Rochdale Benefits Claimants Satisfaction Survey 2009
In October/November 2009, Beacon Research on behalf of
our Revenues and Benefits Service carried out a
benefit claimant's satisfaction survey; You can see the results of
this survey below.
The purpose of the survey was to:
- Establish levels of satisfaction amongst benefit claimant's,
with the services they receive; and
- To compare the results, where possible, with a similar survey
carried out in 2006.
Revenues & Benefits customer survey results
2000 questionnaires were sent out, and of these 889 were
returned, this was a response rate
of 44.5%
The tables below show the customer replies to the
questions on the survey.
| Access/Getting in touch |
Saying agree |
Saying
disagree |
Saying not
applicable |
| The council office is somewhere that is easy for me to get
to |
85.1% |
6.5% |
2.3% |
| The council office opening hours are convenient for me |
83.9% |
6.2% |
2.9% |
| Staff tried to sort out my claim on the telephone, so that I
did not have to go into the office |
48.1% |
29% |
26.6% |
| I was given the name of the person at the council to contact
about my claim |
40.3% |
42.5% |
23.9% |
| Overall I am satisfied with the ways in which I can
contact the council office |
80.3% |
9.8% |
2.3% |
| In the office |
Saying agree |
Saying
disagree |
Saying not
applicable |
| I did not have to wait a long time before I saw the person I
needed to |
60.6% |
28.4% |
0.6% |
| I could talk with this person in a private place if I wanted
to |
61.8% |
17.7% |
9.2% |
| The council office was 'clean and tidy' |
94.2% |
2% |
0.4% |
| There are enough seats in my council office |
81.2% |
11% |
0.2% |
| I asked for help with a disability or language difficulty and
overall I am happy with the help I received |
57.5% |
13% |
58.6% |
| Overall I am satisfied with the experience of visiting
the council office |
78.8% |
11.1% |
0.2% |
| On the phone |
Saying agree |
Saying
disagree |
Saying not
applicable |
| The telephone call I made to the council office was answered
quickly |
68.2% |
20.1% |
1% |
| When I made the call to the council office I was
not transferred between several different people |
66.3% |
19.2% |
2.1% |
| Once the call to my council office had been answered my query
was dealt with swiftly |
63.5% |
21.7% |
1% |
| When I called the council office it was easy to speak to the
right member of staff |
64.7% |
18.1% |
1.6% |
| Overall I am satisfied with the telephone service
provided by my council office |
65.3% |
21.6% |
1% |
| The staff |
Saying agree |
Saying
disagree |
Saying not
applicable |
| Staff in the council office were friendly |
87.8% |
4% |
6.9% |
| I was confident that what the staff said was correct |
80.4% |
9.4% |
6.7% |
| Things were explained in a way I could understand |
82.9% |
7.9% |
6.7% |
| I felt able to ask questions I wanted to |
86.3% |
5.9% |
7.1% |
| Staff were not in a rush |
84.1% |
6.7% |
7.5% |
| I was treated fairly and sensitively with respect |
85.5% |
5.4% |
7% |
| Overall I am satisfied with the service provided by
staff in my council office |
84.8% |
6.7% |
6.7% |
| Forms |
Saying agree |
Saying
disagree |
Saying not
applicable |
| The Housing/Council Tax Benefit claim form was easy to fill
in |
61.2% |
21% |
12.3% |
| I could fill in the form quickly |
53.3% |
25.1% |
13.7% |
| The information that came with the form was helpful |
63.3% |
11.7% |
11.9% |
| The letters sent out about my claim were easy to
understand |
62.1% |
22.1% |
9.2% |
| Overall I am satisfied with the Housing/Council Tax
Benefit claim form |
66.3% |
15.9% |
9.5% |
| Speed of service |
Satisfied |
Dissatisfied |
| Age 16 - 34 |
69.8%
|
14.7% |
| Age 35 - 54 |
71.1% |
16.7% |
| Age 55+ |
79.1%
|
11.4% |
| All |
73.2% |
14.3% |
| Overall satisfaction |
2009 |
2006 |
| Very satisfied |
40.7%
|
38.4% |
| Fairly satisfied |
38.3% |
38.6% |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied |
10.7% |
10.9% |
| Fairly dissatisfied |
6.2% |
6.7% |
| Very dissatisfied |
4.2% |
5.4% |
| Successful claim |
Customer
reply |
| 2009 |
91.1%
|
| 2006 |
70.6% |
| Key areas for improvement |
Customer reply |
| The quality of our letters |
23.5% |
| The quality of our claim forms |
18.6% |
| The speed we deal with claims and change in circumstances |
41% |
| The quality of our phone service |
24.3% |
| The quality of our face to face service |
17.7% |
| The ease of using our services |
20.2% |
| Website and other online services |
9.6% |
| Other |
5.7% |
| None of these/No reply |
25.4% |
| The claims process (Future service delivery) |
Very useful |
Useful |
Not very useful |
Not useful at all |
No reply |
| Make your claim (at home) online through our website |
29% |
33.8% |
16.9% |
16.9% |
22% |
| Make your claim online at a council office or housing
association office |
23.4% |
41.8% |
17.1% |
17.7% |
22% |
| Make your claim on a paper form through the post |
22.9% |
50% |
20.6% |
6.5% |
22.2% |
| Make your claim through another organisation (CAB) |
16.5% |
36.4% |
31% |
16.1% |
25.6% |
| Make your claim over the phone |
29.8% |
40.8% |
18.4% |
11% |
23.7% |
| Make your claim with an advisor (by appointment) at one of our
offices |
45.4% |
41.2% |
8.4% |
4.9% |
18% |
| Make your claim with an advisor (by appointment) at a home
visit |
42.7% |
37.2% |
14.7% |
5.5% |
20.1% |
| Help on benefits from the following places |
Aware of |
Have used |
| Any of our customer service centres |
41.2% |
22% |
| Our telephone contact centre |
38.8% |
19.8% |
| Rochdale Boroughwide housing offices |
49.4% |
37.9% |
| Our advice services |
30.8% |
10.8% |
| Our website |
28.6% |
8.2% |
| Other |
1.9% |
1.6% |
| None/no reply |
25.3% |
41.3% |
| How were you first made aware of how to
claim Housing/Council Tax Benefits |
Customer reply |
| From a friend or relative |
37.1% |
| Referred by another agency |
29% |
| Leaflet |
6.9% |
| Poster |
1.6% |
| Website |
4.9% |
| Other |
13.9% |
| No reply |
6.4% |
| How would you like us to give you new
information about Housing/Council Tax Benefit |
Customer reply |
| A letter to your home address |
91.2% |
| An article in the council's newspaper or magazine |
8.1% |
| On our website |
10.2% |
| At the various local centres in the borough |
14.2% |
| Other |
1.3% |
| No reply |
2.8% |
| Are you aware of the need to report changes in
circumstances, when in receipt of Housing/Council Tax Benefit |
Customer reply |
| Yes |
95.2% |
| No |
4.8% |
| When you have a change to report, in the
future, how would you prefer to notify the council |
Customer reply |
| By telephone |
52.1% |
| In writing |
22% |
| In person to the council office |
55.7% |
| To another agency |
3.3% |
| Online through our website |
14.5% |
| By another method |
1.2% |
| No reply |
2.8% |
We would like to thank all those who completed and
returned the survey, it is important that we get the
views of our customers. Any areas of improvement identified
will be fully investigated and some changes may be made to our
procedures as a result of this survey.