To summarise the findings of the recent survey and the corporate actions that will be taken as a result.

THAT the results of the survey be noted and the actions outlined in paragraphs 21 to 26 be approved.

Customer satisfaction should be at the centre of every authority’s improvement programme. Satisfaction levels generally are not high across the country although it varies between services. Top performing authorities generally manage combine quality service provision with high levels of customer satisfaction. Satisfaction levels will become even more important under the Comprehensive Area Assessment from 2009. The authority should take action to improve its satisfaction ratings where this is required.

The alternative would be to ignore the results or appear unwilling to learn from them. This would incur the risks outlined in the preceding section.