Benefits and Council Tax Customer Survey 2015

Transcription

1 Benefits and Council Tax Customer Survey 2015

2 Contents Introduction 3 Methodology 4 Analysis of results 5 Conclusion 13 Recommendations 14 Equal Opportunities Monitoring 15

3 Introduction Audit Scotland requires each Local Authority to carry out a customer survey. The purpose of this is to measure performance, to tell us how well we are meeting the expectations of our customers and to identify areas for improvement. We are also constantly looking at the ways to improve the service we provide. This report represents and discusses the findings to emerge from the Benefits and Council Tax customer survey 2015 The objectives of the Benefits and Council Tax customer survey were as follows: To establish the views of our customers on Benefits and Council Tax and obtain feedback To establish levels of satisfaction with Benefits and Council Tax To establish customer experience when contacting Benefits and Council Tax Customers The Benefit and Council Tax Team currently have 172,797 Council Tax customers and 33,195 Benefit Claimants. In the past year 188 complaints have been received with 92 being upheld. A total of 32 compliments have been received by the service.

4 Analysis of Results Question 1. We currently aim to process New Claims for Benefit within 19 days and Change of Circumstances in 8 days. What do you think would be a reasonable time to process both New Claims and Change of Circumstances? New Claims 0-5 days (22%) days (43%) days (25%) days (10%) Changes of Circumstances 0-5 days (38%) days (44%) days (10%) 16-20days (3%) 21 plus days (1%) Question 2. How did you contact us? (22%) Local Office (16%) Letter (3%) Online (35%) Phone (24%)

5 Question 3. How many times did you contact us before your enquiry was resolved? Once (49%) twice (26%) 3 or more (25%) Question 4. Do you have access to the internet? At home (93%) Elsewhere (6%) No (1%) Question 5. How do you access the internet? Laptop (55%) Personal computer (24%) smartphone (15%) other (6%)

6 Question 6. Which of these best describes your internet skills? I need a lot of help (3%) I need some help (5%) good (42%) very good (50%) Question 7. If you don t feel confident, what would be your main reason for that? I don t feel safe using the internet (25%) I don t have the skills (43%) I don't understand how the internet works (3%) other (28%) Question 8. Are you aware that you can access your Council Tax account online? No (11%) yes (89%)

7 Question 9. Have you already signed up to view your Council Tax account online? No (30%) yes (70%) Question 10. Have you used our automated telephone service? No (44%) yes (56%) Question 11. How easy did you find using this service? Very Easy (16%) easy (28%) Difficult (28%) very difficult (28%)

8 Question 12. If you found using this service difficult or very difficult what would be your main reason for that? Couldn t find an option that suited (52%) don t like automated phone systems (14%) found it hard to understand (11%) too many options (23%) Question 13. Have you completed a benefit application over the telephone? No (88%) Yes (12%) Question 14. How long did the telephone application take? 20/30 mins (56%) 30/40 mins (28%) 40/50 mins (16%)

9 Question 15. How did you find the member of staff? very unhelpful (33%) unhelpful (22%) helpful (39%) Blank (6%) Question 16. How would you prefer to be contacted in the future? (75%) Post (19%) sms text (1%) Phone (5%) Question 17. Overall, how do you rate the performance of the Benefits and Council Tax Team? Very good (29%) good (45%) poor (12%) very poor (14%)

10 Question 18. Is there anything we can do to improve our service within the Benefits and Council Tax Team or the access to our service? A total of 37 customers surveyed took the time to add additional comments to the survey they covered a range of comments regarding our business and a mix of positive and negative comments. Miscellaneous comments covered personal circumstances, legislation and staff attitudes. Phones (35%) Positive feedback (19%) Lack of response to answering queries (16%) Staff attitudes (8%) misc (46%) Online Account (5%) Comments Of the 154 customers surveys returned, some customers took the time to add comments when asked if there was anything we could do to improve the service within the Benefits and Council Tax team or the access to our service. The positive comments were: I found them to be very helpful In my opinion the service works well Your member of staff was most helpful to me in my time of need and most understanding The majority of the negative comments were about the automated telephone service: It is almost impossible to speak to a member of staff by telephone, instead you are sent round in circles by the automated phone service Any time I was to make a quick call about something it is impossible to get to the option to actually talk to someone

11 When I know I need to speak to someone to resolve an issue, it's very frustrating to have to go through lots of steps before I can do it. Conclusion Overall, the results are positive and the Benefits and Council Tax team are performing to a high standard with 74% of the customers who responded to the survey satisfied with the service they received. This however has been a reduction from last year s survey from 83%. There is a need to give customers the correct information from the outset as there has been an increase from 37% last year to 51% this year of customers who need to contact twice or more before their enquiry was resolved. As this survey was issued to a similar target audience than last year it has highlighted that there is a greater shift away from customers wishing to be contacted by phone to communication via . The assisted telephone application being a new service does not appear to be fulfilling our customers expectations. The automated telephone system appears to be difficult for customers to navigate and find suitable options for their queries. Recommendations As customers have indicated that they prefer to contact us by online methods the marketing for online account should continue to ensure that the maximum benefit is obtained by customers and the service. The web and the online accounts should continue to be reviewed and enhanced to ensure that it meets over customer s needs. Monitoring will be required of customer feedback due to benefit applications being altered and allowing contact via . The telephone service is another main line of communication with our customers so it is important we continue to provide excellent customer service with knowledge, helpful and polite staff. The automated telephone service requires to be reviewed as customers are finding it difficult to use and find suitable options. The assisted telephone applications require monitoring as the majority of customers who completed the survey rated the staff unhelpful or very unhelpful. Customers should receive all necessary information first time and correctly to reduce the number of times they have to contact us prior to their enquiry being resolved. When requesting information all necessary information should be requested at initial contact and all queries must receive a response.

12 In order that we target all customers and increase the return rate for next year there is a need to offer the survey in various means of communication ie phone and post to ensure that we obtain the views of our customers who cannot or do not feel confident about using the internet. The results of this survey should be communicated to all staff so that they are aware of the findings and the amount of positive feedback that the benefits and Council Tax team has received. MONITORING Gender male (46%) Female (54%) Not answered Age category (4%) (20%) (22%) (23%) (22%) (9%) 75 plus (0.6%) Do you consider yourself to have a disability Yes (16%) No (84%) not answered

13 What is your ethnic origin White (97%) mixed (1%) Africian (1%) other ethnic group (1%) not answered