Service Standards
Click on one of the following for more details
- INSPECTION OF TRADING PREMISES
- CONSUMER COMPLAINTS / BUSINESS ADVICE REQUESTS
- TYPES OF GOODS/SERVICES MOST COMPLAINED ABOUT
- SURVEY OF OUR CUSTOMERS - CONSUMERS
- SURVEY OF OUR CUSTOMERS - BUSINESSES
INSPECTION OF TRADING PREMISES
All trading premises are liable to periodic inspections by Trading Standards services. In order to manage an inspection program, we categorise premises as High, Medium or Low risk according to a range of criteria. The frequency of inspection is then dependent on the level of risk. For example, High risk premises are scheduled to be inspected every year, Medium risk every two years and Low risk every five years. This means that, for example, one-fifth of the total number of Low risk premises is targeted each year. The following are the statistics for the last two accounting years.
2004-2005
| Level of risk (visit frequency | No. of premises in risk category |
No. to be inspected this year |
% of target achieved |
| High (12 months) | 9 |
9 |
66.7% |
| Medium (24 months | 752 |
376 |
75.5% |
| Low (60 months) | 915 |
183 |
82% |
2005-2006
| Level of risk (visit frequency | No. of premises in risk category |
No. to be inspected this year |
% of target achieved |
| High (12 months) | 9 |
9 |
100% |
| Medium (24 months | 760 |
356 |
89.9% |
| Low (60 months) | 839 |
188 |
89.8% |
CONSUMER COMPLAINTS / BUSINESS ADVICE REQUESTS
"Complaints" includes complaints, enquiries or advice requests.
"Business advice" is advice requested by individual businesses.
The following tables chart the time taken to complete complaints and business advice requests. Note, however, that individual cases can vary widely in subject matter and complexity, which can affect the completion time.
2004-2005 - Completion times
| Type | Number received |
% dealt with within 14 days |
| Consumer complaints | 1342 |
76.5% |
| Business advice requests | 163 |
92.6% |
2005-2006 - Completion times
| Type | Number received |
% dealt with within 14 days |
| Consumer complaints | 1464 |
81.1% |
| Business advice requests | 171 |
94.7% |
TYPES OF GOODS/SERVICES MOST COMPLAINED ABOUT
The 10 types of goods/services about which we received most complaints over the last two accounting years were as follows-
2004-2005
| Type of Goods/Services | No. of complaints - year end March 2005 |
|
| 1 | Home maintenance/improvements | 120 |
| 2 | Upholstered furniture | 90 |
| 3 | Used motor vehicles | 82 |
| 4 | Prize draws & Competitions | 68 |
| 5 | Mobile phones | 68 |
| 6 | TV & audio/visual equipment | 48 |
| 7 | Personal computers & hardware | 46 |
| 8 | Clothing | 46 |
| 9 | Vehicle repairs / servicing | 42 |
| 10 | Food and drink | 39 |
2005-2006
| Type of Goods/Services | No. of complaints - year end March 2006 |
|
| 1 | Home maintenance/improvements | 202 |
| 2 | Used motor vehicles | 116 |
| 3 | TV & audio/visual equipment | 86 |
| 4 | Upholstered furniture | 84 |
| 5 | Mobile phones | 67 |
| 6 | Prize draws & Competitions | 66 |
| 7 | Clothing | 56 |
| 8= | Motor vehicle repairs/servicing | 50 |
| 8= | White Goods (cookers,fridges,etc.) | 50 |
| 10 | Personal computers & hardware | 47 |
RESULTS OF SURVEY OF OUR CUSTOMERS - CONSUMERS
(All figures are shown as a percentage of the total responses)
1 How satisfied were you with our overall level of service?
Very satisfied |
Satisfied |
← Neither → |
Dissatisfied |
Very dissatisfied |
70.9 |
18.2 |
5.5 |
1.8 |
3.6 |
2 How easy to understand was the information/advice provided?
Very easy |
Easy |
← Neither → |
Fairly difficult |
Don't know |
79.6 |
13 |
3.7 |
1.9 |
1.9 |
3 How informative did you find our staff?
Very good |
Fairly good |
Neither good nor poor |
Don’t know |
81.5 |
14.8 |
1.9 |
1.9 |
4 Did we treat you fairly at all times?
Yes |
Don’t know |
94.4 |
5.6 |
5 Were our officers courteous and polite at all times?
Yes |
No |
98.2 |
1.8 |
6 Were you aware of Trading Standards before you had this contact with us?
| 100% said Yes |
7 If Yes to question 6, how did you learn about Trading Standards?
| Press / television | Used the service before | Internet |
Phone book |
Recommended | Don't know |
14.6 |
39.0 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
24.4 |
12.2 |
8 How easy was it to make initial contact with us?
Very easy |
Fairly easy |
← Neither → |
Fairly difficult |
66.1 |
28.6 |
1.8 |
3.6 |
9 Did you know it is possible to complain about Council services, including Trading Standards, through our services complaints procedure?
Yes |
No |
41.1 |
58.9 |
RESULTS OF SURVEY OF OUR CUSTOMERS - BUSINESSES
(All figures are shown as a percentage of the total responses)
1 How satisfied were you with our overall level of service?
Very satisfied |
Satisfied |
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied |
17.6 |
76.5 |
5.9 |
2 How easy to understand was the information/advice provided?
Very easy |
Fairly easy |
Neither easy nor difficult |
23.5 |
64.7 |
11.8 |
3 How informative did you find our staff?
Very good |
Fairly good |
Neither good nor poor |
47.1 |
35.3 |
17.6 |
4 Did we treat you fairly at all times?
| 100% said Yes |
5 Were our officers courteous and polite at all times?
| 100% said Yes |
6 If you made initial contact with us, how easy was it?
| 100% said Very Easy |
7 [Of those who had initiated contact] How did you find out about Trading Standards?
| 100% said they had used the service before |
8 Were you aware of the Trading Standards Service before you had contact with us?
Yes |
No |
94.1 |
5.9 |
9 Did you know it is possible to complain about Council services, including Trading Standards, through our services complaints procedure?
Yes |
No |
70.6 |
29.4 |
10 If we said your business was not meeting its legal requirements:
(a) Did we make it clear to you what you needed to do to meet legal requirements?
Yes |
Don’t know |
88.9 |
11.1 |
(b) Was our response to the problem fair/reasonable?
| 100% thought that our response was fair/reasonable. |
11 Have we been in touch with your business on more than one occasion?
Yes |
No |
75 |
25 |
12 If Yes to question 11, have you been treated consistently?
| 100% felt they had been treated consistently. |
