The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has been awarded CSE accreditation 2015 for its continued improvement to customer services.
Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation is used by many organisations throughout the UK to drive improvements to customer-focused services.
The 2015 award relates to the former Scottish Court Service (SCS), but following the merger with the Scottish Tribunals Service in April, future accreditation will take into account the service delivery provided by the tribunals as well.
The organisation first gained CSE accreditation in 2013 and is now assessed over a three year rolling programme against 57 elements, grouped under the headings:
- customer insight
- culture of the organisation
- information & access
- delivery
- timeliness & quality of service.
This year, eight elements were given the highest rating of ‘compliance plus’ (outstanding), while a significant 45 elements were rated ‘fully compliant’ (doing well), and only four were rated ‘partially compliant’ (improvement needed).
This is an improvement on the organisation’s 2013 assessment when seven elements were rated ‘partially compliant’, and four rated ‘compliance plus’.
The assessors’ report states: “The service delivery of the Scottish Court Service (SCS) is recognised as of a high standard with good facilities supported by committed staff who demonstrate genuinely caring attitudes that are greatly appreciated by the many different customer groups and various agencies that have links to the services.
“There is a firm customer first approach throughout the Service across Scotland and generally strong compliance with the requirements. Three additional areas of unusually high performance give a total of eight areas of ‘compliance plus’ reflecting real strengths that are worthy of particular recognition.”
This accreditation complements the most recent results from the organisation’s court user satisfaction survey undertaken in 2013. The survey demonstrated a continuing rise in satisfaction levels to 89%, the highest since the survey began in 2005.
“This CSE accreditation and the improvement in our assessment reflect our strong commitment to our customers’ needs,” says Chief Executive Eric McQueen. “We take particular pride in the number of ‘compliance plus’ ratings we received this year. The team effort of our staff makes a real difference to the success of the organisation.”