Council recognised in 'Best Service Team' awards

EAST RIDING council’s streetscene team has been given a customer service excellence award which recognises the team’s innovative ways of working (see the Association of Public Service Excellence website). The team were finalists in the Best Service Team: Building/Facilities Cleaning category.

Assessors were particularly impressed with the way staff work closely with communities to provide the services they want. Two schemes in particular were singled out as showing best practice. The first was a pilot in the Holderness area to improve service delivery by training staff to take on several roles in rural parishes. The second is a consultation with residents in an area of Bridlington about what they would like to see planted.

The pilot scheme in Holderness has seen staff who have traditionally taken on grounds maintenance roles trained to carry out a wider range of tasks including grass cutting, strimming and sweeping, minor pothole repairs, sign washing, litter-bin painting, and pruning hedges including those over-hanging signs and footways.

Small teams of around three were given specific villages in the pilot area to work in, which they visited every three weeks during the summer months. Communities representatives have been consulted on the work they would like to see done, and for their feedback on what has been achieved.

At the same Awards Event in September, Hull City Council were not only recognised as finalists in the Overall Council of the Year category, but the council-owned contractor Kingstown Works Ltd actually beat the competition to win the Best Information and Communication Technology Initiative.

Links: 

East Riding Council

Hull City Council