Vol. 538 No. 3
265 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if there is a requirement on local authorities who communicate with the public by letter that signatures should be clearly legible; the recourse the public has to contacting any such officials where signatures are clearly illegible or are merely initialled and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17700/01]
As part of the drive towards local authorities providing a quality customer service, each local authority has either published or will shortly publish a customer action plan which set out the standards of service which customers can expect, strategies for improvement and appropriate measures of performance. Local authorities have been asked to incorporate into their individual plans the set of principles entitled, "Quality Customer Service for Customers and Clients of the Public Service", which the Government endorsed last year for application to the whole public service. Among these is a commitment to give contact names in all communications to ensure ease of ongoing transactions. Should any member of the public be dissatisfied with any aspect of service, including difficulty in identifying a contact name in a communication from the authority, local authorities have also been asked to put a complaints system in place.
