Customer commitment and standards
Our commitment
We are committed to delivering the best service possible and ensuring that our services are easily accessible for all.
Wherever possible we encourage our customers to use our online services. Doing things online is much cheaper and means that we can spend more on essential services and support those who need us most.
You can use our online services to:
Our commitment to you
- we will treat you in the right way
- treat you politely, fairly and with respect
- be open and honest with you
- understand and deliver services in a way that meets your needs
- support and enable you to access our services online wherever appropriate to do so
- keep your personal data secure
We will get things done and:
- aim to answer your request the first time you contact us. When we can’t immediately resolve it, we will tell you clearly what will happen next, so you know what to expect
- ensure our services work together to get you the best possible outcome
- update you on progress so you know what is happening next and by when
- learn from your feedback and, where possible, ensure that we take action to resolve any issues
Making it easy
- be honest and easy to understand in our communications with you
- be accessible to everyone
- explain clearly how you can contact us
Involving you
- actively seek your views on our services
- listen to you and use your feedback to help us improve
Our request of you
- treat us and other customers politely, fairly and with respect
- let us know if you have specific needs
- tell us when something changes
- tell us when things go wrong so that we can put them right
Help us shape your services
We want to provide the highest quality services that meet the needs of people living and working in our district and we want you to shape these services with us.
Let’s talk Cherwell is our dedicated page to give feedback and respond to consultations.
Our standards
E-mail and letters
We will:
- acknowledge e-mails within one working day and do our best to resolve your enquiry at the first point of contact
- prioritise correspondence relating to welfare and vulnerability, to support early intervention
- respond fully to written contact within 10 working days. Where a different or statutory timescale exists for an enquiry or service (for example, a Freedom of Information request), then the associated timescale applies
- let you know the steps we are taking to provide a more detailed response and the timescales involved when it is not possible to respond within 10 working days
Phones
We will:
- aim to answer keep average wait times under 3 minutes
- do our best to resolve your enquiry the first time you contact us. If we are unable to do this, we will transfer you to the right person or we will take your details and ask someone to contact you
Face to face
We operate an appointments system at our offices. If you attend without an appointment, we will direct you to a self-service phone so that you can call the relevant service.
We will:
- make sure our reception is welcoming, safe, fully accessible and designed to make it easy to get the help you need
- aim to greet you within five minutes of arrival
- do our best to resolve your enquiry the first time you visit us