Sutton crowned council of the year for customer services

Sutton has been named council of the year after 99% of residents said they were happy with the customer service they received when they telephoned the council.

The award is based on feedback from residents who have spoken to the council via the telephone, internet, mobile phone and face-to-face at council offices.

This year alone, more than 87,000 people left feedback after contacting Sutton Council. Of this figure 92 per cent said they were satisfied with how their query was dealt with face-to-face.

The data is collected and analysed by a company called GovMetric, which is used by 75 local authorities across the country.

The council is keen to replicate this success on its website, to save council tax payers money. Each face-to-face transaction costs the council £5.87 to process. Over the telephone the cost is £2.24, but internet transactions cost just 28p.

From January to November this year, residents contacted the council by telephone 314,425 times, face-to-face 31,539 times and 625,958 times via the internet.

Deputy Leader of Sutton Council, Councillor Ruth Dombey, said: “Now more than ever it is important that we are able to deal with residents’ enquiries as efficiently and helpfully as possible, to ensure we get the best possible value for money for our council tax payers and the best possible results.

“I’m delighted residents are happy with the level of service they receive from their council. Our customer services team are doing a great job and it’s fantastic to have that recognised.

“The feedback we receive allows us to listen to residents and, if anything goes wrong, rectify it quickly. For example, when the 24-hour touchtone payment system was replaced with voice recognition software, customers told us they did not like it. The council reverted back to touchtone within a couple of days.”