Development Management Customer Satisfaction Survey 2015/16 Economy, Planning and Employability Services Reported Prepared May 2016

Background During the period 1 st April 2015 to 31 st March 2016 the Development Management team sent 2393 invitations to customers asking them to complete our online survey. All applicants who received a Decision Notice, marking the end of the planning application process, were sent a request 2 weeks after receiving their Notice. The invitation provides a link to our online survey provided by Survey Monkey. A total of 319 surveys were completed giving an average response rate of 13%. The latest figures (Qrt4) show that the response rate had increased slightly to 15%. We monitor the invitations we send out by classifying customers into 2 categories. This distinguishes between professional agents or individual applicants. The vast majority of invitations 80% are sent to professional agents. In line with our drive towards a more electronic way of working we are also able to show that 94% of invitations are sent via . This ties in with the increased number of applications submitted online. The percentage of invitations has increased from 91% in the 1 st Quarter to 94% during the last quarter. The survey has 16 questions with a mixture of open, closed and equality monitoring questions. We have 2 questions which allow the customer to provide free text with their views on the service received and to provide suggestions on how we can improve.

There has been little change between the number of professional agents and individual applicants responding to the survey requests. This reflects the number of invitations sent out. Quarter 4 has shown a rise in the number of individual applicants responding. This has risen to 31% from an average of 23%. Question 1 Please let us know if you are an agent who acted on behalf of someone else or if you are an individual applicant who submitted your own application.

Prior to submitting their application, both professional agents and individual applicants, continue to use our web pages as the main source of information. The high number of N/A or Information Not Required responses are in the main received from professional agents who do not require detailed planning information. The next most popular source of information after our web pages are the Scottish Government web pages for professional agents whereas individual applicants would use our Contact Centre. Question 2 Before submitting your application did you look for information from any of the following sources?

Fife Direct is considered the most useful source of information for customers before submitting their application. The Contact Centre is next in line for finding the information useful with the Scottish Government as the 3 rd most useful source. Question 3 If you used more than one source for information, which did you find most useful?

The vast majority of customers said the process of finding the information they required was either Very Easy or Fairly Easy. Although the % of customers finding it difficult to get the information they need is relatively low we are continuing to improve the way in which we provide information. All planning information given to staff in our contact centre was reviewed in March This refers to scripts used when dealing with telephone enquiries to enable a concise and consistent level of service to be provided at first point of contact. A review of our planning pages and use of web statistics via google analytics will allow us to remove unnecessary information to improve accessibility for our customers. Question 4 How easy was it to find the information you were looking for?

Question 5 If you found it difficult or very difficult to find the information, please provide further details There were 25 comments provided to this question. A few examples have been included below. In general the problems lay with the information being too general, the customer wanted to speak to a member of staff, difficulty in navigating the web pages and different information provided by different members of staff. Comments Didn't think the information was easy to find, nor was it easy to understand as a 'beginner‘ Used web application for planning application, not easy to follow or select category for first time user. When application was being processed, different planning officers had different interpretations Information in support of the Planning Authority's views were difficult to find. Unable to contact council officials by telephone when required Fife councils own web pages do not provide a comprehensive guide in specific categories, the information was very general and not specific to my situation Recommendations Remove pages which are not frequently used. Google analytic reports will help to identify Remove jargon and ensure information is written in a clear and understandable way Add more links to specific policy and guidance notes Telephone scripts to be reviewed and training to be arranged for relevant staff.

All customers are advised at the start of the process, via their Acknowledgement Letter, that the best way to track progress of their application is to use the online system. The majority of customers do use the online planning site to monitor progress of their application. More detailed analysis shows the number of professional agents using the site has decreased from 81% in the first quarter to 76% in the last quarter. However the number of individual applicants has risen from 50% in the first quarter to 81% in the last quarter. Question 6 Did you use the eplanning site to track the progress of your application?

The majority of customers have indicated that they are satisfied (very or fairly) with the level of updates they receive during the application process. The figures fluctuate between 68% and 61% across the year. However comments left in our open ended questions at the end of the survey highlight that keeping customers informed of progress, especially when applications will not meet statutory target dates is an area where we need to improve. For those customers noting their dissatisfaction (fairly or very) the highest figure of 21% has reduced to 11% in the final quarter. Question 7 How satisfied were you with the updates on the progress of your application?

The figures for this question match those given in the previous question with the number of customers indicating their satisfaction. There is however a slight reduction in the number of customers noting their dissatisfaction during the last quarter with a greater number of customers scoring N/A in response to this question. Question 8 How satisfied were you that staff listened and responded to your needs?

Figures show that our customers are either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the time take to deal with their application. On average this figure sits at 68% with an average figure of 22% indicating that they are either fairly or very dissatisfied. After a rise in the number of dissatisfied customers in the 3 rd quarter the results for January to March have shown an improvement. This may be attributed to the high staff turnover experienced during the latter part of Question 9 How satisfied were you with the time taken to deal with your application?

This question gauges the overall customer experience. Across all periods our customers have indicated that they are very or fairly satisfied with the planning process. It is pleasing to see that the number of satisfied customers is on the increase at the start of Question 10 Setting aside whether or not you were happy with the final decision, please indicate how satisfied you were with the overall service you received?

Over each quarter we have seen a shift between the positive and negative comments left by customers. The final quarter of the 2015/16 reporting period has seen a steady increase in the number of positive comments left by our customers rising from 3 to 12. The number of negative comments has decreased by 50% during the same period. A total of 190 responses were received to this question. Customer comments are summarised at the end of this report. Question 11 What could we have done to make your experience of planning better?

We have seen a significant increase in the number of positive comments during the last quarter and they have risen by 50% over the whole year. A total of 128 responses were received to this question. The negative comments have also dropped sharply from the high during the 3 rd quarter. Question 12 Do you have any other comments about the service you received. If you have been dissatisfied with the service you received and would like a member of our team to contact you to discuss, please leave either your telephone or address.

Our Customer Suggestions Our customers told us that they would like to see improvements in the following areas: Direct or easier access to case officers/removal of telephone system Speed up decision making times Keep customers informed of progress throughout the application process Improve/speed up validation process Provide consistent advice especially at the start of the process Improve payment systems

How we will improve our service to customers Update our Duty Officer provision to provide a more immediate service to customers Improve our decision times Ensure that we advise our customers if we will not meet our targets Introduce a new system to advise customers when their application progresses through the different stages of the application process Review our validation process to reduce delays at the start of the process Implement a range of training events for staff to ensure consistency of information supplied Improve our pre-application advice/first point of contact information through additional training and guidance notes Promote the use of online payments via eplanning portal to speed up validation process