Customer Care Standards

• Use the Online form (this is the quickest and simplest method)
• Email customerservices@gloucestershire.gov.uk
• Telephone : 01452 425000 Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.00pm.
• Gloucestershire Roads Out-Of-Hours emergency telephone: 08000 514514.
• Social Care Out-Of-Hours emergency telephone : 01452 614194.

• Write to:

Customer Services
Gloucestershire County Council
Shire Hall
Gloucester
GL1 2TG

You can visit the main reception of Shire Hall between 8.30am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday

• Greet you in a friendly and professional manner
• Treat you as an individual and make sure our services are accessible to everyone
• Listen to you carefully and use plain English when we speak or write to you
• Keep you informed and explain our decisions and the reasons for them
• Respect your privacy

• We aim to answer all calls within 5 rings by a person within office hours
• We will greet you courteously and let you know who and which service you are through to
• We will always try to answer your query straight away if we can
• If we can't answer you fully, we will give you the name and telephone number of the person who is dealing with your enquiry and the date by which we hope to give you a full answer
• If we have to pass on your call, we will try to make sure it goes to the right person and we will explain your enquiry or request to them before we pass it on
• When we telephone you, we will give you our name, tell you we are calling from Gloucestershire County Council and explain clearly why we are phoning

• A member of our team will greet you within 5 minutes of your arrival at any of our receptions
• Our staff will be clearly identifiable by official name badges
• The person you have come to see will meet you within 10 minutes of your appointment time
• Without an appointment, our staff will take the full details of your enquiry and endeavour to get the right person to see you within 15 minutes or let you know how long we will be. Alternatively, we will arrange a mutually convenient appointment or phone conversation.

• We will have agreed a time and place with you in advance
• We will arrive within 10 minutes of the agreed time or let you know if we will be late
• We will say who we are, where we are from and why we are calling. We will show you our identity card before you invite us in

By email

• We will aim to respond within 3 working days. If we are unable to give you a full answer, we will aim to get you one within a further 10 working days or keep you informed of what we are doing, including the date by which we hope to give you a full answer
• There will be an automated acknowledgement on department email addresses so you know your email has been delivered.

By letter or fax

• We will reply to your letter within 5 working days. If we are unable to give you a full answer, we will aim to get you one within a further 10 working days or we will keep you informed of what we are doing, including the date by which we hope to give you a full answer

• We expect you to treat our staff with respect at all times
• We expect you to contact us if you are delayed or have to re-arrange a planned appointment
• We will not tolerate vexatious comments when they have been considered and found to be unjustified and where the person making the comment is either not prepared to accept that conclusion or persists in making the same or a substantially similar comment

Unacceptable Customer Behaviour Policy