Tag: customer service

Planning Customer Forum Virtual Sessions

We will be holding another series of Customer Forum virtual sessions this October & November and so thought we’d share some of discussions we had and feedback we received back in March. 

The sessions in March were our first ever Customer Forum sessions held online as they were previously held in person.

We have all had to adapt to new ways of working since Covid and so the sessions were an opportunity for customers and Council officers to come together to share how we have all adapted to the challenges and to discuss how we can change how we work together in the future.

Back in March of this year we discussed matters like:

COMMUNITY GROUPS

  • How community groups find digital engagement
  • How a largely digital-based approach to Planning engagement could be developed
  • Our webpages and how they could be improved
  • How community groups use social media

HOUSEHOLDER APPLICANTS & AGENTS

  • Application submission matters and our validation guidance
  • How site visits were being affected by Covid and the need for additional information to fully assess applications
  • Certificate’s of Lawfulness vs Planning Permission
  • Permitted development rights and associated guidance
  • How Covid has affected the way we communicate

MAJOR/ LARGE APPLICANTS, AGENTS, SOLICITORS & ARCHITECTS

Come along to one of the October or November sessions via Microsoft Teams and tell us what you think:

Tuesday 12 October 1500-1630 – Community groups

Thursday 28 October 1500-1630 – Householder and small-scale local development applicants and agents

Tuesday 9 November 1500-1630 – Legal agreements, with solicitors and major/larger local applicants and agents

If you or a colleague/ group member would like to attend a forum session, please email planning.servicedelivery@edinburgh.gov.uk with your details.

Please state what company/organisation you will be representing & which session you would like to attend, and we’ll contact attendees with joining instructions for the online meeting closer to the time.

We hope you can join us and help improve the Planning service for the benefit of its customers and the city.

Customer Update – Help us to help you

We are continuing to experience a record level of applications since our last Customer Update a few weeks ago. Whilst this is positive for the City, it is a particularly challenging time for the service as it is coinciding with reduced resources.

To manage the workload effectively, a new system has been put in place where new applications are being put in a holding system until a case officer becomes available. This approach will ensure that workloads are manageable for case officers.

We will be dealing with applications in chronological order and once assigned, the case officer will only contact you if:

1) additional information is required to assess the application;

2) amendments are needed to your proposals; or

3) your application is likely to be refused.

We remain committed to providing good customer care for each application but inevitably, it is going to take longer than normal to process applications. Because we are concentrating on determining applications as quickly as possible, there will be an impact on other aspects of our work such as responding to queries.

Help us to help you:

It would help significantly if you could provide the following information at the time of application submission (or whilst it is hold):

  • Photographs showing the location of the work and the wider context (including interiors for listed building consent applications)
  • Dimensions on the plans
  • Contextual information i.e. neighbouring windows/ extensions (if relevant)
  • 45 degree daylighting calculations (if relevant)

Before applying please read our planning guidelines – these answer a lot of commonly asked questions, including for;

Your patience and understanding is appreciated. We will get there but it is going to take longer.

Customer Update – Applications

In the last few months we have been experiencing a record level of incoming applications – the highest for at least two years.  This is positive for the city and its residents and businesses, and we’re proud that in this period we’ve also been able to determine a record number of applications and keep average decision times down.  

As a service it is a particularly challenging time and we are looking at existing resources and new processes to help us manage this high level of caseload.

We remain committed to providing good customer care for each application but inevitably, it is going to take a bit longer than normal to process applications. Because we are concentrating on determining applications as quickly as possible, there will be an impact on other aspects of our work such as responding to queries.

Please be patient and understanding – we will get there but it is going to take a little longer.

If you have recently submitted or are about to submit an application, please pay particular attention to your acknowledgement letter at this time.

Help us to help you:

It would help significantly if you could provide the following information at the time of application submission:

  • Photographs showing the location of the work and the wider context (including interiors for listed building consent applications)
  • Dimensions on the plans
  • Contextual information i.e. neighbouring windows/ extensions (if relevant)
  • 45 degree daylighting calculations (if relevant)

Watch this space for further updates coming out of the recent Customer Forum sessions and thank you for your help as we support the city’s recovery.

You can keep up to date with Planning Edinburgh by:

A New Year – 2021 Lockdown

As we enter into a new year with a vaccine gone into distribution, we would like to offer our best wishes to everyone for a better year ahead.

Whilst we look forward with optimism for a glimpse of normality, we would like to highlight the current circumstances of the service amid current lockdown restrictions.

Whilst a spring/summer lockdown of 2020 was challenging, the longer sunny days and warmth made the daily tasks of home working and home schooling seem bearable. Like many of you, we face these same tasks in the winter months, confined to our homes due to a dark, damp and cold climate, the challenges and strains have been intensified.

As a service, whilst continuing to offer the best customer experience that we can, current restrictions requires the continued closure of our offices and maintained remote working. Managers have recognised the extended challenges of this lockdown on all staff within the service from family life, care of vulnerable family and friends, childcare and home-schooling to those living alone, all in need of support. Consequently, the well-being and mental health of our staff within the service will continue to be prioritised. Approximately 40% of our staff have young children and dependants therefore, we expect elements of the service to experience delays as parents fulfil their daily duties however, we continue to do the best we can to minimise the disruption to the service.

Key elements of the service still continue and these include receiving, processing and assessing planning applications; City Plan 2030; planning enforcement; neighbour notifications; Planning helpdesk; DM sub-committee; and, the Local Review Body. Elements of the service that have been suspended include site visits, and site notices will be available online only. A small plea: if you are submitting an application, any contextual information including photos would be very helpful.

As a planning authority, we rely heavily on the input from colleagues within other services, agents/architects, consultants, stakeholders and communities. We recognise these same challenges will be faced by everyone. We offer our sincere understanding and continued willingness to work with you, optimising new forms of communication and alternative working arrangements.

We will continue to deliver the best possible planning service for our city however, given these challenging times and restrictive working environments, we ask for your continued patience and understanding for our staff.

Thank you.    

2016 National Customer Satisfaction Survey for Building Standards

The Scottish Government (Building Standards Division) are looking for your feedback about the local authority Building Standards service in Scotland.

New Waverley building site

They would like to hear about the quality of service you have received when applying for a building warrant and/or submitting a completion certificate. Views are sought on the customer service you have experienced as opposed to the actual decision on any application you may have made.  More details and the survey can be found online. The survey will close on Monday 28 November 2016.