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4. Housing Service Standards

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Housing Service Standards

Knowsley Council is committed to continuously improving our services to customers. These are the standards you can expect from us.

When you visit our offices:

• we will make sure our offices can be accessed by all and have a hearing loop in place;
• we will keep our offices clean and tidy;
• we will provide and display up to date information and leaflets in all our offices;
• we will make sure an officer at reception is available to speak to you within five minutes of your arrival;
• if you need more privacy, we will arrange for you to speak to an officer in a private room;
• if you need to make an appointment to see an officer on the same day, we will arrange this if possible; 
• we will tell you how long you will need to wait for an appointment;
• all interviews with council officers are held in one of our private interview rooms; 
• if you need to speak to someone else in Housing Services, we will  try to make sure that someone is available to speak to you within 30 minutes.  If this is not possible, we will offer you another suitable appointment time.
• when we arrange an appointment with you, we will tell you the name of the officer you will be seeing;
• we aim to see you within 10 minutes of your appointment time;
• all interviews will be conducted in a private room, and will be treated in a confidential manner;
• if you cannot come to our offices, we will arrange for an officer to come to your home;
• if an officer visits your home, they will show you their council identification before they enter your home; an
• if we need to cancel an appointment we have made with you, we will let you know as soon as possible.  We will explain the reasons for the cancellation, and arrange another appointment at a suitable time.

When you write to us or email us:

• we will acknowledge receipt of your letter or email within three working days;
• if an officer is out of the office when you email, you will be sent an ‘out of office’ reply, telling you how long they will be away from the office, and giving the name and contact details of another officer who can deal with any requests in their absence;
• if we can, we will reply to your enquiry in full within 10 working days;
• if we need more time to fully reply to your enquiry, we will write to you, explain the reasons for this, and tell you how long it will take until we can give you a full answer; and
• when we write to you or email you, we will always include the name of the officer and their direct contact details.

When you phone us:

• we will make sure that calls are answered within six rings;
• we will check voicemail messages at least two times each day;
• we will reply to voicemail messages left before 5pm on the same working day, and messages left after 5pm the following working day;
• when we answer the phone, we will tell you the name of the officer and the department that you have called;
  if we need to forward your call to another officer or department, we will give you the name, department and direct contact number of the person we are putting you through to;
• if you cannot be put through to the correct person or team straight away, we will arrange for that person or team to call you back within three hours, unless your enquiry needs an immediate answer;
• if we can, we will reply to all telephone enquiries with five working days; and
• if we need more time to fully reply to your enquiry, we call to tell you this within three working days, explain the reasons for this, and tell you how long it will take until we can give you a full answer.

We will make sure that whenever we contact you, we:

• are polite, friendly and helpful;
• treat you with dignity and respect;
• are understanding of your culture, religion and/or lifestyle;
• attend appointments and reply to enquiries on time, or, where this is not possible, contact you to inform you of any delay ;
• carry suitable identification, which is always clearly visible;
• provide you with direct contact details so that you can contact us with any follow-up enquiries;
• provide clear advice to meet your needs, advise you of any actions you may need to take and fully explain any actions we will take on your behalf; and
• provide you with information and contact details about other services or agencies who may be able to help you, particularly where more specialist advice is needed;
• clearly advise you of your legal rights, where necessary; and
• keep you informed of the progress of your enquiry or case.

We will ensure that any information we provide (in letters, leaflets, on our website and in person), is always:

• correct and up to date;
• provided on request and within a reasonable time;
• helpful;
• available in other formats (Braille, audio, large print) on request;
• available in other languages on request