Service Standards
If you phone us, we aim to:
- Answer your call within 3 rings for at least 75% of calls.
- Always be polite and professional.
- Give you our full name, slowly and clearly.
- Deal with your enquiry or request immediately. If we can’t we promise to phone you back as soon as possible and certainly within 3 working days. We aim to do this in 95% of cases.
- If we need to respond to an emergency environmental health request out of normal working hours (evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays) we aim to do so in all cases within 1 hour of your call. In busy periods we may need to deal with the most urgent cases first. If this happens we will let you know how long you will have to wait.
If you write to us (or fax or e-mail), we aim to:
- Send you an acknowledgment within 3 working days of receiving it at the council offices and then a full reply within 10 working days. Again, we aim to do this in 95% of cases (target 2002/2003).
- If your inquiry will require more time to respond, we will send you a further note within the 10 working days letting you know exactly when you will receive a full reply.
- Provide written replies which are clear and easily understood.
- Let you know the name and contact telephone number for the person dealing with your enquiry or request.
If we can’t meet any of these deadlines, we will:
- Let you know why and keep you informed as to when you will get a full reply.
If we can’t answer your enquiry ourselves, we will:
- Put you through to someone who can help or give you a contact name and telephone number.
- We may need to carry out a detailed investigation on your behalf, for example, a noise or drainage problem, which may take weeks or even months to resolve. There may be times when we are waiting for information from you or we may be acting ‘behind the scenes’. If so, we will:
- Let you know at the outset how long we think it will take to resolve your problem with the aim of resolving 97% of all investigations within 90 days target.
- Keep you informed as to the progress being made by telephone or in writing at least once every 15 working days if the current stage of the investigation is in our hands.
How and when you can contact us:
- We are based at the Council’s main offices atPenns Place in Petersfield. The offices are open between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.
- Our Customer Services team is the main point of contact for initial telephone enquiries during normal working hours. They can be contacted through our main switchboard on 01730 266551. Just ask for Environmental Health.
- Outside of normal working hours you can leave a message of a general nature on our main switchboard ansaphone on 01730 266551.
- If you need emergency advice outside normal office hours, including weekends and Bank Holidays, you can phone our emergency service on 07764 346550. You will speak directly to an officer who will be able to help.
- If you are visiting Penns Place, a member of our team will always be available to take the details of your enquiry but if you would like to talk to a specific officer in person we recommend that you phone in advance for an appointment. You can either phone the person directly, if you have their number, or contact our Customer Services team and they will transfer your call.
- Officers are normally out of the office on visits between 10.00am and 4.00pm so its is always best to contact them outside of these times or leave a message and they will call you back promptly.
- We publish an up-to-date A-Z of Council Services each year within our community magazine ‘Partners’ and on our web site giving contact names and direct dial numbers for all our services and lead officers. You may wish to refer this guide.
- There is an out of hours reception centre in Whitehill where East Hampshire residents may take a found dog. This operates between 9am and 5pm on weekends and bank holidays only. Tel: 07907 911069.
- You can also visit the website for information at any time on www.easthants.gov.uk or leave a message on ehealth@easthants.gov.uk.
If we visit you at your home or business, we will:
- Give you the opportunity for an appointment at a mutually agreed time, though this may not be possible for certain enforcement-type visits.
- Offer appointments outside normal working hours if you have particular difficulties in meeting us during the normal working day.
- Due to the nature of Pest Control treatments it is not possible to give specific timed appointments and at peak times during the summer we may not achieve the 3 day target response time. We will let you know if this is the case at the outset.
If you have special needs, we offer the following at our main offices:
- An interview room where you can talk to an officer in private.
- A Minicom facility if you have a hearing impairment (providing you have the necessary equipment). Please contact us on 01730 234103.
- A hearing (induction) loop within all our committee rooms and main Council Chamber and a portable infra-red hearing aid device that can be set up within any area of the offices.
- A Typetext facility available through the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID). For further information and assistance contact 0207 296 8000.
- Disabled access arrangements, including designated parking bays, ramps and a lift.
- Specially adapted toilet facilities on the ground floor.
- A translation service for telephone contact by phone or writing if English is not your first language.
If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service at any time:
- First of all, let the person you have been dealing with know and they will try and resolve any problems quickly, explain what we have done and why.
- If you are still dissatisfied and would like to take your complaint further, please contact,
Gill Kneller
Head of Environmental Services
Council Offices
Penns Place
Petersfield
GU 31 4EX
Tel: 01730 234301
- She will provide you with a full reply within 10 working days. If this is not possible she will acknowledge your letter or call within 3 working days and let you know when you will get a full reply.
- If you are still unhappy about the service you have received, the council has a formal complaints procedure available to you. Further details are available on request.