintenance – e.g., roads, footpaths, etc.
5. Refuse and recycling collection – e.g., late or missed collections

Q3 For the following question, if possible, please answer for each of the categories in questions 1 and 2, using the attached grid. However, if this will take too long, please share the total numbers.

Did any of these complaints have the following consequences:

1. The need to re-send updated bills or other charges
2. Delays in payment
3. The need to issue refunds to citizens or others
4. Council officers being unable to access council citizen’s properties
5. An inability for citizens to access council facilities – e.g., leisure centres, libraries
6. Delays to essential work – e.g., maintenance of council housing, maintenance of council-owned apartment blocks, maintenance of leisure facilities, maintenance of infrastructure such as roads

Q4 How many requests between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive) have you received from citizens requesting to move from paper/postal channels to digital – e.g., email, online portal, text or phone call?

Q5 Have you invested in the following from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive)?

1. New technologies to improve communication with citizens, – e.g., opening different channels of communication, automated online chat, analysing and mapping resident behaviour on services
2. New services from outside providers that will improve the way you can communicate with citizens – e.g., help desks, services that will manage invoicing, services that will manage enquires
3. Additional training for staff on how to communicate with citizens

Q6 If possible, which of the following areas are you planning on investing in 2023?

1. New technologies to improve communication with citizens, e.g., opening different channels of communication
2. New services from outside providers that will improve the way you can communicate with citizens
3. Additional training for staff on how to communicate with citizens

Q7 Which of the following problems have you encountered between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive)?

1. Citizen information, such as address, phone number or email, that is out of date or incorrect
2. Citizen information, such as address, phone number or email, that cannot be easily accessed, for instance because it is held on different filing systems
3. Online portals, such as to contact the council, to access leisure services, to book collections or maintenance, not working properly, for example, data is hard to input or retrieve, or the portal often crashes

Q8 How many requests between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive) have you received from citizens asking to change their data?

If answering the above questions is not possible, could you please advise as to what relevant information would be attainable, or where the information might already exist in the public domain.

Response

Thank you for your freedom of information request received on 17 January, please see our response below.

Q1 How many complaints have you received from citizens between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive) about the following:

1. Council tax – e.g., payment, council tax bands, etc. - 11
2. Residential building maintenance – e.g., for council housing and council-owned apartment blocks - 0
3. Facilities maintenance – e.g., leisure facilities, libraries, parks, playgrounds- 0
4. Infrastructure maintenance – e.g., roads, footpaths, etc.- 0
5. Refuse and recycling collection – e.g., late or missed collections - 1

Q2 As per above, how many of these complaints were about poor communication – e.g., citizens receiving letters, emails, phone calls etc. late; relevant departments not responding to queries; no option to communicate over specific channels (e.g., social media, text, etc.); recipients claiming they didn’t receive messages:

1. Council tax – e.g., payment, council tax bands, etc.- 7
2. Residential building maintenance – e.g., for council housing and council-owned apartment blocks - 0
3. Facilities maintenance – e.g., leisure facilities, libraries, parks, playgrounds - 0
4. Infrastructure maintenance – e.g., roads, footpaths, etc. - 0
5. Refuse and recycling collection – e.g., late or missed collections - 0

Q3 For the following question, if possible, please answer for each of the categories in questions 1 and 2, using the attached grid. However, if this will take too long, please share the total numbers.

Did any of these complaints have the following consequences:

1. The need to re-send updated bills or other charges - 0
2. Delays in payment - 0
3. The need to issue refunds to citizens or others - 0
4. Council officers being unable to access council citizen’s properties - 0
5. An inability for citizens to access council facilities – e.g., leisure centres, libraries - 0
6. Delays to essential work – e.g., maintenance of council housing, maintenance of council-owned apartment blocks, maintenance of leisure facilities, maintenance of infrastructure such as roads - 0

Q4 How many requests between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive) have you received from citizens requesting to move from paper/postal channels to digital – e.g., email, online portal, text or phone call? - 314

Q5 Have you invested in the following from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive)?

1. New technologies to improve communication with citizens, – e.g., opening different channels of communication, automated online chat, analysing and mapping resident behaviour on services
2. New services from outside providers that will improve the way you can communicate with citizens – e.g., help desks, services that will manage invoicing, services that will manage enquires
3. Additional training for staff on how to communicate with citizens

None

Q6 If possible, which of the following areas are you planning on investing in 2023?

1. New technologies to improve communication with citizens, e.g., opening different channels of communication
2. New services from outside providers that will improve the way you can communicate with citizens
3. Additional training for staff on how to communicate with citizens

Our telephone system has the option for chatbots and chat which we may explore

Q7 Which of the following problems have you encountered between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive)?

1. Citizen information, such as address, phone number or email, that is out of date or incorrect
2. Citizen information, such as address, phone number or email, that cannot be easily accessed, for instance because it is held on different filing systems
3. Online portals, such as to contact the council, to access leisure services, to book collections or maintenance, not working properly, for example, data is hard to input or retrieve, or the portal often crashes

Information not recorded

Q8 How many requests between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 (inclusive) have you received from citizens asking to change their data?

Information not recorded