CL print - Newcastle City Council

Are you a
benefit
claimant?
If you are, we need you to tell us
about any changes in your
circumstances which could affect
your Housing and Council Tax Benefit.
Changes in circumstances you need to tell us:
• If you change address.
• If you stop or start receiving Income
Support or Jobseekers Allowance.
• If there are changes to members of the
household. For example births, deaths or
people moving in or out.
• Details of any benefits awarded or benefits
ending. These include Working and Child
Tax Credits, Incapacity Benefit, Disability
Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance,
Industrial Injuries, Carer’s Allowance, Child
Benefit, Severe Disablement Benefit and
Retirement Pension.
• If you start or stop work for any reason.
• If your landlord changes the amount of
rent you are charged.
• If there is a significant change in your
savings or investments, either they go up
or down. These include any bank,
building society, ISAs, shares, bonds,
savings certificates, and so on.
• If you buy or sell a property or if you rent
one out.
This list is a guide only. If you are in doubt
about what change should be reported
please phone us on 0845 111 4101 for advice.
How to report a change
• Phone – 0845 111 4101;
• In person at any of our customer service
centres;
• Email – benefits@newcastle.gov.uk; or
• In writing - Housing and Council Tax
Benefits, P.O. Box 1UP, Newcastle Upon
Tyne, NE99 1UP.
Changes to Housing
Benefit for private
tenants
The government has changed Housing
Benefit to make it fairer and easier to use.
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a new
way of working out Housing Benefit for
some tenants on a low income who live in
private rented accommodation.
The change affects tenants renting their
home from a private landlord. LHA applies
when a private tenant makes a new claim for
Housing Benefit. LHA also applies if a
private tenant already claims Housing
Benefit and they change address or have a
break in their existing claim for more than
one week.
LHA is based on:
• the area the tenant lives in and the rents
most people in the area are paying;
• who lives in the property; and
• what money the tenant has coming in
and what savings they have.
It is not be based on how much rent is
charged (but on a flat rate allowance known
as the Broad Rental Market which is set by
the Rents Service).
In most cases Housing Benefit is paid direct
to the person claiming Housing Benefit. And
wherever possible it is paid directly into a
bank account. It is up to them to then pay
their rent directly to their landlord. If you do
not have a bank account, you can get advice
on how to open an account from us.
For more information contact the Benefits
service on 0845 111 4101 or e-mail
benefits@newcastle.gov.uk
Make the
move to Direct
Debit and
discover the
easiest way to
pay your
Council Tax!
Why pay by Direct Debit?
Paying your Council Tax by Direct
Debit saves us time and money,
helping us pass these savings onto
you.
There are many other reasons why
you should make the move to Direct
Debit.
It’s more convenient
• Saves you time – no more trips to
our offices.
• No queues, no fuss, no stress.
• Choice of three dates to pay each
month.
For peace of mind
• Your bill is paid automatically.
• No chance of forgetting to pay.
It’s safer and more secure
• No need to carry cash payments.
• Gives you greater control over
your money.
• You get the Direct Debit
guarantee.
How do I apply?
Paying your Council Tax by Direct
Debit couldn’t be easier! All you
need is a bank or building society
account then just fill in the form
enclosed in your Council Tax bill and
send it back to us.
If you can’t wait that long, call us on
0845 111 4199 or visit your local
customer service centre and we’ll
give you a form to fill in.
You can also find the form for paying
Council Tax by Direct Debit at
www.newcastle.gov.uk/
counciltaxdirectdebit
And, more information on Council Tax
is available from
www.newcastle.gov.uk/counciltax
Contact Centre offers a
five star service!
Staff in the corporate Contact Centre are delighted with a new
survey that asked customers how well they are doing. One customer
said “This was a five star service” and another said “I’d give the
Contact Centre ten out of ten.”
Our corporate Contact Centre currently deals
with calls to the switchboard, Council Tax and
Housing Benefit enquiries, parking payments,
e-payments and the new Neighbourhood
Helpline. We handle 900,000 calls each year
and we are looking to expand the range of
services we offer.
Around 400 customers took part in the
survey and researchers phoned them to ask
questions about how helpful, polite and
knowledgeable Contact Centre staff are. 91%
of customers said they were satisfied with
the overall service provided.
We also consulted residents taking part in a
citywide customer service focus group about
their experience of contacting us by phone.
One commented “I would suggest that the
council encourage people to use the
telephone more often…”. Another said “I
rang about Council Tax because I wanted to
change the day of payment. I received a
follow up call to see how the prior call had
gone …that is good service!”
In fact, 95% of customers found our Contact
Centre staff to be helpful. Councillors were
also given an opportunity to have their say
and one remarked, “As far as I can assess,
my constituents receive a better service due
to the Contact Centre.”
The research included a number of ‘mystery
callers’ carried out by experienced
researchers posing as customers.
A massive 98% of customers are satisfied
with the opening hours of the Contact
Centre. Phone calls are taken from 8am to
6pm, Monday to Friday so that customers
arriving home from work can call to speak to
an experienced officer.
Staff in the Contact Centre have not stopped
to catch their breath, though! Earlier this year,
the council decided to keep the non
emergency helpline going – after the
government withdrew funding. It had proved
a popular and successful service with local
people. It was re-launched as the
Neighbourhood Helpline on a new number
0300 1000 101. This 24 hour service deals with
council related anti-social behaviour such as
noise nuisance, litter, vandalism and so on.
But we’re not stopping there - by the end of
this year we hope to have gained national
recognition for our efforts by getting the
Customer Service Excellence Standard
(formerly known as Charter Mark).
Councillor Anita Lower, Executive Member
for Community Safety and Regulation said "I
am extremely pleased by the positive
feedback we have been given. The whole
team has worked exceptionally hard to build
a good reputation and now our customers
are letting us know just how good they think
the service is. It's a fantastic result for our
Contact Centre."
Setting the standard
in customer service
For several years now, customer service
centres (CSCs) across Newcastle have been
dealing with face-to-face enquiries from
customers. Residents, visitors and
businesses use the centres to contact us for
information and advice about over 90 council
services. We regularly ask customers for
their views on how we are doing.
Once again, the results of our customer
satisfaction surveys are outstanding this year.
We asked customers how helpful and
efficient our staff are, if they felt they were
treated fairly and how satisfied they were
with our overall service. Our Outer West CSC
even scored 100% on two of their results,
being helpful and efficient. Whilst at Kenton
CSC, 99% of customers surveyed felt they
were treated fairly. Staff at the Civic Centre
CSC continue to deliver consistently high
quality services each year, scoring 97 % for
helpfulness, efficiency and fairness. The
popular East End CSC is well used and
appreciated by its customers with 94% of
respondents satisfied with the overall service
they received. Staff at the East End CSC are
looking forward to moving into a new larger
building just a few doors away at the end of
the year which will provide more private
interview rooms and more payment points to
improve levels of service.
6 www.newcastle.gov.uk
Citylife: July/August 2008
Citylife: July/August 2008 Use the internet free at all Newcastle libraries 7