Mr. Jerry Grant:

I acknowledge the complimentary feedback I have received from many elected Members on the telephone lines and how they are working. The call centre handles about 160,000 pieces of correspondence every month, with 40,000 telephone calls, as well as emails and letters. That is the level of activity at the centre. About a year ago we put in a senior engineer there to help improve the technical capability to deal with complex questions. Many of the questions asked are complex as the services provided are complex. That has made a difference. Nevertheless, we are never satisfied that we have reached the point to which we want to get. What is really crucial is connectivity with the call centre. People blame it, but very often the problem is the with lines back into our organisation or the local authority operational service. The service is only as good as the loop which is closed. We use hand-held technology in a lot of our activities, which means that we have the loop closed in feeding back into the system. Part of the reform is having the same response in every part of the country and every operational activity. That is what will get us to the level of performance we want to see in customer service. I agree 100% that there is no quick way to build brand recognition and credibility. It can only be done by hard work and providing a service.