Customer service standards

We have developed and implemented 25 customer service standards to help improve the service we provide to you.

We use these standards to measure and report back on cleansing services in Belfast and to help us identify areas where improvement is needed.

They cover five different areas:

Street cleansing

1. To maintain a minimum city-wide cleanliness index of 70 (67 is recognised as a good standard by Tidy Northern Ireland).

Our target: 73
Results for year to date: 76

April 2012 May 2012
City-wide cleanliness index 74 75


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


2. Where commitment to remove graffiti is given, non-contentious graffiti will be removed within four working days from the signing of an indemnity form.

Our target: 3 working days
Results for year to date: 2.49 working days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 11 4
Average number of working days 2.72 2.25


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


3. Where commitment to remove graffiti is given, contentious graffiti will be removed within one working day from the signing of an indemnity form.

Our target: 1 working day
Results for year to date: 1.24 working days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 16 21
Average number of working days 1.00 1.47


We fell marginally below the agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


4. Removal of flyposters within four working days of receipt of notification.

Our target: 3 working days
Results for year to date: 0.90 days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 4 5
Average number of working days 0.80 1.00


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.

5. Level of customer satisfaction with the service provided (quarterly survey of customers).

Our target: 85%
Results for year to date: 91.89%

April 2012 May 2012
Satisfaction rating % 92% n/a


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.

Enforcement

6. Within two working days of an offender to a littering offence being identified by way of an Article 20 notice, a fixed penalty notice will be issued, where appropriate.

Our target: Two working days
Results for year to date: 1.00 working days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 6 13
Average number of working days 1.00 2.07


We fell marginally below the agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.

Community awareness

7. Contact will be made with all schools at least once per year with a view to delivering a litter awareness message.

Our target: 100%
Results for year to date: 100%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage of target reached 100% 100%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


8. To deliver a Cleansing Advisory Forum meeting in each area of the city (north, south, east, west and central) at least once per quarter.

Our target: 100%
Results for year to date: 100%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage of target reached 100% 100&


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.

Waste collection

9. Domestic bins will be collected on the designated day 100 per cent of the time, provided they have been left out for collection at the appropriate time.

Our target: 99%
Results for year to date: 99.93%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 99.92% 99.93%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


10. Bulky waste will be collected on the designated day 100 per cent of the time, provided the items have been left out for collection at the appropriate time, where access permits.

Our target: 99%
Results for year to date: 99.82%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 99.84% 99.80%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


11. Commercial waste will be collected on the designated day 100 per cent of the time, provided it has been left out for collection at the appropriate time.

Our target: 99%
Results for year to date: 99.58%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 99.54% 99.61%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


12. All bins will be returned to their collection point after emptying.

Our target: 99%
Results for year to date: 99.998%

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 12 13
Percentage achieved % 99.998% 99.998%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


13. Customers will be advised annually of their refuse collection holiday schedules.

Our target: 100%
Results for year to date: 100%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 100% 100%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


14. Domestic bins which have been left out on time and have been missed by our squads will be collected within two working days of a customer request.

Our target: 2 working days
Results for year to date: 1.05 working days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 489 427
Average number of working days 1.06 1.04


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


15. Commercial waste which has been left out on time and has been missed by our squads will be collected within two working days of a customer request.

Our target: 2 working days
Results for year to date: 1.05 working days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 91 78
Average number of working days 1.25 1.23


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


16. Bin spillages will be rectified within one working day of being reported.

Our target: One working day
Results for year to date: 0.00 working days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 0 0
Average number of working days 0 0


There were no reported bin spillages in May 2012.


17. All customers will be provided with an agreed date for the collection of bulky household waste.

Our target: 100%
Results for year to date: 100%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 100% 100%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


18. A bulky household waste collection will be made on average within 5 working days of a customer request, provided the items for collection have been properly identified, presented and left out for collection at the appropriate time.

Our target: 4.5 working days
Results for year to date: 3.06 working days

April 2012 May 2012
Number of occurrences 3,312 4,091
Average number of working days 3.28 2.83


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


19. A 'no admission' card will be left for our bulky household waste customers 99 per cent of the time where appropriate.

Our target: 99%
Results for year to date: 97.34%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 98.50% 96.18%


We fell marginally below the agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


20. Level of customer satisfaction with the service provided (quarterly survey of customers).

Our target: 86%
Results for year to date: 96.77%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved 97% n/a


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in April 2012.

Customer support

21. Calls will be answered within 20 seconds of being connected to our cleansing call centre (91 per cent of the time).

Our target: 97%
Results for year to date: 98.80%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 98.50% 99.10%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


22. Calls will be resolved at the first point of contact with cleansing staff (90 per cent of the time).

Our target: 97%
Results for year to date: 98.92%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 98.74% 99.10%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


23. An acknowledgement to a corporate complaint will be sent to our customers within one working day of receipt of the complaint.

Our target: 1 working day
Results for year to date: 100%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 100% 100%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


24. An investigation into a stage one corporate complaint will be carried out and a response provided within five working days.

Our target: 5 working days
Results for year to date: 100%

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 100% 100%


We met or exceeded our agreed target for this service standard in May 2012.


25. An investigation into a stage two corporate complaint will be carried out and a response provided within ten working days.

Our target: 10 working days
Results for year to date: N/A

April 2012 May 2012
Percentage achieved % 0 0


There were no stage two complaints in May 2012.