Customer service and the planning system: a research study
The research follows on the back of the 2017 People, Places and Planning consultation and highlights examples of good practice and forward considerations for strengthening customer service within the planning system.
2 Introduction
2.1 Background and purpose of the research
Delivering excellent customer service requires firm and long-term commitment at all levels of a system, organisation or network. Implementing major changes or improvements can often require a culture change that needs time to permeate through teams, processes and operations. Such change needs strategic foresight, a clear implementation plan, buy-in from all those involved, effective use of available resources, and a regular cycle of evaluation to measure performance, change and continuous improvement. Above all, it depends on the views of customers, being responsive to their needs and managing expectations within available resources.
The 2017 People, Places and Planning Consultation set out a vision for the planning system in Scotland to be open for business, internationally respected and a conduit for improving people's lives by creating better places and supporting delivery of good quality homes. The consultation raised concerns that planning services are currently under-resourced and that costs to applicants should be better aligned to the services provided. However, a condition of any fee increase would be that planning authorities deliver better customer service and improved performance. Key themes within the consultation included the need for strong leadership and smart resourcing, for example capitalising on the efficiencies and customer benefits to be gained from the digital transformation of planning services.
The Scottish Government commissioned this exploratory research to gather intelligence on how customer service is measured by a range of organisations (public and private sector, within Scotland and beyond) with respect to services provided to the general public. It sets out to show examples of good practice and suggestions that could help to strengthen quality of service and respond to the current ambitions of the planning system.
Research objectives:
- Identify existing customer service standards across local authorities in Scotland and the levels these are measured against for quality assurance purposes;
- Explore and report on other methods and exemplars of customer service to establish where lessons can be learned by the planning service, including innovative approaches;
- Present potential approaches, techniques and measures (including resource requirements) that could represent good practice and be easily adopted by planning authorities.
2.2 Methodology
The research was undertaken between April and June 2018 involving a desk-based review and telephone interviews.
The desk review explored a variety of organisations' approaches to delivering and measuring customer service. These organisations (classified into five groups) are listed in Table 1. The review involved sourcing and examining a range of documentation and resources available in the public domain.
Table 1 Organisations sampled for the desk review
Local authority planning services: | Other local authority services: |
---|---|
Aberdeen City Council Dundee City Council Perth and Kinross Council Leeds City Council Planning Services Swale Borough Council Planning Services |
Angus Council Building Standards Argyll and Bute Council Building Standards Aberdeenshire Council Building Services Kettering Borough Council Warwickshire County Council |
Public sector: | Private Sector: |
Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency ( DVLA) The Department for Work and Pensions The Insolvency Service The Intellectual Property Office Security Industry Authority |
Barclays Direct Line EasyJet National Express Tesco |
Holders of excellence standards/award winners: | |
AXA PPP Healthcare – Feefo Gold Trusted Merchant Registers of Scotland – Holder of Customer Service Excellence Sapphire Independent Housing – Holder of Customer Service Excellence Scottish Water – Institute of Customer Services highly ranked Virgin Money – Winner of Voice of the Customer Awards 2017 |
In-depth telephone interviews were undertaken with seven Scottish planning authorities and seven other stakeholder organisations (Table 2). Discussion topics covered approaches to measuring and monitoring customer service; customer service standards and accreditations held (including the perceived value of these); customer service strengths and weaknesses in the planning system (including e-planning); and suggested improvements.
Table 2 Telephone interviewees
Planning authorities | Other stakeholders |
---|---|
City of Edinburgh Dumfries and Galloway Fife Glasgow Highland Perth and Kinross Scottish Borders |
Historic Environment Scotland Homes for Scotland Royal Town Planning Institute Scottish Civic Trust Scottish Environment Protection Agency Scottish Natural Heritage Scottish Water Scottish Environment Protection Agency |
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