Wakefield Council Benefits Service is keen to learn from our customers so we can make every effort to provide you with the level and quality of service that you would like. Your feedback helps to us understand what's important to you and continue to improve the service we provide.

Here are some examples of changes we have made based on your feedback: 

You said…

Our letters could sometimes be confusing.

We did…

We produced a help sheet designed to help you understand our decision notices. These are inserted within every decision notice we send out. In addition to this, where telephone numbers are provided, our Processing Officers attempt to call all customers on completion of a claim to let them know their decision.

A review is underway of all our written communication to customers, and we hope to put into place any improvements towards the end of this year.  

You said… 

You would like to deal with the same person or team when contacting us. 

We did… 

We have recently installed a new telephone system that allows us to allocate certain calls to certain staff groups.  

You said… 

You like to use the telephone to tell us about any changes in your circumstances, but sometimes it can take a while to get through. 

We did… 

We can now take all changes over the telephone, and have a specific line available for you to tell us about your change. Call 0845 8 504 504.

We have recruited extra specialist advisors to answer your calls so that we can provide a prompt, thorough and professional service. We have also made sure that we have good levels of advisors taking calls over the lunch period so you do not experience any drop in service. 

You said… 

You would like to be able to see a specialist benefit advisor at Wakefield District Housing Service Access Points. 

We did… 

From spring 2010 a specialist benefit advisor has been situated in Wakefield District Housing’s busiest Service Access Point - Wakefield Wood Street.  We are hoping to expand this in the near future. 

You said… 

You would like to be able to make a claim over the telephone. 

We did… 

Tele-claims (claiming by telephone) have been available for a number of years. We will arrange for one of our officers to call you back at a time convenient to you, within 3 working days to complete a form.

You said… 

You would like to be able to provide information via a home visit. 

We did…

Home visits are now available on request where further information or evidence is required from you.

You said… 

You would like to have a little more privacy when you talk to us on reception. 

We did… 

Private rooms are available on request and we have advertised this more clearly in reception at Castleford Civic centre – all you need to do is tell us you would like to see someone in private and we’ll sort the rest. 

You said… 

It sometimes takes us too long to deal with a claim. 

We did… 

We’ve taken this on board and continue to work hard to improve this. You told us it should take 3 weeks to process a new claim, and 2 weeks to process a change. Using this information we have changed our service standards to help us meet your expectations. We’ve already come a long way in the past 12 months: 

(figures taken from April - September 2009 & April - September 2010)

We continue to make improvements and strive to meet customer expectations.