They're too often among the unsung heroes of Wolverhampton City Council, but the team responsible for litter picking, removing graffiti, dog mess and repairing potholes have been recognised for putting customer service at the heart of what they do for the 8th year running.

Type=image;ImageID=5041;ImageClass=left;ImageTitle=Councillor Reynolds celebrating with staff;TitleClass=strong;

The city council's Public Realm Services - which is responsible for everything from winter gritting to lollipop men and women - has been awarded Customer Service Excellence status and received glowing praise from assessors.

Achieving Customer Service Excellence status involves a rigorous assessment with a focus on what matters most to customers - including timeliness, information, professionalism and staff attitude.

To maintain the status, which was formally known as Charter Mark, services have to prove to assessors that they are getting better every year.

Of the 57 areas of performance the assessors look for, Wolverhampton City Council's Public Realm department achieves them all.

A report of this year's assessment concluded: "Wolverhampton City Council's Public Realm Services were found to have a deep understanding and commitment to customer service excellence. The commitment was displayed from senior management levels through to operations and front line staff."

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Services, said: "It is testimony to our hard-working staff that even in these days of Government cuts, they are still pulling out all the stops to provide an excellent service.

"Public Realm really are on the frontline - be it cleaning the streets, fixing street lights, filling potholes, cutting back dangerous trees, planting floral displays or the many other things in their remit.

"Everything they do is to make Wolverhampton a better place to live and work in and that means putting the customer first. I'm delighted that we've retained our Customer Service Excellence status and we will be working very hard to ensure we keep on improving and retain it in future years."

The assessor was particularly impressed by the development of the free "Wolverhampton Report It" mobile app which has made it easier than ever for the public to report environmental problems with just a few clicks of their mobile phone. It is available to download from the Apple, Android, Blackberry and Windows app stores.

Public Realm Services is responsible for street cleaning, grounds maintenance, tree maintenance, parks maintenance, the park ranger service, pest control, street lighting, highway resurfacing and maintenance, winter gritting, parking services, school crossing patrols and Shop Mobility.

  • released: Friday 29 August, 2014