Our customer promise to you

We want you to be at the heart of everything we do.

You have told us what matters to you and we're making this promise to you.

We will make it clear how you can contact or access our services

• Communicate with you online (email/website/social media) where possible and appropriate. This is often quicker and more convenient for you
• If you have specific access needs, work with you to find the best way to get the help you need
• Ensure our services are inclusive and responsive to your needs

We will be clear and treat you with respect

• Be honest and easy to understand in all our communication with you
• Keep your personal data secure
• Work together with other services across the council and city to meet your needs and make it easier for you to get the help you need

We will understand and get things done

• Aim to answer your query at first point of contact. When we can’t do this, tell you clearly what will happen next so you know what to expect
• Make sure our staff have the skills, behaviours and tools to deliver the service you need
• Keep you informed with up to date information about the services you use

You can help us to keep our promise by

• Treating us, and other customers, with respect
• Letting us know if you have any specific needs
• Giving us all the information we require to help us meet your needs
• Giving us feedback on our service so we can learn and improve

Please tell us how we're doing

We welcome all feedback including when things don’t go right. Feedback helps us learn from what we're doing well and also our mistakes. We're committed to using this information to improve our services.

• Please tell us how satisfied you are with our service, this short customer service survey should take you about two minutes
• If you would like to provide detailed compliment or complaint please contact the customer feedback team at customerfeedback@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Monitoring our performance against this promise

We will monitor our performance through collating the following information:

• customer satisfaction and ease of access
• number of compliments and complaints received
• evidence of how our customers contact us
• survey of residents of Brighton & Hove and service users

The results will be published through our Customer Insight Report annually.

Whistleblowing

Read Brighton & Hove City Council’s Whistelblowing Policy (PDF 355KB).

Website

We will:

•  aim to have the council website available for 24 hours a day all year round
•  continually improve our online services to meet your needs
•  ensure our online services are accessible and simple to use
•  let you know about other ways of contacting us

Telephones

We will:

• aim to keep average waiting times under 10 minutes. At busier times, we will aim to let you know how long you may have to wait
• update voicemails and telephone messages regularly to hold accurate information
• aim to respond to voicemails within one working day
• let you know about other ways of contacting us

Written communication

We will:

• ensure all service email addresses have an ‘automatic reply’ which clearly explains what will happen next
• aim to keep average response times within 10 working days. At busier times, we will aim to let you know how long you may have to wait
• let you know about other ways of contacting us

Face to face

We will:

• make sure our customer service buildings are welcoming, safe, fully accessible and designed to make it easy to get the help you need
• aim to greet you within 5 minutes of arrival and see you on average within 20 minutes. At busier times, we will aim to let you know how long you may have to wait
• let you know about other ways of contacting us

Social media

We will:

• be clear how we will respond to any queries received
• share relevant information and keep this up to date
• let you know about other ways of contacting us