Customer service and the planning system: a research study

4 Quality of Customer Service in the Planning System

4.1 Importance of customer service in planning

Planning authorities interviewed for the research all agree that customer service is hugely important, a key priority to their organisations, and at the heart of continuous improvement. One stressed that local authorities are there to provide a public service and that it's important that commitment to good customer service is ingrained in the culture and process.

A key challenge to delivering good customer service can be the risk of confusion between 'service' and 'outcomes'. In other words, if customers do not receive the decision they hope, this can shape their views on the quality of service they feel they have received. This issue is not unique to planning but emphasises the importance of planning authorities keeping customers informed, being empathetic and providing clear justifications in a helpful and constructive way. Planning authorities and stakeholders emphasised the importance of letting customers know when delays or other issues may be outside the control of the planning system.

Customers of the planning system can be internal (within the Council) as well as external, including a wide range of individuals and organisations that become involved during consultations. Indeed, one planning authority made the point that planning is more 'public facing' than many other departments in the Council, requiring innovative approaches and effective community engagement skills to ensure that local decision making is informed and transparent.

Wider stakeholders agree that quality customer service is important, especially in development planning (when promoting plans) and that it should be equal to good decision making. For them it is important to have the opportunity to contribute to local plans and be able to galvanise members into responding.

Stakeholders generally feel that planning authorities take customer service seriously although one commented that this could be brought out more strongly in the performance framework. Linked to this is a suggestion that the Scottish Government should apply more weight to customer service when reviewing planning authority performance. One stakeholder feels that the focus should be on good decision-making, with customer service being a cross-cutting measure to ensure effective communication of progress and outcomes.

4.2 Customer service strengths

For planning authorities, the foremost perceived strengths of the system are transparency, flexibility and accessibility. They believe that with increasing amounts of information being placed in the public domain, customers have better access than ever before to information they might want for whatever purpose.

Planning authorities consider their public and community engagement activities to be a key strength, especially reaching diverse groups and enabling a variety of viewpoints to be taken into consideration. Linked to this, one mentioned that they would like to do more to celebrate the positive achievements of planning so that customers recognise what has been delivered and protected.

Two planning authorities specifically mentioned their complaint handling processes and that they have SLAs in place to deal with those within set timescales, ensuring customer expectations are managed and that they are kept informed.

"It's essentially a free service. We provide a range of contact points for customers and have targets for picking up voicemails and responding to emails. If a customer leaves a message, an officer will get back to them within three working days. That's a commitment."

Planning authority

Stakeholders acknowledged the speed of the process and that this appears to have improved in recent years with good feedback being provided to applicants. One stakeholder noted that planning authorities seem to be thinking more and more about the 'customer journey' and how to ensure they handle that process effectively, i.e. putting the customer at the heart of what they do. Another observation is that planning authorities are increasingly taking a 'client-led' approach, for example through pre-application meetings and forward planning.

4.3 Customer service weaknesses

Planning authorities consider the main customer service weakness to be insufficient financial and staff resources. This reportedly affects their ability to communicate with customers as often as they would like. Conversely, one planning authority mentioned a tendency to become involved in protracted discussions where applications are refused, which can limit time available for other customers.

The planning system also appears to be constrained at times by factors outside authority control. This includes customers' expectations of communication frequencies being higher than what can reasonably be delivered; as well as the fact planning authorities say they need to work within a legislative framework which "customers don't always understand". However, one mentioned that discretion can sometimes be used where it would be in the public interest to go the extra mile.

"We only have to notify within 20m radius of a development. If we stuck to that rule we'd have dissatisfied customers as those living just beyond that radius might still be affected."

Planning authority

One planning authority mentioned the fact there is always an "injured party" where planning is concerned, emphasising once again that perceptions of customer service can be lowered if customers do not always have the outcome they wanted. Another mentioned that the bar can sometimes be set too low for attendance at public consultation meetings. They feel that putting more focus on community engagement would help to ensure more people pick up on what is happening in their community so they do not risk feeling disenfranchised.

Stakeholders echoed planning authorities in their observation that planning teams seem to suffer from depleting budgets; revenue not being ring-fenced within the service; and resources being over-stretched. This, they feel, can affect morale among planning officers.

"There is a notable lack of expertise in building conservation. Planning authorities seem to need to rely on other organisations for this."

Stakeholder

One stakeholder noted that customer service seems to be increasingly migrating to online platforms, for example FAQs being promoted over and above phone and email support. Whilst online help tools can be useful, there is some criticism that they can be overly generic and a cause of frustration for customers where they feel that one-to-one support is not openly available.

Other observed weaknesses include lack of consistency in approaches and processing times both within and between planning authorities and insufficient early engagement in consultations, with statutory consultees sometimes brought in too late in the process.

4.4 Effectiveness of e-Planning

Planning authorities interviewed for the research overwhelmingly believe that e-planning has had a positive effect on customer service. Despite some reported teething troubles with the software (such as online payment processing and system upgrades), the perceived benefits include more efficient information flows, better prioritisation of work, reduced printing costs, and greater transparency/easier access to information by the public.

For planning authorities, e-planning is bringing a cultural change, although some work is needed to help customers embrace it and adopt e-planning as the new norm. One authority mentioned having introduced charges for paper-based applications which, within two weeks, led to an apparent increase from 84% to 93% in the percentage of online applications. They have also brought in additional charges for telephone (rather than online) payments and run workshops to help smaller and more resistant agents adapt.

"It's about how you work with the customer to bring them on the e-planning journey with you and change their mindset. In the long run the customer benefits because it speeds up the service."

Planning authority

"We want to think next about interactive chat facilities and other innovative approaches to customer engagement."

Planning authority

Stakeholders echoed planning authorities in terms of the improved transparency and accessibility that e-planning offers, as well as enabling stronger collaboration on applications. One stakeholder mentioned that e-planning has helped to improve consistency between planning authorities due to a common application form. A perceived downside is that the process risks shifting the emphasis away from a "personal service", although it is noted that there is still the option to engage with planning officials where necessary.