North Somerset Council get top customer satisfaction results

RESIDENTS are happy with the customer service they get from North Somerset Council, a survey has revealed.

Customer satisfaction has reached 85 per cent - a 12 per cent increase on last year - according to the latest mystery shopping survey.

Mystery shoppers are used by the council to find out where customers are receiving a good service, and where things are not going so well.

They write in, visit and telephone 12 of the most commonly used council services, such as council tax, highways and housing.

The results are then reported back to the council so that services can be improved.

The mystery shoppers made positive comments about the high quality of service that they received with 100% saying that the person they spoke to was polite, 98% of staff members were professional and 96% were helpful.

Satisfaction with the housing service has particularly improved, with the figure reaching 90%, a substantial increase from 63% in the first year.

The housing service also scored highly in their email responses and telephone service, both scoring 90%. 

North Somerset Council deputy leader, Councillor Elfan Ap Rees, said: "I am delighted with these results.

" It just goes to show that even when our staff are dealing with some very difficult and often challenging circumstances, customer service is always a priority.

"This is just one of the reasons why we have been judged to be the top performing unitary council in the country."