Thursday 31 January 2013
As part of the Environment Department's on-going policy to improve the quality of its services and particularly to improve communications with applicants and others engaging closely with the planning application process, the Department has recently completed our third annual customer satisfaction survey.
This survey supplements other methods by which we actively seek user feedback on our performance, including an Agents' Forum for planning agents, the Department's formal complaints procedure and the householder advice surgeries that are held regularly at locations accessible to the community.
The 2012 survey ran from 15 August 2012 until the end of October 2012 and was sent at the decision stage to applicants and agents.
The Department has prepared a report on the findings of the survey which is available on the States website at http://www.gov.gg/article/7036/Performance-Statistics.
Environment Minister, Deputy Roger Domaille, said:-
"It is important that we ask our customers what they think of the services we provide and that we listen very carefully to their replies.
I would like to thank everyone who responded to our survey which gives us a good indication of how we are doing at the moment and the areas that we should concentrate on in order to improve further. We are extremely pleased that the level of response has increased from previous surveys and we are very grateful to all those who took the time and effort to give us their views."
The survey results have revealed much that is positive about the way in which the Planning Division delivers its services to the community. In particular, it shows that there is:
- Increased use of pre-application discussions between applicants and planning officers which ensures that helpful guidance is given at the earliest stage
- Increased changes made by applicants to development schemes to improve their quality as a result of these discussions
- Increased use by our customers of on-line services, which improve convenience and efficiency and help to reduce costs
- Continuing high levels of understanding of the reasons for planning decisions, reflecting the significant steps taken over recent years to improve the openness and transparency of the planning process.
Deputy Domaille continued:
"Like any organisation, there are some things that we could be doing better and we have identified a number of areas where further work is required:
- Reinforce the culture of good customer service and further improve opportunities for contact and communications with our customers
- Focus staff training on planning policy and design issues to ensure our early advice is of the highest quality
- Issue further written guidance where required
- Look to the future to allow on-line submissions and improved tracking of applications, and consider making improvements in the interim to on-line services and the website
- Involve stakeholders in the review of the planning law and ordinances.
These areas are all subject of recommendations which will be implemented by the Department to make further improvements to customer services and satisfaction levels."
Contact Information:
Jim Rowles, Director of Planning
Environment Department
Tel: 717200
