Service standards
It is important that you know the standards you can expect from us when we serve you.
General enquiries
If you contact us by letter or by email
We will acknowledge receipt of your enquiry in writing within five working days, giving you a named contact point and telephone number for the person dealing with your enquiry.
We will telephone or email you if we require further information from you in order to action your request (provided you have quoted a telephone number or email address).
If you have not quoted a telephone number we will email or write to you and we will seek to provide you with a full response to your enquiry within 10 working days. On the rare occasion your enquiry is classed as more complicated we will try to resolve it within 20 working days.
If you contact us by telephone
We will attempt to resolve your enquiry at first point of contact. If we cannot we will try and transfer you to a colleague who can deal with your enquiry.
If we cannot transfer you, or the person you were transferred to can’t resolve your query while you are on the line, we will send you a written acknowledgment of your enquiry with a named contact point and contact number within five working days.
We will ring you if we require further information from you in order to action your request.
We will then provide you with a full response to your enquiry within 10 working days. On the rare occasion your enquiry is classed as more complicated we will try to resolve it within 20 working days.
If you leave us a voicemail message
We will try to return your call by the next working day.
If you make your enquiry in person.
We will attempt to resolve your enquiry at first point of contact. If we cannot, we will give you the name and contact number of the colleague that will deal with your enquiry.
Other enquiries
We recognise that a great deal of our customers’ requirements are not of a general nature and we want you to be kept informed when you require us to do something. We therefore outline below the timescales we aim to provide in relation to specific tasks you require of us.
All timescales below are from the date of receipt of a correctly completed and valid application or request or instruction.
Freedom of Information requests and Environmental Information Regulation requests
Within 20 working days
We will issue a full response either by providing the information requested or by providing a full explanation as to why we cannot.
In exceptional cases we may not be able to respond within 20 days. In such cases we will inform you at the earliest opportunity, keep you fully informed as to how you request is progressing and we will always respond within 40 working days.
Licensing
Within eight weeks
For projects requiring an environmental impact assessment, we will provide 95 per cent of screening and/or scoping requests requested from our pre-application service within eight weeks of receiving the request.
Within 13 weeks
We will provide a licence decision or application status update for 95 per cent of applications within 13 weeks of receiving a validated application.
All other requirements
For anything you may require of us not covered above, we will contact you within 10 working days of receipt, advising you of the person that is going to action your request and a contact number for them so that you can clarify timescales/next steps or ask any questions.