Serco : Customer service for Peterborough residents rated excellent for ninth year running

Peterborough City Council's Customer Service Centre - run by Serco - has once again been rated as excellent by an independent assessor.

This is the ninth year running that the Serco Customer Services team has achieved Customer Service Excellence accreditation - a national Government standard which assesses and recognises organisations with outstanding performance in customer service.

Serco is responsible for providing customer service to local residents across a wide range of areas as part of its strategic partnership with the Council - from organising and conducting specialist interviews for council tax and benefits to taking payments for parking permits and fines, and handling welfare benefit and social care enquiries. In the past year, the team has handled around 350,000 calls and 170,000 face-to-face visits from members of the public.

Serco underwent a rigorous assessment process to demonstrate that it is working within the high standards required to achieve accreditation. The team was judged on its ability to understand customer groups; measure customer satisfaction; its commitment to customer service; its standards for service quality; and its ability to take prompt actions on any issues affecting the service.

The Customer Service Excellence assessor found that 'due to the hard work of staff, customer satisfaction levels are again high and improving', concluding that Serco's team continues to deliver a 'customer-focused service'. The assessor was particularly impressed by the way the team has embraced digital customer service channels, as well as by Serco's partnership working with the Council to help deliver services to Peterborough residents.

Jeff Austin, Serco's Customer Service Centre Manager, said:

'I am very proud of the team for receiving this award for the ninth year in a row. Everyone works very hard to ensure the residents of Peterborough receive an excellent level of customer service and it is fantastic to see the team's efforts recognised by an independent body.'

Councillor David Seaton, Cabinet Member for Resources said:

'I am delighted the team has been recognised yet again for its consistently high level of service to our residents. The customer services team are the face of the council and deal with an enormous range of queries and issues. We also continue to work closely with Serco as we roll out more digital customer service channels which are easier and quicker for the majority of the public to use and more cost-efficient for the council. We are proud to have their achievements recognised by a national customer service excellence organisation.'

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