Why we’ve said sorry and what we’ve done as a result
The number of apologies we issued increased slightly. Below is a summary of the key reasons we said sorry and the actions we have taken as a result to help improve our services.
| Why we said sorry | What action we’ve taken |
| Missed response to enquiry by parks team. | We reminded staff to respond to emails in a timely manner. |
| Poor communication from housing enforcement officer. |
Manager addressed issue with team member to encourage an improvement in communication style and timeliness. |
| Error made during a housing enforcement inspection. |
Additional team training was provided so that the error will not be repeated. |
| A housing customer was made to feel uncomfortable during an interview. | We’ve worked with the team to ensure they show more empathy when supporting vulnerable customers. |
| Discretionary housing payment application not dealt with in accordance with procedure. | All teams involved were reminded of the correct procedure to follow for both existing and future claims. |
| Lack of communication from planning about an application. | The original case officer left the council, and the application was not reassigned in a timely manner. This has now been addressed. |
| Slow delivery of brown bin and unacceptable waiting times to get through to customer service. | The brown bin delivery was resolved, and we explained we were recruiting new members to the team in customer services to speed up service levels. We also introduced live chat and WhatsApp to speed up response times. |
| Missed assisted blue bin collections. | The crew returned the same day to empty the bin and a reminder was added to the crews round folder. |
| Failure to replace black bin and broken one not emptied. | A new bin was delivered and the broken one removed. |
| Repeated missed garden bin collection on a new estate. | Crews were issued with updated maps. |
| Not returning bins and blue bags to the correct place. | Team were reminded of the importance of doing this correctly. |
| Court summons issued whilst customer was awaiting a decision about discretionary council tax relief. | We reminded the team to process emails in a timely manner and to check all incoming communications before issuing summons. |
| Incorrect advice given to cancel council tax direct debit. | Team member reminded to thoroughly check council tax accounts before advising customers. |
| Reminder letter for council tax payment although payment had been made. | Addressed with finance to ensure payments are still processed/posted when an officer is on leave. |
| Sundry debtor invoice format. | We’ve changed the format of the invoices to make it clearer who they are from, so they are not perceived as junk mail. |
| Building control officers did not follow policy when delivering services. | Reminded officers that approved policies must be adhered to. |